The iPhone 18 Pro's game-changing feature isn't the variable aperture camera, special version of Siri AI or 'desktop-class' processor — it's that huge leap in battery life

I joined the tech journalism game just after the first iPhone launched, and I worked at an Apple reseller when the first one was announced, so I am as familiar as anyone can be with the sensation of watching the yearly iPhone stream and immediately weighing up whether the new model looks worth the upgrade or not.

I have the decision-making involved down to a fine art.

Well, actually, that's probably too romantic a way to put it — after nearly 20 years, it's probably more like a cold algorithm.

I have moved past feeling automatic excitement about all the things I'll definitely do with the new features of the iPhone 18 Pro , in the way that I once would have.

Don't get me wrong, the first variable aperture camera on an Apple phone would actually be genuinely useful to me, because I often have to take images of products for my work in rooms without a lot of light, and the larger aperture with improved sensor will mean cleaner, sharper images. (And as a video nerd, the variable shutter-speed recording option and 60fps cinematic mode both look cool as heck.) And the fact that the iPhone 18 Pro will get the smartest version of Siri is something I'm cautiously interested in.

I've found Apple Intelligence to be, bluntly, borderline disastrous so far — but the new version looks like it's on the right track.

It has the smarts to be an actually useful addition, instead of one that sometimes adds more confusion than it solves (which is my experience of Apple Intelligence to date).

And as a tech-head, I was super-impressed with the power put into the A20 Pro, with Apple saying its new "super cores" bring "desktop-class" performance.

Based on the stats we've seen before, I don't doubt it.

Having a dual neural processor system is quite the brute-force way to take the lead in AI computation power, and even ignoring most 'AI' uses, it could enable apps to do some really interesting stuff.

Again, this is the kind of thing that once would have tempted to upgrade me just for the potential — or the FOMO, depending on how you look at it. (Image credit: Jacob Krol/Future) Let's get practical But these things don't compel me the way they used to.

There was only one element of the iPhone 18 Pro that actually made me lean forward and go "Ooooh" — and it was the battery.

Right now, I have the iPhone 16 Pro , so I'm in the zone for a potential upgrade.

Apple is claiming a 34-hour battery life for the iPhone 18 Pro for video playback; for my iPhone 16 Pro, that figure is 27 hours.