iPhone 18 Pro EARLY LOOK! Major Leaks & Rumors!

Apple's planning a major shake-up for the next iPhone that's going to be pretty controversial, and today I want to give you an early look at the iPhone 18 Pro. There's an updated design, major camera overhaul, new types of connectivity, rebuilt AI chip, and more. It's actually unusual to know this many details this early on, but a lot has leaked, so I want to start off with the way that this phone looks because there's a few key upgrades that Apple is making. First, while the design will be pretty similar to the iPhone 17 Pro, Apple is updating the aluminum unibody to have a more unified look, especially on the back. While current iPhones have this two-tone appearance where the glass and the metal are different shades of the same color, the iPhone 18 Pro is going to streamline this, with both of these blending together much better, so they're almost indistinguishable. My read on this is that the existing Pro design just looks too industrial for a lot of folks, so Apple is kind of walking that back and making it a bit more friendly. Second, the iPhone 18 Pro is also going to be the thickest iPhone ever. Yes, for the second year in a row, Apple is actually increasing the depth of the iPhone so that they can fit more things on the inside. Like last generation, this suggests a larger battery is coming. More on that a bit later, but it also comes alongside a rumor saying this will make it the heaviest iPhone ever too. One source has the iPhone 18 Pro Max at 143 grams, which is 10 grams more than the current iPhone, and 3 grams more than the iPhone 14 Pro Max that currently holds the weight record. So I guess this is another reason as to why Apple continues to use aluminum, because if they went back to titanium now, I think it would just be too heavy. As for the third design change, it's really the rumored colors that are going to make the 18 Pro look so different, as Apple is currently prototyping three different options for 2026. The colors currently in testing include a deep red, light brown, and bright purple option. And just to be clear, we aren't going to get all three of these colors on the 18 Pro, Apple is just prototyping all of these, and they'll only select one by launch. Honestly, all three of these look like pretty solid options, and I could see a distinct market for either one of these that Apple chooses. But where things get really interesting is when you look at the 18 Pro's display. While sizes will remain at the current 6.3 and 6.9 inches, Apple is making a major change at the top, with sources saying that Dynamic Island is going away in favor of a new single hole punch camera that now sits in the top left corner of the screen. The key component in achieving this design is placing the Face ID sensors fully below the display, using a new technology known as spliced microtransparent glass that allows infrared rays to pass through without distortion. I think that part's pretty cool, but this camera punch hole in the top left hand corner, it looks like an Android, and that part confuses me. I have a feeling we don't have the full story here yet. Because remember, these were the leaks for the iPhone 14 Pro before we knew that Dynamic Island existed. There was this hardware change underneath we thought would look like the letter I, and Apple surprised everybody by unveiling this software change that made it look Apple-like. If I had to bet, that's exactly what we're going to see here. They're either moving Dynamic Island and shrinking it down, or completely redesigning it for a brand new UI that is suited to this top left hand placement. Although this still doesn't explain why Apple's moving it to the left, why not just keep it in the center? Well, it could have something to do with the new 24 megapixel selfie camera that's rumored for the 18 Pro. See, right now this would have to sit directly in the center of the phone, which is quickly becoming occupied by a lot of other components, even raised in the camera plateau. By shifting the front camera over to the left, that adds a lot of additional space for other components in the middle. And if you're putting a 24 megapixel sensor that should objectively be bigger than the current one, that could explain why. And considering what Apple is doing with the rest of the camera system this year, internal space is going to be more scarce than ever. We're going to get the same triangle camera setup again, but the wide camera this year is gaining yet another feature from traditional high-end DSLRs. Apple is planning to add a variable aperture lens to the main camera, meaning you'll be able to manually adjust how much light touches the camera sensor at any given time. This is going to give you a truly pro level of control that adjusts the background blur of photos known as depth of field. It can make video look smoother by making motion look more natural, and it will have an especially noticeable effect in low-light conditions because now you don't have to use the software to compensate for really bright or really dark environments. You can just adjust it on your phone manually. And this is said to work in conjunction with an all-new three-layer camera sensor, one that will ironically be made by Samsung for the first time, that is said to increase responsiveness, reduce noise in images, and support increased dynamic range. Now, taking a quick break with the holidays basically here, I'm already prepping to answer like a billion questions from my family about why their tech isn't working. And this year to help me out, I parted up with CleanMyMac, who sponsored today's video. See, CleanMyMac optimizes your entire Mac in just a click, with the smart care feature running a routine checkup that cleans, speeds up, and protects your Mac at once. Afterward, you're greeted with a summary of the tasks CleanMyMac is ready to run, like removing junk, upgrading apps, and performance, as well as cleaning up clutter. It's super satisfying to watch this work, and it kind of feels like giving your Mac a bath. They even have a great space lens feature for sorting through files on your hard drive, with a great interface that really lets you see what files are taking up the most space and how easy it is to remove them. And I've also been using the cloud cleanup feature a ton to see what's taking up so much space on my Google Drive, in order to avoid paying more for extra storage that I don't actually need. So get tidy today, try seven days free, and use my code APPLETRACK20 for 20% off. And a huge thank you to CleanMyMac for sponsoring this video. Now, let's get back to it. Interestingly, as Apple makes the main camera more complicated, they're said to be dumbing down another component of the camera system, which is the camera control button. As it stands right now, camera control supports both touch and pressure sensitivity, as well as click input. But for many users, including myself, I found it to be way more annoying than it is useful, as I'm always constantly activating it. So rumors suggested on the iPhone 18 Pro, Apple's removing that touch and pressure sensitivity completely, and the camera control button will just be a button for snapping a photo, or also launching up the camera app from lock screen. If I had to guess, Apple probably saw the usage statistics, and realized that while people use the button, they don't use the other stuff. So they could save money by cutting features there, and roll them into something like the expanded connectivity on the 18 Pro. First, it sounds like the iPhone 18 Pro is about to become a full-featured satellite phone. Like, remember how they started off their satellite features pretty simple, with things like emergency SOS? And then a bit later, they expanded access to send text over satellite to everyone? I found it weird that they kept saying this stuff is free for two years. They said that at the beginning, then they extended the date, and since then, they have just kept kicking the can down the road. So what has Apple been waiting to charge for? Well, the answer, according to this report, is satellite internet. And we know Apple loves their services, so full internet connectivity would likely be part of a new monthly subscription that fully turns your iPhone into an off-the-grid communicator. And aside from that being really cool, it could also be incredibly useful in rural areas, or places where traditional internet providers have not had service, or at least good service. But they're not stopping there, as at the same time, the iPhone 18 Pro will also mark another landmark for Apple's modem division, with the rollout of the C2. See, Apple's current C1 modems only support the slower sub-6GHz type of 5G, which isn't up to par for their high-end Pro devices. The C2 modem will add ultra-fast millimeter wave 5G on top of sub-6, both exceeding the performance of current Qualcomm modems and making cellular usage significantly more efficient. Efficiency is also going to be the major upgrade with Apple's new A20 processor, too. And this chip, like all the other components, is also going to be more than just a little upgrade. It's going to be Apple's first 2-nanometer silicon, which means you can fit more transistors into a smaller space, increasing power and efficiency simultaneously. The leaked numbers out right now say performance is going up by 15% and efficiency is increasing by 30%, which are absolutely insane numbers for a year-over-year change. But the best news here could be that the A20 might actually help the iPhone get better at AI. Apple's said to be employing a new manufacturing process on the A20 that moves the RAM closer to the other component tree, so it's going to make the response times for AI on device a lot quicker than before. I feel like every day we are hearing more stories about this A20 chip, and it's really giving me an M1 moment vibe, where this is not just a big upgrade. This is going to be a step change for iPhone processing and could put Apple back on the map for being an AI competitor. At the very minimum, it'll make battery life even better, with Apple making both the device thicker and the chip more efficient. I think Apple has already perfected battery on the Pro series, but this is set to extend that lead even further. Okay, so when are we getting all of this? When is the iPhone 18 releasing? Now, if you've been paying attention to the iPhone for a while, you would know that that comes out every September. This is a tradition that has gone essentially unbroken for over a decade. But in September of 2026, we are not getting all of the iPhone 18s at once. That's right. We are now hearing widely reported that Apple is setting up a split iPhone release between the Pro and non-Pro models, which is really odd. Here's how it's looking as of right now. In September of 2026, we are getting the iPhone 18 Pro, the iPhone 18 Pro Max, and the iPhone Ultra. That is going to be Apple's new super expensive high-end foldable that I made a recent video about if you want to learn more. And then six months after that, in March of 2027, we are getting the lower-end iPhone 18 and iPhone Air 2, alongside a cheaper iPhone 18e. Why is Apple doing this? Well, I think the answer is pretty simple. There are a lot of people that expect to buy a new iPhone in September of every year. And there's also a lot of people that buy the regular cheaper base iPhone. But if there is no regular new cheap base iPhone to buy and the holiday season is approaching, you're probably going to be more inclined to spend the additional money on a Pro. I think it's a pretty clever strategy to front load your most expensive models and then a little bit later show off the more dumbed down version that is a bit cheaper. Especially because everything we're hearing now about the base iPhone 18 is just that. That it is essentially going to be one-to-one with the iPhone 17 with a couple of minor changes like a new chip, but nothing else major to report. As for the iPhone Air 2, the current model is not selling well at all. So Apple's reportedly gone back to the drawing board, working to add a second camera and ultimately lower the price to be a bit more affordable. Of course, it's still early on, so many things are still subject to change. But overall, I think Apple is headed in the right direction. They seem to really care about making the iPhone interesting again, rather than doing the exact same boring thing time after time. There's a lot of other iPhone news we haven't even talked about in this video that I'll be covering in future ones. So make sure you hit subscribe in case you haven't already so you always stay up to date on the iPhone and Apple. I've been Sam, I hope you're doing well, and I will see you in the next video. Buh-bye.