A lab review published September 25, 2026, reported longer battery endurance, faster charging and louder speakers for the iPhone 18 Pro than for the iPhone 17 Pro. The tested physical-SIM model recorded a 16:43 Active Use Score, while its display brightness readings varied with the size of the white test patch. It did not reach Apple’s advertised 50% charge in 15 minutes in the reported charging test.
| Test area | Reported result | Variant or condition |
| Battery endurance | 16:43 Active Use Score; improved endurance across the screen-on tests versus iPhone 17 Pro | Physical-SIM model with a 4,056 mAh battery |
| Battery capacity | 4,288 mAh | eSIM-only model |
| Wired charging | Below Apple’s advertised 50% at 15 minutes; marginally faster than iPhone 17 Pro at that mark and 16 minutes earlier in the 30-minute comparison | Test used a Pixel Flex Dual Port 67W USB-C charger compliant with Apple’s AVS profile |
| Display brightness | Just under 1,000 nits | Auto mode, 75% white patch |
| Display brightness | More than 2,700 nits | Auto mode, 10% white patch |
| Minimum display brightness | 1 nit | Reported minimum measurement |
| Speaker loudness | -26.5 LUFS for iPhone 18 Pro; -28.9 LUFS for iPhone 17 Pro | Reported comparison |
The battery score belongs to the tested physical-SIM model
The physical-SIM iPhone 18 Pro, which has a 4,056 mAh battery, recorded a 16:43 Active Use Score. Its endurance improved over the iPhone 17 Pro across the screen-on tests in the review. The eSIM-only version has a reported 4,288 mAh battery, a different capacity from the model used for that score.
Charging improved over the iPhone 17 Pro, but missed Apple’s target
Apple advertises a 50% charge in 15 minutes. The reported test did not reach that target at the 15-minute mark. The iPhone 18 Pro was marginally faster than the iPhone 17 Pro at that point, and finished the 30-minute comparison 16 minutes earlier.
The test used a Pixel Flex Dual Port 67W USB-C charger that supports Apple’s AVS profile. The 67W rating describes the charger.
Display brightness depends on the test patch
The iPhone 18 Pro has a 6.3-inch LTPO OLED display with a resolution of 1206 × 2622 pixels and a 1–120 Hz refresh rate. It supports HDR10 and Dolby Vision. In auto mode, the display measured just under 1,000 nits with a 75% white patch and more than 2,700 nits with a 10% patch; the minimum measured brightness was 1 nit. The reported maximum-brightness levels matched those of the iPhone 17 Pro.
The speaker score is louder; the reported tuning changed little
The iPhone 18 Pro scored -26.5 LUFS, compared with -28.9 LUFS for the iPhone 17 Pro. The review described the newer phone as louder while saying the sound tuning changed little.
