iPhone 18 Pro - 1 Month Later: An HONEST Review

0:00 I've been using the iPhone 18 Pro for a full month, and my opinion of it has changed quite a bit. There's a lot I really like about this phone, but some surprising negatives have cropped up. And I also have a better answer on the one thing everyone keeps asking about, which is the battery life. So, after a month of testing the cameras, A20 Pro, new thermals, iOS 27 and Siri AI, here's what I love, what I don't, and whether the iPhone 18 Pro is all that it's stacked up to be?

0:35 Let's start with the thermals because this is the sleeper upgrade this year and possibly one of the bigger reasons to upgrade. Because despite Apple making thermals a big affair every year, overheating and throttling continue to be a serious issue for many. Ever since the 15 Pro, when I film 4K videos or use navigation on a hot day, fast-charge it, that type of thing, eventually the iPhone starts feeling like a hand warmer and performance slows down. But it seems Apple has cracked the overheating puzzle with the redesigned thermals inside the 18 Pro.

1:12 It can still get warm, of course, when it's dissipating heat effectively, but it takes longer to get there and seems to recover much faster afterwards. The three times larger vapour chamber surface does seem to have done the trick. And I guess Apple cooked, so the iPhone finally doesn't. And this is a bigger win than it seems because it puts less thermal load on the battery, and it can sustain better and more efficient performance on the powerful A20 Pro chip, which, speaking of, may just be a chip that is too powerful for an iPhone because we get a faster chip every year.

1:48 We know this. Apple throws some big numbers on screen with some graphs that don't really make complete comparative sense. In everyday use, you can barely tell the difference between the previous-generation iPhone anyway compared to the new iPhone. But this year, there are a few moments where I could see the difference. I've noticed raw editing and export times are quite a bit faster in Lightroom. 4K rendering in Capcut in Adobe Premiere Mobile is also much faster than the 17 Pro and playing AFK Journey a bit over the past month. The performance, sustained frame rate, and lack of overheating are a clear night-and-day difference. Individually, these aren't massive differences. We're talking like a 5 to 10 second faster export time, depending on the file size, and a slightly smoother and longer gaming experience. But if you're doing this stuff all the time, those seconds and smoother experience add up. Plus, it has a positive effect on the battery life. And the numbers do back that up. Depending on the benchmark here, it's about a 20 to 30% improvement in CPU performance and even a 40% jump in GPU performance. So, after a month, the A20 Pro chip is so good that it sort of feels wasted inside an iPhone. I'm sure someone in the comments is rendering Pixar movies on their phone, but for the other 99% of us, we're just, you know, scrolling, replying to messages, or just watching YouTube. I can't wait, though, to see this chip power an updated MacBook near that would be spicy. Connectivity in the 18 Pro is another surprisingly good upgrade in daily use. So, Apple's new C2 modem replaces the previous Qualcomm modem from last year. And in my experience, reception has genuinely been improved. And it's not just a spec bump either. In a few spots where my 17 Pro would drop down to one bar of LTE, the 18 Pro has held on to a stronger 5G connection instead. So, I've even been able to send messages in places where the 17 Pro struggled. I'm curious if anyone else has noticed this, too. Interestingly, though, for some reason, the US 18 Pro Max still uses Qualcomm's X80 modem, while here in Australia, both Pro models get Apple's C2. And Apple's new N1 wireless chip has made AirDrop ridiculously fast, too. Files around 100 megabytes between my devices are basically an instantaneous transfer. So, you know, none of this is flashy, but after a month, it's another under-the-radar type upgrade that I think you'll notice and appreciate every day. Now, let's also talk about how the finish has held up after a month, cuz this is one of those areas where the colour you choose does make a difference. I still think black here is the best colour this year, and I can already hear the burgundy owners already typing in the comments, but after a month of use, I have noticed some interesting trade-offs. Obviously, it's a fingerprint magnet, and even tiny scratches will stand out more on darker finishes like black.

