The iPhone Duo is the most expensive phone Apple has ever made, and for good reason.

You get a compact 5.4-inch phone and tablet in one device with a huge 7.6-inch nano-texture display. And Apple promises unparalleled durability in the Duo’s design along with a new software experience that takes multitasking to the next level — and makes the most of all the positions you can put this foldable in.

But it’s only fair to call out the compromises for this foldable phone versus other flagship phones, including Apple’s own iPhone 18 Pro Max that I just reviewed.

What annoys me is that people are already lumping all of the missing features and trade-offs into a list of “dealbreakers” as if they’re all of equal value. Spoiler: they’re not.

As we get closer to the Oct. 16 iPhone Duo pre-order date, I think it’s worth sense checking these trade-offs. I’m scoring each trade-off on a scale of 1-10 to tell you what’s an annoyance versus an actual dealbreaker.

No telephoto zoom: ‘Dealbreaker’ score 8/10

There’s no getting around it. The iPhone Duo’s 2x optical quality zoom is not the same thing as having a dedicated telephoto lens. You’re getting that zoom via cropping on the 48MP main sensor. If you want to get closer to the action, you’ll max out at just 10x digital zoom.

Meanwhile, the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max both have 4x telephoto lenses with 8x optical quality zooms. And you get a 40x digital zoom. If you like to zoom in a lot when shooting pics, don’t get the Duo.

No Face ID: ‘Dealbreaker’ score 7/10

It’s understandable why the iPhone Duo doesn’t have Face ID given that there’s less space for all of the sensors that are required for it, but it’s still a bummer because it’s such an easy way to unlock your phone. And Face ID is better than any face unlock solution on any Android phone.

Instead, you get a Touch ID sensor built into the power button on the right side. At least I’m fairly confident it will work well based on how reliable Touch ID is on the MacBook, iPad and previous iPhones.

Weight: ‘Dealbreaker’ score 6/10

The iPhone Duo is certainly compact enough to slip into your front pocket, but it’s definitely heftier than the iPhone 18 Pro Max and Apple’s main foldable rival.

Weighing 8.96 ounces, the Duo is the heaviest iPhone yet and slightly heavier than the iPhone 18 Pro Max’s 8.78 ounces.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is the portability champ, weighing just 7.09 ounces. You really notice it in the hand.

But it’s worth keeping in mind that the iPhone Duo packs in some features that to many will be worth the extra weight, including IP68 durability, a vapor chamber and a digitizer layer on the display to support Apple Pencil input.

Price: ‘Dealbreaker’ score 5/10

You might have thought I would have ranked the high $2,000 price of the Duo higher on this list of dealbreakers. But it’s really more of a dealbreaker for the category as opposed to this particular phone.

After all, most foldable phones like this are in the same range. The Galaxy Fold 8 and Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold are $100 less. Still, the price certainly skyrockets as you add more storage. We’re talking $2,200 for 512GB, $2,599 for 1TB and a whopping $3,200 for 2TB. Though the competition makes out at 1TB.

Less battery life than iPhone 18 Pro Max: ‘Dealbreaker’ score 4/10

Based on Apple’s own estimates, the iPhone Duo is going to last less than the iPhone 18 Pro Max in a charge. And that makes sense because the Duo’s dual battery system has to power a larger display.

Apple claims the iPhone Duo will last 24 hours with regular use versus 30 hours for the 18 Pro Max. But that gap grows with video playback, with the Duo rated for 31 hours and the Pro Max 45 hours. You can get up to 44 hours on the Duo’s small display.

Under-display camera: ‘Dealbreaker’ score 3.5/10

Apple decided to give the iPhone Duo an under display FaceTime camera while other companies have ditched them due to quality issues. Based on what I’ve seen so far, I’d say it looks good enough for video calls but you'll want to use the front 12MP camera or even the main 48MP camera for selfies.

Lacks variable aperture and Pro Controls: ‘Dealbreaker’ score 3/10

It’s a bummer that the variable aperture main camera is limited to the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max. It does give you more flexibility when shooting.

But the bigger annoyance for me is that Apple didn’t grace the Duo with Pro controls. Why not make it easier to control shutter speed, white balance and more?

Bottom line

When you add it all up the only real iPhone Duo dealbreaker for me is the lack of a telephoto zoom. And while I really wish it had Face ID, I can live with Touch ID.

But what about you? Are there any iPhone Duo dealbreakers high on your list or do you plan to buy despite any trade-offs? Let us know in the comments.

