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The iPhone 18 Pro's manual controls are worth $270 only to people who will shoot manually
Apple put real aperture blades in the Pro and Pro Max and priced them at $1,199 and $1,299. CNET's reviewer loves the camera and still sends most buyers to last year's iPhone 17 at $929.
The Product Desk · Product desk
What happened
- The iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max go on sale on Friday, Sept. 18, and both are already available to preorder.
- Apple added aperture blades to the two Pro models, and CNET's reviewer says he can dial in aperture, shutter speed and a Photographic Style with film grain.
- CNET's reviewer says most people would be better served by last year's iPhone 17, even at its higher starting price, than by either new Pro.
- The standard iPhone was not updated to round out the 18 family and is now expected early next year, according to CNET.
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Why it matters
- cost The camera hardware is the only part of this upgrade that has to be bought. The manual-control experience is partly rentable through a third-party app on a phone the buyer already owns, per CNET.
- decision With no standard iPhone 18 until early next year, a shopper who wants a current Apple phone this month is choosing between a Pro at $1,199 and last year's lineup.
- contradiction The review sells the phone on hands-on aperture and shutter control while flagging that the dedicated camera button cannot set either, so a store demo will not tell a buyer how the feature feels.
- exposure iPhone 15 Pro owners are steered toward a battery replacement: the question turns from a $1,199 purchase into a service bill.
Some of what makes the 18 Pro feel new can be had without buying one. iOS 27 and the Siri AI beta run on the iPhone 17 [10], and CNET's reviewer notes that an app like Halide gets you some of the 18 Pro's new manual camera controls [11]. The aperture blades come only with the hardware.
At base configurations the gap is $270: $1,199 for the 18 Pro against $929 for the iPhone 17 [1][2][3]. Step up to the Pro Max at $1,299 and it is $370 [1][3]. Battery life is not in that gap. CNET's testing so far has the new Pros matching the 17 Pro and Pro Max [9], and the iPhone 17 tied for second among 35 phones in the site's charging and battery tests [12].
The new Pros are heavy. CNET puts that down to the aluminum unibody, the large battery and a palm-sized vapor cooling system, and writes that Apple prioritized 18 Pro features over a thin-and-light design [18].
The review compares shooting with the phone to using a Fujifilm X100VI [19] and describes dialing in aperture, shutter speed and a Photographic Style with film grain [4]. Its own con list says Camera Control can't adjust aperture or shutter speed [6].
CNET sorts the upgrade by what you already own. From a 14 Pro or older, it calls this a solid upgrade [16]. For 15 Pro owners it suggests checking battery capacity and health and replacing the battery instead of upgrading right now [17]. "Owners of the iPhone 16 Pro or 17 Pro can comfortably sit this year out," the review said [15].
The split I would use has two columns. In the first, what only this hardware does: the widest aperture Apple has shipped, which is what makes the dark-scene photos and video, the light trails and the starbursts possible [5]. In the second, everything the software gives you on a phone you already have [10][11]. The $270 is for the buyer who sets the exposure himself, month after month. For anyone else it buys a control that the review's own con list says the camera button cannot reach [3][6].
The reviewer says so himself. "I've taken some of my favorite iPhone images ever with the iPhone 18 Pro Max, and yet, I don't think just anyone should buy it," the review said [7].
What to watch
- Whether the standard iPhone 18, expected early next year, gets the aperture blades or leaves them Pro-only.
- Whether Apple wires aperture and shutter speed into Camera Control in a later iOS 27 update.
- Whether full battery testing keeps the 18 Pro level with the 17 Pro once CNET runs its 35-phone comparison.