The September 9 Surprise and Shine Apple Event is a few days away, and dummy units of the iPhone 18 Pro Max have appeared online with hands-on footage. The biggest leaks include a new “Dark Cherry” colourway and some small but essential hardware modifications.
The latest dummy units and leaks of the iPhone 18 Pro Max include several intriguing features and improvements that will likely make their way to the next flagship.
Among the standouts is the colour range offered, including the addition of a Dark Cherry Hero Colour (a deep burgundy tone) that pairs with the new Sky Blue colour and the reintroduction of plain black.
The iPhone 18 Pro Max will feature a thicker camera plateau, with the camera module seeming more protruded than the iPhone 17 Pro Max in terms of looks and functionality. The tweak allows for a variable aperture opening, which will mean better control of depth of focus and light, and thus better photographic capability.
Additionally, the Dynamic Island feature is slated for refinement, with the display’s pill-shaped cutout anticipated to be reduced by around one-third. This change will provide more screen space, which should make for a better experience.
The phone’s construction has also seen small changes, with a 0.2mm increase in thickness and a slightly heavier build. The adjustments are mainly to make room for a bigger battery, perhaps up to 5,500 mAh, for extended use.
Finally, at the core of the device is the new A20 Pro chip, a fundamental shift in Apple’s silicon technology from its usual FinFET design to gate-all-around (GAA) nanosheet transistors. This change allows for various improvements in design and performance.
Key specs include TSMC’s breakthrough 2-nanometre process using GAAFET technology that helps better regulate electrical currents and reduces leakage. It’s a much smaller transistor size, with components 50% smaller at the gate level compared to previous 3nm devices. This miniaturisation enables the integration of billions more transistors onto the same silicon footprint.
As for the performance and efficiency, the A20 Pro chip is said to provide maximum CPU speeds 10-15% higher than the A19 Pro with a similar power consumption. What’s more, power consumption is likely to be reduced by 30%, which will improve the battery life.
The A20 Pro also employs advanced packaging technologies, including the Wafer-Level Multi-Chip Module (WMCM) that brings the CPU, GPU, Neural Engine and RAM closer together to enable better performance. LPDDR6 RAM increases memory bandwidth, an important factor for more sophisticated on-device processing, including Apple Intelligence models.
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The Neural Engine and Graphics features are also seeing upgrades, including a larger Neural Engine that can better handle real-time AI tasks like removing objects from videos and taking advantage of advanced camera features. The Neural Ray Tracing GPU also opens up better gaming experiences with specialised acceleration and less heat emissions.
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Finally, the A20 Pro comes with specialised chips such as the C2 Cellular Modem for better 5G and satellite connectivity and the N2 Wireless Chip for better connectivity with Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth, and Ultra-Wideband (UWB). These improvements make the A20 Pro processor a cornerstone for the next generation of devices in Apple’s ecosystem.
Overall, these features indicate the iPhone 18 Pro Max will be a massive leap in terms of design and technology.
