iPhone 18 Pro Max and iPhone 17 Pro Comparison: A20 Pro, Shrinking Dynamic Island and Battery Difference

We compared iPhone 18 Pro Max and 17 Pro! Is the A20 Pro performance, smaller Dynamic Island and battery difference worth the price? Here are all the tests.

Apple's new generation flagship, iPhone 18 Pro Max, comes on the scene with innovations over its predecessor, the iPhone 17 Pro series, that are small on paper but bring critical differences in experience. In this comparison, the question "Is it worth it?" based on the daily use feel, design details and especially the hardware leaps under the hood. The answer to the question is sought.

While it is noteworthy that the Dynamic Island size has been reduced in the external appearance of the device and the Face ID hardware has been moved under the screen, the real big change is experienced in the A20 Pro processor with 2 nm production architecture, the growing battery capacity and the 48 MP main camera with variable aperture that can switch between f / 1.48 and f / 4.0.

A20 Pro Power, Battery and Under-Screen Face ID

In synthetic tests, the A20 Pro shows a performance increase of around 22% in Geekbench single-core and 26% in multi-core. While there was a jump of over 40% with the new GPU core added on the graphics side; The real striking point is the 87% speed increase achieved in the 32-core Neural Engine and local artificial intelligence (LLM) tests. The battery, which has increased to 5391 mAh and 60W fast charging support, easily lasts one and a half days in intensive use, reducing battery life concerns.

Although hardware upgrades offer a serious gain for users who edit professional videos or run local artificial intelligence models, it is difficult to feel the difference in speed in standard daily use. In addition, practical details that should be taken into consideration include the fact that the rear case retains fingerprints when used without a case, and the fact that old cases cannot fully protect the lenses due to the growing camera island.

Does Switching Make Sense for the Daily User?

It doesn't seem essential for an existing iPhone 17 Pro or 16 Pro series user to switch to this model just for speed; But for those looking to incorporate advanced variable aperture, advanced thermal management, and high-end native AI support into their workflow, the iPhone 18 Pro Max offers a strong upgrade.

Feature iPhone 18 Pro iPhone 17 Pro Screen 6.3 inch OLED 6.3 inch OLED Resolution 2622 × 1206 2622 × 1206 Processor A20 Pro A19 Pro RAM 12 GB 12 GB Storage 256 GB – 2 TB 256 GB – 1 TB Main Camera 48 MP, variable aperture 48 MP Ultra Wide Angle 48 MP 48 MP Telephoto 48 MP, 4x 48 MP, 4x Case Aluminum Aluminum Weight 211 g 204 g Connection Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, C2 modem Wi-Fi 7 Water Resistance IP68 IP68

So, how did you find the A20 Pro and variable aperture innovations in the iPhone 18 Pro Max? Is that enough reason to upgrade your current model, or is it more logical to wait for the next series? Don't forget to share your opinions and the details you are curious about in the comments!