Apple has made public the battery specs and RAM capacities for its newly announced iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max models. The data comes via energy labels required in the European Union, as well as through a recent update to Xcode 27 that reveals internal hardware details.
Battery Upgrades: Bigger Gains for Pro Max
The iPhone 18 Pro model carries a battery rated at 4,056 mAh—a modest 1.7% boost over the 3,988 mAh pack in the iPhone 17 Pro. The iPhone 18 Pro Max, by contrast, receives a much more substantial upgrade: its battery jumps to 5,391 mAh, roughly 11.7% higher than its predecessor’s 4,823 mAh. These figures apply to versions with a physical SIM tray.
Apple also confirmed that in select countries—including the U.S., Canada, Japan, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and others—the Pro models will be offered in eSIM-only versions. These variants gain a slightly larger battery, taking advantage of the space freed by eliminating the SIM tray. Capacities for the eSIM-only models have not yet been disclosed.
RAM Remains Consistent with Prior Generation
Both the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max are equipped with 12 GB of RAM, identical to the iPhone 17 Pro models. This confirmation comes from internal code within Xcode 27. The iPhone 18 Pro’s chip sibling, the iPhone Duo, isn’t listed yet in Xcode but is expected to match this 12 GB level since it uses the same A20 Pro processor.
Pricing, Availability, and Broader Context
The base prices for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max in the U.S. start at $1,199 and $1,299 respectively—both $100 higher than the entry prices for last year’s Pro models. Pre-orders begin September 12 at 5 a.m. Pacific Time, with shipping and full retail availability kicking off on September 18.
These upgrades arrive amid a landscape marked by global shortages in RAM chips, which have pressured manufacturers, including Apple, to recalibrate pricing and inventory plans. Though the RAM amount hasn’t increased, the battery improvements—especially on the Pro Max—aim to deliver better real-world usage time.
What this means: The iPhone 18 Pro Max emerges as the standout if battery life matters most—its 11.7% jump over the prior Max model is substantial. The Pro model sees only incremental gains in power, while RAM stays flat at 12 GB across the Pro line. With higher prices and strategic hardware tweaks like the eSIM-only variant, Apple appears focused on squeezing performance gains where they count, even if not uniformly across every spec. What to watch: actual usage tests to see how much of the battery bump translates into endurance, and how the market reacts to the price increase.
