iPhone 18 Pro Max lasts up to three days but feels unwieldy

The iPhone 18 Pro Max battery lasted close to three days of light use in testing, with about seven hours of screen time spread across apps, browsing, messages and photos. That is roughly four hours more than the 17 Pro Max managed in the same kind of use.

On heavier days, with more video and gaming, it still finished with around 50% left. In practice, most people will plug it in every second or third night. The official spec list puts it at up to 44 hours, which is a lab-style figure rather than a mixed-use day.

It also clearly beats the smaller iPhone 18 Pro, by somewhere between half a day and a full day depending on how you use it. That puts the Pro Max level with the longest-lasting phones on Android too.

The battery should age well. It is rated to keep at least 80% of its capacity after more than 1,000 full charges, and a UK replacement costs £119 if it does wear out.

The 18 Pro Max weighs 249g (8.78 ounces). That is 38g more than the 18 Pro, 23g more than its closest big-phone rival and more than some folding phones. Last year’s 17 Pro Max weighed 8.22 ounces, so the new model has put on weight without getting any bigger.

The body is otherwise almost unchanged. It measures 163.4mm tall and 8.75mm thick, and it keeps the camera bar on the back that stops the phone rocking on a table. Side by side, it is hard to tell from last year’s model unless you pick one of the new colors.

The practical advice is simple. Plan on using it with two hands, and think about a grip, strap or ring on the back. Reviewers found it tiring to hold for long stretches without one.

The main camera now has a variable aperture, which means the opening that lets light in can widen or narrow like a regular camera lens. It can open wider than any previous iPhone, from f/1.48 down to f/4.0. Wide open, it lets in more light for night shots. Narrower, it keeps more of a scene sharp and lets you shoot starburst effects around lights.

Most people can leave it on automatic. New Pro controls in the Camera app let enthusiasts set the aperture by hand, but the physical Camera Control button can’t adjust it yet. Reviewers agreed the photos are excellent, while the gain in image quality from the new aperture is fairly small. All three rear cameras are 48MP, including a 4x telephoto and an ultra-wide, and the front camera is 18MP.

The 6.9-inch OLED screen is very bright, rated up to 3,000 nits, with a good anti-glare coating. The Dynamic Island cutout at the top is smaller this year because Apple moved part of the Face ID sensor under the display. One reviewer heard complaints that Face ID got slower but did not notice any change.

Inside is the A20 Pro chip with 12GB of memory, and a redesigned cooling system that helps it stay fast during long games. Benchmarks show a clear jump over last year’s A19 Pro.

The other big change is software. iOS 27 brings the new Siri, which can understand what is on your screen, see through the camera, and pull details from your messages, mail and photos. Reviewers say it finally does simple jobs like timers reliably again. But it mostly works with Apple’s own apps, so it couldn’t find things in WhatsApp, Gmail or Telegram during testing.

For people on an older iPhone, yes, if you want the best battery life Apple sells. You get a much faster chip, the new Siri, a brighter screen and days of runtime instead of hours.

If you already own a 17 Pro Max, reviewers broadly say skip it. The design is the same, the cameras are only slightly better and the new Siri also runs on older phones. iOS 27 itself runs on iPhones going back to the iPhone 11.

If you want something lighter, the 18 Pro has the same chip and cameras in a smaller body for $1,199 in the US and £1,199 in the UK. You lose some battery life but save 38g and $100.

Repairs are worth budgeting for. An out-of-warranty screen repair costs £389 in the UK, and repair specialists gave the phone a seven out of ten repairability score.

Apple announced the iPhone 18 Pro Max on September 9, 2026, and it went on sale on September 18. It starts at $1,299 in the US, £1,299 in the UK and €1,599 in Europe. In the US that is $100 more than the 17 Pro Max cost at launch. It is no longer Apple’s priciest phone, because the folding iPhone Duo costs £2,000 in the UK.

The colors are Black, Silver, Glacier and a new Burgundy, which looks rich but picks up fingerprints easily. Storage starts at 256GB. Sources differ on the top tier, with some listing 1TB and others 2TB, so check Apple’s store for your country before you order.

For comparison, UK prices for rival big phones are £1,279 for the Google Pixel 11 Pro and £1,359 for the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra.