iPhone 18 Pro Review - My Last iPhone?

Video ID: PjAyUhf52D0

YouTube URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjAyUhf52D0

Added At: 24-09-26 23:00:16

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Sentiment: -

Categories: Ai, Technology

Tags: iphone, review, last, full, thought

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Oh my gosh, I'm so done with this. Every
year Apple does a flashy event. Every
year I buy the new iPhone and every
single year after 10 minutes of setting
it up, it looks the exact same.
>> What were you expecting it to do? I
think this is one of the best upgrades.
>> I don't know, just something that
doesn't involve me watching a 20-minute
YouTube deep dive.
>> Um
>> [music]
>> I mean literally right there in the
middle of your screen, the dynamic
island is smaller.
>> Oh, wow. My mind is aglow with the
possibilities of an extra 1% of screen
area.
>> It was an example. I can give you three
proper reasons if you give me the chance
that are irrefutable.
>> All right, fine. I'll hear you out. But
if you can't convince me, which you
won't, then
my iPhone buying spree ends today.
>> Pressure's on.
>> Well, let me start with an easy win
then. I assume you've tested the
battery. In fact, what are you on right
now? 56%
and we're almost approaching bedtime.
What do you want me to say? Yeah, the
battery's good, but battery life is a
very solved problem at this point. I
mean, how many phones are there now? How
many Oppos and Xiaomis and Vivos that
actually have like 7,000 milliamp hour
batteries? And you're here trying to
make it seem like Apple just invented
the battery itself because they have
what? 5,400?
>> Oh.
You're not going to like this. You
weren't looking, so I decided to
secretly slip one of your precious Oppos
into one of your battery tests. You did
>> what?
>> Hey man, snooze you lose.
But do you want to know what happened?
It lost. The iPhone 18 Pro Max lasted 7
minutes longer than one of its 7,000
milliamp hour plus world-leading silicon
carbon battery counterparts.
>> This is a violation.
>> Yes. Yes, it was. Do you want to know
the funny part? The iPhone that I was
using in that test is the smaller
battery capacity physical SIM version.
If I had the e-sim model, it would have
been a substantial lead. So, this isn't
just good battery for an iPhone. This is
world-class because it's so efficient
now. And the one side to this where
Apple was, I'll admit, bottom of the
pile, the charging, that's caught up too
now. Now, don't start telling me that
battery's is important.
>> All right. Okay, Fine.
I've been slightly cooked here. You can
have battery. One point to you.
Congratulations. But, that's an
exception because
I mean, what else even changed? Every
event these days they keep talking about
thermal efficiency, but I've never had a
thermal problem in my life, even when
gaming. They keep talking about power,
but how many games of Bloons do they
think I'm running at once? And they are
multiplying their AI performance, but do
they not see how hilarious that sounds
when they have literally the least
sophisticated AI of any current
smartphone? Like, whoop-de-do, I can
turn an astronaut into a dinosaur in
Image Playground, or I can reframe this
perfectly normal real photograph of my
family into an AI slot piece because, of
course, that's worth it for a better
angle. But, why am I still struggling
with absolute basics like being able to
search for what I want in my settings,
or my phone understanding my voice when
I dictate to it? [music] Apple said they
just improved it, but still, why am I
still struggling with absolute basic?
It's actually self-corrected its own
grammar.
Okay, stop for a second because that is
exactly it. It's only if the thermals
are working well that you don't notice
them. You not ever worrying about
thermals does not mean that Apple
shouldn't worry about thermals. And in
fact, you are benefiting cuz your phone
running cooler is actually just going to
extend how long it lasts.
>> [music]
>> And it's very clear that the new A17 Pro
chip is able to push itself much harder
now, and it can only do that because it
has adequate heat dissipation. Yes, but
the point is,
why? I was playing the latest drift
racing game on my 18 Pro Max yesterday.
It's a gorgeous game, and I was feeling
for a second like maybe, just maybe,
this purchase was worth it. But then I
bumped into my friend, who,
>> [music]
>> it turns out, was playing the exact same
game perfectly on his 15 Pro Max. So,
every year when Apple gets on stage and
they show these beautiful gaming demos
to try and convince you that you need
the new chip, they're skimming over a
very important detail, which is that
they could have just played the exact
same game on their last gen chips.
Let me ask you a question. Why didn't
you try that game on a 14 Pro Max?
>> Um, because I'm a sadist who has every
single iPhone ready to go all times.
>> Touche. But, here's the thing. If you
had, you'd have realized that actually
it does lag on that phone, and
definitely doesn't run at the almost
smooth 60 frames per second that the 15
