iPhone 18 Max: Apple's Biggest Flagship Is Here — US Price and Where to Buy

The short version: the iPhone 18 Max replaces the Pro Max naming, starts at $1,199 for 256 GB, and is on sale now in the US at Apple, Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and carriers.

What's actually new

• Variable aperture main camera (f/1.4–f/2.8): a first for iPhone — better low light without night mode, real depth control in portraits. This was the headline hardware upgrade we predicted in our iPhone 18 expectations piece.
• A20 Pro on 2nm: roughly 25% better efficiency; in early testing the 5,100 mAh battery is the best endurance we've seen on an iPhone.
• 12 GB RAM: finally matches Android flagships for heavy multitasking and on-device AI.
• 50W wired charging: 50% in about 25 minutes with a 60W+ charger (sold separately, naturally).

iPhone 18 Max vs what you have

• Coming from iPhone 15 Pro Max or older: meaningful upgrade — camera aperture, battery, charging, AI features.
• Coming from iPhone 17 Pro Max: evolutionary. Our head-to-head says wait unless the camera matters to you.
• On a budget? The standard iPhone 18 at $799 keeps the A20 chip and 48MP camera. Max vs standard iPhone 18 →

US launch prices

• iPhone 18: $799 (128 GB)
• iPhone 18 Max: $1,199 (256 GB); $1,399 (512 GB); $1,699 (1 TB)
• Carrier deals: AT&T is advertising $999 with eligible trade-in; see our full review for ongoing test updates.

Our take

Full lab review is underway — long-term battery and camera testing takes two weeks. Our review-request queue asked for this one, and the queue was right. Subscribe to the newsletter below for the verdict, and see how it stacks up against Samsung's Galaxy S26 Ultra in the meantime.