iPhone 15 Pro
A17 Pro chip, 8 GB of memory, up to 23 hours of video playback. The telephoto lens itself is 3x, with 12MP; ultra wide 12MP, front camera 12MP.
iPhone Pro · four generations
Counting lenses, not crops, the 16 Pro has the longest telephoto of the four.
This report follows the chip, memory, battery life and every camera across four generations of iPhone Pro. The chip and battery life improved in every generation, and memory went from 8 GB to 12 GB at the 17. The 16 replaced the 15 Pro’s 3x telephoto with a 5x one and moved the ultra wide to 48MP. The 17 swapped the 5x lens for a 4x one with four times the pixels, and moved the front camera to 18MP. The 18 kept those resolutions and gave the main camera a variable aperture.
Jump to the camerasWhat this report compares
Every new iPhone Pro is sold as a step up. This report checks what actually changed across four generations, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro, using Apple's own spec pages. It is for anyone deciding whether to replace an older iPhone Pro, or choosing between an older model and the newest.
The report compares the chip, memory, battery life and cameras. Design, display, materials and connectivity are not compared here. Within what it covers, it sets aside what is the same on all four and shows what differs: what you would notice after upgrading.
The four generations
iPhone 16 Pro
A18 Pro chip, 8 GB of memory, up to 27 hours of video playback. The telephoto lens itself is 5x, with 12MP; ultra wide 48MP, front camera 12MP.
iPhone 17 Pro
A19 Pro chip, 12 GB of memory, up to 31–33 hours of video playback depending on the market. The telephoto lens itself is 4x, with 48MP; ultra wide 48MP, front camera 18MP.
iPhone 18 Pro
A20 Pro chip, 12 GB of memory, up to 34–36 hours of video playback depending on the market. The telephoto lens itself is 4x, with 48MP; ultra wide 48MP, front camera 18MP.
Why these four? They are the four most recent generations of Apple's smaller Pro model. The iPhone Pro Max has its own report, because its telephoto changed differently.
How to read this report
- Chip, memory and battery: what changed every generation, and what changed only once
- The cameras, lens by lens: which zoom levels are a real lens and which are a crop
- From teardowns and lab tests: sensors and camera scores Apple does not publish
Specifications come from Apple's own pages, read on 14 September 2026. Apple does not publish memory, sensor details or camera test scores, so those come from named third parties, listed with the sources at the end; sensors and scores sit in a table of their own.
The short answer
What the iPhone 18 Pro adds depends on the phone you have now.
If you have an iPhone 17 Pro
The iPhone 18 Pro adds the A20 Pro chip, a variable aperture on the main camera and 3 more hours of video playback. Memory and every camera resolution stay the same.
If you have an iPhone 16 Pro
The iPhone 18 Pro adds a newer chip (A20 Pro against A18 Pro), 4 GB more memory, 7–9 more hours of video playback, an 18MP front camera and a variable aperture on the main camera. The telephoto goes from 12MP to 48MP, but its lens is shorter, 4x instead of 5x, and Apple's 8x is a crop from it.
If you have an iPhone 15 Pro
The iPhone 18 Pro adds a newer chip (A20 Pro against A17 Pro), 4 GB more memory, 11–13 more hours of video playback, a 48MP ultra wide, an 18MP front camera and a variable aperture on the main camera. The telephoto lens goes from 3x to 4x and from 12MP to 48MP, and Apple's 8x is a crop from it.
