Updated

Updated · Tom's Guide · Oct 5

iPhone 18 Pro Beats iPhone 16 Pro With 40% Sustained Performance Gain, but Costs $1,199

Updated

Updated · Tom's Guide · Oct 5

iPhone 18 Pro Beats iPhone 16 Pro With 40% Sustained Performance Gain, but Costs $1,199

Q: Does the new 60W charging speed genuinely benefit users when the required wall adapter is deliberately left out of the box?

Yes, but only for a subset of users. The iPhone 18 Pro’s 60W wired charging is a real upgrade on paper and in testing: Apple says it can reach 50% in about 15 minutes with the included USB-C cable and a compatible adapter, and published tests broadly support a clear improvement over prior Pro models. For people who routinely top up during the day, that can be genuinely useful. The catch is that Apple still does not include the wall adapter. To get the headline speed, buyers need more than any random USB-C charger: Apple specifies a 60W-or-higher USB-PD 3.2 adapter with Adjustable Voltage Supply, or Apple’s own 40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max. Many existing chargers, even high-wattage ones, may not deliver the full rate if they lack the right AVS support. That adds cost and complexity. So the benefit is uneven. Users who already own a compatible adapter, or who were planning to buy one anyway, will see a meaningful convenience gain. Users coming from older iPhones with basic 20W or 30W bricks may still charge faster than before with what they have, but not at the maximum 60W-class speed Apple advertises. That means the omission of the adapter does blunt the practical value of the upgrade, especially on a $1,199 phone. The faster charging is genuine, but not fully accessible out of the box.

3 articles · Updated · Tom's Guide · Oct 5

$1,199 iPhone 18 Pro delivers the clearest gains in performance, battery life and camera controls, but the comparison concludes most iPhone 16 Pro owners can wait another year.
A 2nm A20 Pro chip, aluminum chassis and vapor chamber help the new model sustain CPU/GPU performance 40% better than the older titanium design, while benchmark graphics nearly double to 61.9 fps from 28.6 fps.
Camera upgrades drive much of the appeal: the 18 Pro adds a 48MP telephoto, up to 8x optical zoom, mechanical variable aperture and manual Pro Controls in Apple's default camera app.
Battery life rises to 16 hours 17 minutes from 14 hours 7 minutes, and 60W wired charging reaches 53% in 15 minutes versus 29% on the 16 Pro.
The trade-off is price and limited day-to-day change elsewhere: Apple raised the starting price by $100 to $1,199, while both phones share a 6.3-inch 120Hz display and run iOS 27 with the same AI features.