gets.
>> Literally, dude, why would I care about
what's happening with the iPhone 14?
>> You don't get it, do you? Even if your
friend hadn't felt the benefit of the
iPhone 15 Pro Max when he first bought
it, him spending the extra then is the
reason that he doesn't have to upgrade
now. And in the same way, of course, no
one needs an 18 Pro's power in this
moment. But, what Apple and every other
phone maker is building with all this
graphics potential, AI power, and
thermal architecture is headroom. It's
the ability to buy the current
generation and then happily use it for 3
to 4 years without missing out on what's
going to come in that time. Because
they're forecasting that there will be
demand for this power. And this phone in
particular has a lot of headroom because
of its next gen 2 nanometer chip. And
besides, how many developers are you
expecting to be making apps and games
that require chips that no one has yet?
The chips have to be in people's hands,
right? Before developers are going to
start working on software made around
them.
>> Oh my god, you're annoying. Fine. I'm
grateful for the performance headroom.
Are you happy now? But, that is the last
point you're getting out of me. There
are just so many things about the iPhone
that feel so stagnant.
Think about the headline features over
the last few years. Don't think I've
forgotten about Apple Intelligence,
which has now basically become Google
Intelligence, but glassy and delayed.
Conveniently, you forgot to respond to
that one, didn't you?
An action button that actually requires
more action to reach than just opening
an app manually. Camera control. Hardly
a good sign when their most innovative
idea 2 years in a row is just new
button. Even they know it's sucks cuz
they physically disabled the capacitive
layer by default. Oh, I got one.
The titanium body.
Yeah.
Titanium body.
What the hell was that? They sold me on
aluminum, then they sold me on titanium,
and now they're selling me on both at
the same time like, "Ooh, look how
thermally efficient our aluminum is."
while also convincing me that titanium
is the way to go because it's more
durable. Do you know what I think? I
think the best thing that Apple does is
marketing. Like that thing with the
colors, they always make one color
that's clearly for the super fans. And
every year I buy it because it's the
only way to prove you have the new one.
But it's such a trap because this is
also then the color that becomes
immediately dated the moment the next
phone comes out. So the super fans have
to cough up and buy that one, too. Or
how about let's just go back to basics
for a second. Every single thing that
Apple does is late. How has it taken
them 7 years to make a foldable since
Samsung? Or like I saw my friend the
other day, he pulled out his S26 Ultra,
showed me this privacy display thing,
and you know what he said to me? He
said, "Don't worry, you'll probably get
this feature in 5 years." And
I'm starting to think he's got a point.
Your friend sounds like a Samsung user.
Frankly, I don't want to be using the
phone that's the first to get any kind
of experimental feature. There is a
reason that first gen products have such
a bad rap. Like am I in such a rush that
I can't just wait a few years till
someone's figured out how to implement
it without compromise?
>> [laughter]
>> Wow. You think you're so high and
mighty. Well, how about the fact that
Apple, they're constantly talking about
how these pros are for photographers and
videographers, right? But then how have
they managed to not upgrade a single
camera sensor on this phone? It's been 4
years since they've increased the size
of this main camera. 4 years. I barely
had a girlfriend at that point, and
now I have a son.
Your turn to change him, by the way. I I
to God, if you say the words variable
aperture as if that somehow makes up for
all this,
>> [music]
>> I'm going to scream.
So is he. If Apple actually wanted to
upgrade the things that mattered, they'd
have given this a 1-in sensor like all
the leading camera-centric phones. But
what do they do instead? They upgrade
the thing that makes for a nice story,
that makes their phone sound quirky and
interesting. I'm telling you, the only
benefit to a variable aperture on an
iPhone is to stop you accidentally
blurring someone out in the background.
But I don't know about you, man. When
people are in the background of my
photos, it's because I want them blurred
out. And to be honest, that's giving
Apple too much credit. Their sensor
isn't even large enough to blur anything
properly anyway.
Hmm. I think there is truth in what
you're saying, but
let me show you something that I thought
was interesting.
Which of these two photos looks better
to you? Left is 18 Pro Max and right is
17 Pro Max. It's the 18, right? It's
pretty clear. Like there's an entire
layer more detail when it comes to these
stained glass windows.
Let's do another one. These two photos,
exact same scene, but the 18 wins again,
right? Quite a bit more detail,
especially as this one's a slightly
darker scene than the last one. It
actually looks like a person's face