Part 1
What changed, generation by generation
The chip changed in every generation, from the A17 Pro to the A20 Pro, and so did battery life: Apple's video-playback figure rose each time, from 23 hours on the iPhone 15 Pro to as many as 36 on the iPhone 18 Pro. From the iPhone 17 Pro on, that figure depends on the market: models sold in the United States and Japan list 2 hours more than those in the other 6 markets. Memory changed once, from 8 GB to 12 GB at the iPhone 17 Pro. Apple does not publish memory, so that row comes from third parties.
iPhone 15 Pro
iPhone 16 Pro
iPhone 17 Pro
iPhone 18 Pro
Chip
A17 Pro
A18 Pro
A19 Pro
A20 Pro
Memory
8 GB
8 GB
12 GB
12 GB
Video playback
23h
27h
33hUnited States, Japan31hChina, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia, United Kingdom, Germany
36hUnited States, Japan34hChina, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia, United Kingdom, Germany
Part 2
The cameras, lens by lens
The telephoto lens itself is 3x on the 15 Pro, 5x on the 16 Pro and 4x on the 17 and 18. The 8x Apple advertises on the newer two uses part of that telephoto’s 48MP sensor to take a 12MP photo. So the 17 and 18 do reach further than the 16, but by cropping. The main camera is 48MP on all four.
At each zoom level: a real lens, or a crop
Zoom is counted from the main camera as 1x; the small figure is the focal length Apple lists. “Lens” means a camera of its own; “crop” is a photo taken from only part of one lens’s pixels.
iPhone 15 Pro
iPhone 16 Pro
iPhone 17 Pro
iPhone 18 Pro
0.5x13 mm
Lens12MP
Lens48MP
Lens48MP
Lens48MP
1x24 mm
Lens48MP
Lens48MP
Lens48MP
Lens48MP
2x48 mm
Crop12MP
Crop12MP
Crop12MP
Crop12MP
3x77 mm
Lens12MP
—
—
—
4x100 mm
—
—
Lens48MP
Lens48MP
5x120 mm
—
Lens12MP
—
—
8x200 mm
—
—
Crop12MP
Crop12MP
What differs
Only rows that change between generations. “Not listed” means Apple’s page for that model does not mention it.
iPhone 15 Pro
iPhone 16 Pro
iPhone 17 Pro
iPhone 18 Pro
Main camera
Aperture
ƒ/1.78
ƒ/1.78
ƒ/1.78
ƒ/1.48–ƒ/4.0variable
Ultra Wide
Resolution
12MP
48MP
48MP
48MP
Telephoto
Lens
77 mm3x lens
120 mm5x lens
100 mm4x lens
100 mm4x lens
Resolution
12MP
12MP
48MP
48MP
Longest reach
77 mm3x lens
120 mm5x lens
200 mm8x crop
200 mm8x crop
Digital zoom, photo
15x
25x
40x
40x
Digital zoom, video
9x
15x
15x
24x
Front camera
Resolution
12MP
12MP
18MP
18MP
Center Stage
Not listed
Not listed
Listed
Listed
ProRes RAW
Not listed
Not listed
Listed
Listed
Log video
Log
Log
Apple Log 2
Apple Log 2
Video
4K, top frame rate
60 fps
120 fps
120 fps
120 fps
ProRes 4K, top frame rate
60 fps
120 fps
120 fps
120 fps
ProRes RAW
Not listed
Not listed
Listed
Listed
Log video
Log
Log
Apple Log 2
Apple Log 2
Genlock
Not listed
Not listed
Listed
Listed
Dual Capture
Not listed
Not listed
Listed
Listed
Cinematic mode, 4K
30 fps
30 fps
30 fps
60 fps
Slo-mo, 4K
Not listed
120 fps
120 fps
120 fps
Improved low-light video
Not listed
Not listed
Not listed
Listed
Photo and controls
Macro
Listedresolution not stated
48MP
48MP
48MP
Camera Control button
Not listed
Listed
Listed
Listed
Spatial photos
Not listed
Listed
Listed
Listed
Manual aperture and shutter
Not listed
Not listed
Not listed
Listed
The same on all four
- Main camera: 48MP, 24 mm
- 2x: a 12MP mode of the main camera, at 48 mm
- Ultra Wide: 13 mm, ƒ/2.2, 120° field of view
- Front camera: ƒ/1.9, 4K up to 60 fps
Part 3
More from teardowns and lab tests
Apple does not say whose camera sensors it uses, and it publishes no lab scores. Two kinds of outside source fill part of that gap: teardown firms, which take a phone apart and identify its parts, and camera labs, which score a camera under set test conditions. Neither is Apple, so their figures sit in a table of their own, and the notes under it say which scores can be compared with which.
