Culture

iPhone 18 Pro review: The standard setter

Engadget staff@engadget.com (Cherlynn Low)

16 Sept 2026 22:00 AEST 1 min read Review A judgment of a work or a place. Rewritten in plain language

Show what we removed Rules applied: A1×7 A3×39 A4 A6×2 A9 C2 D2×23 D3×68 D4×4 E3×152 E5×7 F2×33 all 30 rules

Overview

The yardstick that all phones, including the Duo, will be measured by.
In addition to a tinier Dynamic Island, the iPhone 18 Pro's updates revolve around photography, performance and battery improvements.
The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max have the same 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch displays as their predecessors, with Ceramic Shield 2 protective glass coverings and ProMotion support for refresh rates up to 120Hz.
While Variable Aperture doesn't specifically fix Portrait mode on the iPhone 18 Pro, it does offer an alternative means to get a pleasant-looking soft focus effect.
The iPhone 17 Pro launched at a starting price of $1,099, which was $300 more than the iPhone 17.

5 sentences from our version of the report, chosen to cover it. Nothing here is written; every line is in the article below. How

Summarized version

The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max have the same 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch displays as their predecessors.

The report’s most important sentence, shortened and in plain words. How

Headline check

The one thing this headline claims is in the report.

Figures, names and quoted words in the headline, looked for in the report itself — not in the summary above. One claim in this headline could be checked, so this is a narrow pass and not a thorough one. How this is checked

The article, shortened and in plain language

The yardstick that all phones, including the Duo, will be measured by.

The iPhone Duo may have hogged the limelight at last week's "Surprise and Shine" event, but it won't be available for a while.

In addition to a tinier Dynamic Island, the iPhone 18 Pro's updates revolve around photography, performance and battery improvements.

Aside from the smaller Dynamic Island and the lovely new Burgundy and Glacier color options, you'd have a hard time spotting any physical differences between the iPhone 17 Pro and 18 Pro.

The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max have the same 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch displays as their predecessors, with Ceramic Shield 2 protective glass coverings and ProMotion support for refresh rates up to 120Hz.

Probably the most outstanding of the iPhone 18 Pro's updates are related to its cameras.

While Variable Aperture doesn't specifically fix Portrait mode on the iPhone 18 Pro, it does offer an alternative means to get a pleasant-looking soft focus effect.

While the redesigned, customizable Camera app will be coming to all phones that can upgrade to iOS 27, these Pro tools will be exclusive to the iPhone 18 Pro as they need the variable aperture to work.

Though the iPhone 18 Pro does start at $100 more than the iPhone 17 Pro did last year, Apple also added $100 to the current retail prices of the older iPhones that it still sells. The iPhone 17 Pro launched at a starting price of $1,099, which was $300 more than the iPhone 17.

Shortened to 1 minute of reading, this version reads 15.9 on the Niral Score.

You are reading our version, not theirs. This is Engadget's report shortened to its most important sentences, in plainer words, with verdicts and loaded words taken out. Plain description stays, and so do adjectives that carry a fact, such as "former" or "federal". The reporting, the facts and the quotations are theirs — quotations are never edited — and the indicators beside it measure this version. Hover or tap Adjectives to see every one left in the text.

Indicators

Niral Score 16.9was 20.7 mundaneloaded

Highlighted in the text. Words that carry a fact and quoted words are not counted.

iphone62aperture17camera16app12able10mode10cinematic9far9effects8features8iphones8see8bit7effect7get7picture7same7settings7shutter7though7variable7away6experience6ios6light6list6long6options6phone6right6speed6things6took6best5controls5difference5feature5later5lot5need5photography5titles5too5using5video5videos5way5week5access4added4almost4background4better4color4coming4current4differences4frequently4getting4hot4

Sentiment +0.1 hostilefavourable Political diction -0.0 left-codedright-coded Sourcing 30 unattributednamed sources Mood 47.7 sorrowjoyful

4 read zero: generational, gender, jingoistic, religious

Generational 0 harder on the oldharder on the young Gender 0 no gendered framingframing throughout Jingoistic 0 reports to a readerwrites from a camp Religious 0 not invokedovert

Measurements of how this article is written, not of whether it is correct. How each one is measured.

Measured on our version above. Struck through: the same measure of Engadget’s report as filed. The outlet comparison and the extension show the same pair.

See every word we changed

How this outlet filed it, and how we rewrote it

No other newsroom we read has filed on this event, so there is nothing to compare it with yet.

Outlet	Niral Score	Adjectives	Sourcing	Sentiment	Happiness
Engadgetas they published this story	20.7	94	30	0.1	47.7
Mundane Readneutralized from Engadget	16.9	88	30	0.1	47.7

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