4:55 That's one of the things with Apple moving back from titanium to anodised aluminium. Once you get through that darker outer finish, the exposed aluminium underneath is just much more noticeable. And I've seen that on my 17 Pro after a year of use. Personally, none of this would stop me from choosing black again. I really, really like it. I think it looks fantastic. But if keeping your phone looking pristine for years is your jam, the lighter colours are probably going to be a lot more forgiving. There's also one other thing I noticed in direct sunlight. On hot days, black does feel slightly warmer than my friend's glacia model, which makes sense since it's darker and darker surfaces absorb more heat. But thanks to the updated thermals we just talked about, it's nothing to worry about. What I do worry about, though, is keeping this thing protected, which brings me to the case that I've been using, which is where Torras comes in, and they're sponsoring this segment of the video. This is the Q3 Air Pro, and it's what they call the world's first dual-layer airbag system. So, the outer airbag here intercepts the impact, and the inner one disperses the remaining impact to completely protect your iPhone. And what I like is that it does that without turning the phone into a brick. As you can see here, it's rated for drops up to 16 ft, which is about two stories high, but it's still slim enough that it doesn't feel like a rugged large case. The cameras on the iPhone 18 Pro also make professional content creation more accessible, obviously, and this new O stand part of the case helps with that by snapping onto anything metal, rotates a full 360°, and giving you a hands-free angle in a few seconds. They also sent across a screen protector, and the first thing I notice about this is how it handles harsh light. It does it really well. Plus, the 3D curved edges on this mean there's no little lip when you swipe in from the side. It feels basically like the bare screen. So, if you want to check these out, I've dropped an Amazon link in the description box below.

7:02 Now, moving on to the cameras, it's one feature I was much more excited about in the first week, but after a month, I think it matters a lot less than I thought. The big new feature this year is the physical variable aperture. The lens can open and close, giving you another way to control exposure and create the nice starburst effect around lights. As someone who shoots professionally, I love that Apple is giving us this level of control. But here's the thing. After a month, I think it's overrated, actually, because unlike a full-frame camera, the iPhone has a tiny sensor and a very wide main lens. So changing the aperture doesn't dramatically change your depth of field. You're not suddenly getting that, you know, shallow, creamy background from changing the aperture on a proper camera. There's even a small trade-off, too. At the widest f1.48 aperture, the lens is actually a little softer, particularly towards the edges, as you can see here. So, letting in the most light doesn't necessarily give you the sharpest image. It's a neat feature, but for most people, I just don't think variable aperture is going to change how you take photos. And we need to talk about the new pro controls here because I haven't seen enough people point this out. Most of these new camera controls aren't actually new to iPhone. Apps like Hide and Blackmagic have given us manual controls over things like shutter speed, white balance, and focus for years. What's new is that Apple has finally built them directly into the native camera app. But weirdly, Apple has software-locked these new stock camera controls to the 18 Pro models. There's no obvious hardware reason something like manual shutter speed or white balance couldn't work on 17 Pro or earlier models. I believe Apple calls that product differentiation. You may personally have another word for it. So, after a month, I think Apple has made the iPhone a much better camera for most people who want manual controls, but the actual images aren't dramatically better than the 17 Pro. Last year, we got much bigger hardware changes to the telephoto and selfie cameras this year. Put photos from the 17 Pro and 18 Pro side by side, and a lot of the time I can't tell them apart unless you see the starburst effect. That is not to say that the cameras aren't great. They are already incredible, and they have been for years. It's just not a dramatic jump. Now, moving on to the question I've probably been asked the most since my first day in the life review. Has the battery life actually improved? Well, I'm now averaging something like 6.5 hours screen active time and 3 hours screen idle time with mixed usage. And on lighter days, like without gaming or no camera usage, I'm ending the day with 50% left on the battery, which is pretty impressive. And 18 Pro owners out there, I'm actually curious what you're getting here because battery life reports seem to be all over the place. For me, I think I can say that I'm comfortably getting all-day usage on this phone, unless I'm travelling and using it heavily. It's definitely an improvement over my 17 Pro. But what's interesting is why. Because there isn't just one massive battery breakthrough here. The A20 Pro is more efficient. The C2 modem consumes less power. And the new thermal system helps the phone waste less energy as it heats up.

