[Hands-on] iPhone 18 Pro boosts camera and battery performance... AirPods 5 evolve to "pro-level"

iPhone 18 Pro's battery life improved
Camera enables professional-quality photography

Apple's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, launched in South Korea on September 18, retain the same form factor as their predecessors while offering improved camera and battery performance. After trying them out, I found that the upgraded camera made professional-quality photography possible, and the improvement in battery life was noticeable. The AirPods 5, which I used alongside the phones, also delivered noise cancellation impressive enough to be hard to believe in open-ear earbuds. I tried Apple's iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and AirPods 5 for a little over a month after their launch.

The front and back of Apple's iPhone 18 Pro Max. Photo by Lee Myunghwan.

First, it was difficult to spot any exterior changes to the iPhone 18 Pro compared with its predecessor. The screen size and thickness were unchanged, as were the enlarged rear camera plateau and the design combining an aluminum body with glass on the back. Even the phone case I had used with the iPhone 17 Pro fit the iPhone 18 Pro. A comparison of the device dimensions revealed only a slight difference in the height of the camera plateau.

However, there are more color options. The iPhone 18 Pro comes in Burgundy, Glacier, Silver, and Black. Burgundy and Glacier are bold choices rarely seen on flagship smartphones. Unlike its predecessor, which used different colors for the back glass to create a two-tone design, this model has a uniform color across the back.

Variable Aperture Adjusts Lens Size Freely... Longer Battery Life

A photo of two drinks set apart, taken with an iPhone 18 Pro. On the left, the aperture is set to f1.48, focusing on the drink in the foreground. On the right, the aperture is set to f4.0, keeping both drinks in the foreground and background in sharp focus. Photo by Lee Myunghwan.

The biggest improvement I noticed in everyday use was the camera. All three cameras - the main, ultra-wide, and telephoto - have 48-megapixel-class sensors, delivering the same high-quality photos as the previous model. The biggest change is the variable aperture on the main camera. The aperture moves to physically control the amount of light entering the lens; the lower the aperture value, the wider the lens opens. The aperture can be adjusted manually between f/1.48 and f/4.0, though it is set to automatic by default and adjusts according to the light at the shooting location and the subject. A lower aperture value can make the desired subject appear sharp while blurring the background. Photography professionals can adjust settings such as the aperture value and ISO themselves to take professional-quality photos.

Battery capacity and charging speed have also improved over the previous model. The iPhone 18 Pro's battery life is comparable to that of the larger iPhone 17 Pro Max, its predecessor's high-end model. According to Apple, the battery can support up to 34 hours of continuous video playback. After fully charging the battery, I used the phone for a range of activities - taking photos, browsing the web, messaging, and watching videos - from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., and more than 60% of the battery remained.

The lens size changes as the aperture is adjusted on the main camera (bottom left) of the iPhone 18 Pro. Photo by Lee Myunghwan

Charging is faster, too. The iPhone 18 Pro supports charging at up to 60 watts (W), compared with 40 W for its predecessor, the iPhone 17 Pro. According to Apple, using an adapter that supports charging at 60 W or higher can charge the phone from empty to up to 50% in about 15 minutes. When I connected a 65 W charger with the battery at 40%, the charge increased by more than 10 percentage points in just over 10 minutes.

The pill-shaped area housing the front camera has also become smaller. In addition to the front camera, the iPhone 18 Pro has an infrared (IR) camera for Apple's Face ID authentication system, and this model hides the IR camera behind the display. The smaller pill-shaped area means less of the screen is obscured, and it makes Apple's Dynamic Island user interface - which displays information such as currently playing music and delivery updates - more useful. Through the previous model, the Dynamic Island could show up to two activities at once; starting with this model, it can show three simultaneously.

The front camera area of the iPhone 18 Pro. With the camera taking up less space, the Dynamic Island can display up to three activities at once. Photo by Lee Myunghwan

Performance was also smooth, thanks to Apple's latest A20 Pro chip. The phone handled everything from watching videos and browsing the web to gaming without slowing down or stuttering. It also has a vapor chamber to control heat, preventing the device's temperature from rising sharply.

One drawback that became apparent during use was the weight. The increased weight made the phone feel cumbersome to carry. The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max weigh 211 grams and 249 grams, respectively. Both are the heaviest Pro models released since the iPhone 11 Pro. Their weight has increased with the addition of a vapor chamber to dissipate heat and a variable-aperture camera module, on top of the aluminum exterior carried over from the previous model. The iPhone 18 Pro Max weighs just 5 grams less than the foldable iPhone Duo, which weighs 254 grams.

Higher prices, driven in part by the global memory chip shortage, are another concern. The starting price in South Korea for the least expensive model, the iPhone 18 Pro with 256 gigabytes (GB) of storage, is 1.99 million won, close to 2 million won. The most expensive model, the iPhone 18 Pro Max with 2 terabytes (TB) of storage, costs 3.99 million won. The U.S. launch price of the iPhone Pro models had remained fixed at $999 for some time, but this time prices in the U.S. also rose by $100 each.

AirPods 5 Offer Pro-Level Noise Cancellation... At a Lower Price

Apple AirPods 5 wireless charging model. Reporter Lee Myeonghwan.

The AirPods 5 wireless earbuds I tried added new features compared with their predecessor while coming in at a lower price. Noise cancellation, previously available only on the active noise cancellation (ANC) version of the AirPods 4, is now standard across all models. The AirPods 5 come in a standard model and a wireless charging model. The wireless charging model costs 229,000 won, 40,000 won less than the previous model's ANC version, which cost 269,000 won.

The feature I noticed most while wearing them was the noise cancellation. When I put on the AirPods 5 and turned it on, surrounding noise was blocked out, allowing me to focus on the music. Noise cancellation works by having the microphones built into the AirPods analyze external sounds in real time and play sound waves in the opposite phase alongside the music to reduce the noise.

The AirPods 5 delivered strong noise cancellation despite their open-ear design, which does not block the ear canal and is therefore less suited to blocking out noise. In environments with recurring, moderate-level noise, such as inside an airplane, their noise cancellation was comparable to that of the AirPods Pro series, which has an in-ear design. However, in noisy places such as cafes crowded with people talking, the earbuds could not fully reduce external noise because of the limitations of their design.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.