iPhone 15 Pro
iPhone 16 Pro
iPhone 17 Pro
iPhone 18 Pro
Sensor, from teardowns
Main camera
Sony IMX803report says “Pro (Max)”, not which one
Sony IMX903report says “Pro (Max)”, not which one
Unknown
Unknown
Ultra Wide
Unknown
Sony IMX9721/2.55"
Unknown
Unknown
VCX-Forum PhoneCam
Score, out of 100
64PhoneCam 2025 · tested 2025-05
Not tested
Not tested
Not tested yet
DXOMARK Camera
Score
154Camera v5 · tested 2023-10
157Camera v5 · no test date published
168Camera v6 · tested 2025-09
Not tested yet
Sensors: every filled cell rests on one publisher, the teardown firm TechInsights. “Unknown” means we found no teardown that names it for the Pro; figures that appear only on review sites, or only for the Pro Max, are left out. As of 14 September 2026, we found no teardown of the 18 Pro.
VCX-Forum has tested only the 15 Pro, so there is nothing to compare it with yet. Its scores are measured from test charts only, out of 100. VCX is a non-profit. Its published member list includes Google, Samsung and DXOMARK and does not list Apple; it leaves out members who ask to stay anonymous.
The 15 Pro and 16 Pro were both tested under version 5 of DXOMARK’s method, so those two can be compared. The 17 Pro was tested under version 6, and DXOMARK says results from the two versions are not directly compatible. DXOMARK shows no test date for the 16 Pro’s score. None of these can be compared with VCX, which uses a different scale. DXOMARK also sells testing and tuning services to phone makers, and says it keeps that work separate from its published scores.
The bottom line
If you have an iPhone 17 Pro, the iPhone 18 Pro changes the least of the areas this report covers: a newer chip, a variable aperture on the main camera and more battery life. Memory and the camera resolutions stay the same.
If you zoom in often, the telephoto is what changed most. The 15 Pro's telephoto lens is 3x, the 16 Pro's is 5x and from the 17 it is 4x; the 8x on the newer two is a crop from that lens.
If battery life is your reason to upgrade, every generation added some, and the iPhone 18 Pro lists the most: up to 36 hours of video playback in the United States and Japan.
Sensor details and lab scores come from third parties and do not yet cover every generation. As of 14 September 2026 we had found none for the iPhone 18 Pro.
Where this comes from
Specifications
support.apple.com/<locale>/111829, 121031, 125090 · apple.com/<market>/iphone-18-pro/specs/Memory
www.ifixit.com/Guide/iPhone+16+Pro+Chip+ID/177358Memory
www.macrumors.com/2023/09/12/iphone-15-pro-models-have-8gb-ram/Show all 11 sources
Memory
www.macrumors.com/2025/09/09/iphone-17-pro-iphone-air-ram-amounts/Memory
www.macrumors.com/2026/09/09/iphone-18-pro-and-pro-max-ram/Sensors (teardown)
www.techinsights.com/blog/iphone-16-pro-max-vs-iphone-15-pro-max-rear-wide-angle-camera-isp-comparison-imx803-vs-imx903Sensors (teardown)
www.techinsights.com/blog/sony-imx972-advanced-floorplan-analysisCamera test scores
vcx-forum.org/score/phonecam-2025/mobiles/apple-iphone-15-proCamera test scores
www.dxomark.com/smartphones/Apple/iPhone-15-ProCamera test scores
www.dxomark.com/smartphones/Apple/iPhone-16-ProCamera test scores
www.dxomark.com/apple-iphone-17-pro-camera-test/Last updated 2026-09-14