here. Okay,
I can see it. The new variable aperture
is obviously doing something, but
these are just cherry-picked examples to
suit it, right?
>> [laughter and gasps]
>> I was hoping you'd think that. What is
going on here? See, when I shot both of
those side-by-sides,
I disabled variable aperture entirely,
which means that both of those phones
were shooting with the same aperture and
the same sensor that you were just
complaining about. That doesn't make any
sense. How can there have been all that
difference? Oh, sorry.
Well, here's the thing.
I think you're right, but one of the
best things Apple does is marketing.
They spend ages talking about variable
aperture because it is a great story.
But the thing that you're missing is how
much refinement goes on behind the
scenes [music] that they don't talk
about. All of that detail difference
that you just told me that you saw is
purely advancements in image processing
happening on the chip. Apple's been
quietly doing this every year for the
last decade, and it's taken them from, I
would say, quite behind mainstream
companies like Samsung and Google to
quite far ahead. Like, if we just put
this side-by-side with Samsung now, in
just about every situation, whether it's
video quality like here, where you can
see more detail on the iPhone and less
noise, whether it's skin tones, where
Samsung makes you look like an overly
brightened wax figure by comparison, or
it's just resolution, [music] where
yeah, the iPhone's lead was tenuous a
few years ago, but with each iteration,
the visible difference is becoming less
subtle. And maybe the most impressive
scenario is night mode, where they've
gone all the way from new kid on the
block to one of the ones to beat.
You really are a piece of work, aren't
you? The iPhone is so boring to shoot
with, though. Those photos are
technically nice, but they're so drained
of any personality.
Seriously, what now?
I just think that actually having a
technically correct, pure image, if
anything, is the best starting point for
adding some personality into. And
Apple's just started allowing you to do
that properly. These upgraded
photographic styles are actually a
pretty amazing way to add your spin,
your color profile, your ideal level of
skin smoothness level, or film grain.
And these aren't just subtle undertones
like they used to be when the feature
first dropped. And don't underestimate
how big of a deal it is that we can now
choose which pro camera settings that we
want to be able to change. And then make
the rest disappear. It's such a simple
addition, but it makes such a massive
difference, because it means there's now
a whole wave of creators who don't need
to touch those pro apps like Blackmagic
Camera, and they can just use what they
got with Apple's level of user interface
polish. You know what I think? I think
this is getting a bit niche. In fact,
this whole thing is a bit niche. You
proved your battery point using a
professional test bench. You proved your
gaming improvements with side-by-side
slow-mo footage. You show me the camera
improvements by secretly disabling the
aperture and zooming in 600%. The whole
reason this even started is because I
didn't want to have to watch a 20-minute
deep dive. And because of you, I've just
been sitting inside of one. Apple's
improved, but
I'm just not giving it that third point.
To act like the average 17 Pro user
picking up one of these on launch day is
going to be like, "Oh, what an
incredible upgrade." is false.
On day one?
For an average user who's already on a
17 Pro?
I think you're right. I'm right.
Wait, so
I win. You didn't convince me, so game
over, right?
What do you think you won, exactly? The
argument. So, I'm not upgrading to the
next iPhone.
So, don't upgrade next [music] time. I'm
definitely not going to, but that's
because this is a really good phone, not
a bad one. This is not the most exciting
upgrade, but I think it's one of the
safest ones because it creates so much
headroom.
So, see you in 3 years?
Well,
don't know about that. I mean, imagine
how scratched this aluminum is going to
be by then. If it already looks like
this now. To be fair, that's a pretty
good point. I think this almost requires
a case like the Q3 rugged from our
sponsor Torras. This is the most
affordable one they do, but it's such a
no-brainer cuz you get their O-stand,
easily the most versatile, mindless way
to prop your phone up in existence. You
get these concrete-inspired backplates
and ultra-grippy sides, so you'll
actually struggle to drop the thing. And
even reinforced corners just in case
people like you still find a way. So,
search for Torras O-stand Q3 rugged on
Amazon or their site, and discount code
in the description. To be fair, that's a
pretty good choice, but I think if
you're going to get the most advanced
iPhone, then might as well just get the
most advanced protection, too, with the
Q3 Air Pro. Because this thing also has
two sets of airbags to almost entirely
kill the impact from a drop. And that is
a wrap on
the weirdest video we've ever filmed.
Uh you can turn around now.
>> [laughter]