10:43 They're all relatively boring upgrades on their own, but they do make a difference every day. Now, before I move on to the dislikes, I have to give iOS 27 some praise because after living with the 18 Pro for a month, the thing that arguably changes the experience day-to-day is its software, iOS 27. Apple has really cleaned up Liquid Glass UI. It looks beautiful and there's more customisation throughout iOS than ever. And overall, it feels like a lot more polished and a refined version than when Liquid Glass first launched. But the much bigger upgrade is finally Siri. Siri AI is now properly conversational. It can understand follow-up questions, see what's on your screen, search through personal context like your messages and emails, and take actions across supported apps. It feels more like a modern AI assistant rather than something I only use to set timers, which sort of has been Siri's job description for like 15 years. It is still in beta and definitely isn't perfect, but this is probably the first time in years I've wanted to use Siri more. But all that said, there are also a few issues I've run into over the month with the 18 Pro. First is Face ID. I actually do appreciate the smaller Dynamic Island this year, but Apple moved part of the Face ID system underneath the display. And call me crazy, but I think Face ID just doesn't seem quite as reliable as it was on my previous iPhone. At certain angles, on the desk, it's just not unlocking the phone for me where it once did on the 17 Pro. And I don't think I'm the only one either. After a quick look online, apparently other 18 Pro owners are finding Face ID occasionally failing or even showing Face ID is not available. Apple actually pushed iOS 27.0.1 specifically to fix some of the early Face ID problems. It stopped a bug where failed authentication could literally crash and reboot the phone, which is wild. But even after updating, I still feel like mine is slightly less reliable at awkward angles than my 17 Pro. And then second is this thing here, camera control. I mentioned in my 16 Pro review a couple of years ago now, I wasn't a fan of camera control when Apple released it and introduced it. I still stand by that. I still accidentally brush it and change my exposure way more often than I actually use it intentionally. And at this point, I basically just use it as an expensive camera shortcut.

13:26 I can't be the only one, right? And then there is one issue I thought might just be my unit, which are the speakers. I'm finding that at higher volumes, it struggles with a more raspy sound and sometimes even pops from the speakers. I'll put it side by side against the 17 Pro speakers here. So, put on some headphones and tell me if you can hear the difference yourself.

14:01 It's not something that ruins the phone, and you might never notice it unless you're listening for it. But now that I've heard it, I kind of can't unhear it. Okay, so wrapping up one month later, I have found that the boring upgrades have become my favourite parts of the phone. The new thermals, better efficiency, the C2 modem, faster wireless connectivity, that type of stuff. These aren't features that look particularly exciting on Apple's website, but they're the things I noticed living with this phone every day. Meanwhile, some of the features I was most excited about, you know, variable aperture, have become much less important to me after a month. But now, I'm ironically less convinced that most people need to upgrade to it. It's definitely not that it's a bad iPhone. I think obviously it's an excellent one. It's that the 17 Pro here is just already remarkably close. And with the 18 Pro now costing more, that makes the value equation slightly less welcoming. So, if you're coming from a 17 Pro, I would absolutely hold on to it. You're not missing much, really, even from a 16 Pro, unless battery life, thermals, or the new camera controls specifically matter to you. I don't think there's a huge reason to rush out and upgrade. But if you're coming from something four or 5 years old, that's where the iPhone 18 Pro makes a lot more sense. You're not just getting, you know, this year's changes. You're stacking several generations of improvements at once. And honestly, I think that's already got a lot of us looking ahead. With the iPhone Duo and Apple's 20th anniversary iPhone on the horizon, I'm more curious about where the iPhone goes next than I am excited about what changed this year. Honestly, especially if Apple does go ahead with the rumoured curved-edge iPhone design. But that's another video for another day. Consider subscribing if you enjoy this review. And if you did make it to the very end, comment the code word modem, and I'll give it a like for making it to the very end.