Apple has always maintained a strong track record with the iPhone, be it mobile photography or day-to-day use. With each new rollout of its A-series chips, performance only gets faster, but it can be difficult to tell these iterative upgrades apart, especially when the jump is one or two generations.
The iPhone 18 Pro Max, like its predecessors, is all about the numbers. Powered by the latest A20 Pro chip, which the company claims is “desktop-class” and the “fastest CPU in a smartphone,” it boasts a 6-core CPU, a 7-core GPU for 40 percent faster graphics processing, and a second Neural Engine, culminating in a 50 percent increase in memory bandwidth overall, as well as a 40 percent sustained performance increase over the iPhone 17 Pro.
The other half of the credit goes to a next-generation vapour chamber with three times more surface area for improved thermal handling of heavy-duty gaming – and it certainly walks the talk. Zenless Zone Zero ran silky-smooth on the device, and despite optimisation issues on Genshin Impact and Delta Force, performance was consistently solid across the board, making it extremely easy to recommend. Throw into the mix a beautiful 6.9-inch Super Retina XDR display and an extended 45-hour battery, and users have a powerful all-rounder on their hands.
Check the iPhone 18 Pro Max out in action above, where it undergoes short bursts of high-intensity gaming and temperature checks. It starts at S$2,099 for 256GB of storage, and will be available in four colours: Black and Silver, alongside the all-new Glacier and Burgundy.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
