Apple launches iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max with AI focus

Apple has launched the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, its most powerful phones yet, designed to serve as a central AI hub for users' lives, featuring new AI capabilities, improved performance, battery, and cameras. The new high-end models replace the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, which were Apple's most popular generation ever. Externally, the phones look nearly identical to their predecessors, aside from new color options, but internally they feature a faster A20 Pro chip with up to 40 percent better GPU performance and a redesigned Siri for AI-driven organization. The battery life is dramatically improved, with the smaller Pro matching last year's Pro Max and the new Pro Max lasting up to 45 hours, aided by a new cooling system. Apple also introduced a variable aperture camera and an "Apple Reference Image" feature to combat fake AI images, storing secure, unedited versions of photos.