A lot of iPhone users are still getting to grips with the recent release of iOS 27, but that doesn't mean Apple gets to take a break. It's just released iOS 27.2 beta, which comes with a bunch more changes and upgrades for beta testers to try out.

Some of you may be wondering what happened to iOS 27.1 beta, and that's a fair question. Apparently Apple has skipped over that bit of software, and it's speculated that the iPhone Duo is the reason. The foldable will apparently arrive running iOS 27.1 out of the box, complete with all the extra software needed to run a foldable phone. Whether other devices will get iOS 27.1, or if they'll jump straight to iOS 27.2, isn't clear.

In the meantime, here are all the newest features and changes coming as part of the iOS 27.2 beta release.

Revamped Health app

Back during its September iPhone launch event, Apple confirmed that it would be revamping the Health app — and iOS 27.2 beta is our first chance to see it in action. This new version of the app is laid out with three tabs: Insight, Longevity and Browse.

Insights includes general health information, such as vitals, sleep score, heart rate and your activity rings. Longevity takes that information and applies it over time, offering a Health Age score calculated from various health metrics — including VO2 max, sleep time and activity levels. Browse is the same as it always was, offering health-based resources to help you with your fitness, or general healthy-living goals.

Call context

iOS 27.2 beta will now surface relevant information during phone calls, specifically warning you about birthdays or anniversaries. The caveat being that you need to have entered that information into the Contacts app first. You also need to call those people to get the reminder, which means you actively need to be calling them for a totally different reason.

It might be worth making sure your calendar reminders are set up properly instead. But this could be the start of even more contextual information in calls, some of which may not be quite as difficult to to forget.

CarPlay Ultra

Apple's advanced version of CarPlay isn't that widespread, but if you do have a compatible car the iOS 27.2 beta will let you select new options for the wallpaper, gauge style and overall color of your interfaces. Code references also suggest that ambient light may be supported in select vehicles, matching the overall theme.

Apple TV

The Apple TV app now includes extended profiles in iOS 27.2 beta, letting users create specific profiles for different users. All they require is a name, profile rating and whether the user is a child. Child accounts are limited to PG rated content by default, but in line with Apple's new parental controls, those settings can be adjusted based on your wishes.

Sign language interpretation is also available and can be turned on in the Apple TV app settings.

Siri

Siri AI is also now available in French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish, letting those speakers use AI without having to revert to English. Meanwhile ,the Siri app has renamed "App Access" to "Excluded Apps", and tapping it lets you exclude multiple apps from Siri features in one go — rather than one at a time.

Other iOS 27.2 beta upgrades

The Clock app now features A.M. and P.M. readouts that are slightly smaller than the actual time of your alarms. The Music app has also removed some of the red accents, with shuffle and play buttons in the library now appearing black. Podcasts has also swapped the "Up Next" feature for a "New Episodes" option, and has added a "Continue Playing" option.

Apple's release notes also include an expanded App Tracking Transparency prompt for EU users, specifically those in France, Germany, Poland, Italy and Romania. This will need to be re-accepted every year.

Hidden features for the future

Deep dives into iOS 27.2 beta's code have also revealed some details on possible future features, which Apple is working on but isn't ready to roll out just yet. The first is a new release countdown timer that may be coming to Apple Music, showing you how long you have to wait before the next big album is available to listen to.

It was also discovered that the Shortcuts app may be opened to third-party developers, letting you create your own Shortcuts for apps and services that weren't made by Apple. Plus, references to an "AutoLock" feature have been uncovered, suggesting that Apple really is working on a feature to automatically detect when an iPhone has been snatched, and lock the phone down in response.

More from Tom's Guide

• 36 million iPhone owners can soon get paid from $250 million Apple Siri lawsuit — how to claim your share
• iPhone 18 Pro teardown reveals the ins and outs of the latest iPhone models — including one annoying repair issue
• I extended my iPhone's telephoto range with this add-on camera lens — and my point-and-shoot camera is officially retired

The iPhone Duo is ticking all of the right boxes at the moment, wowing just about everyone that's been able to use it ahead of its official release Oct. 23. We still don't know how much of a success the phone will be, especially considering the $2,000 price tag, but you can be sure other phone makers are watching closely — especially Samsung.

Samsung has been the de-factor king of the foldable phone business for several years. Mainly because, outside of China, the best foldables have been limited to Google and Motorola — who haven't exactly put up much of a fight. Apple could finally bring the Galaxy Fold series some serious competition, and if I were Samsung I'd be looking for ways to make my foldables stand out. Even if it means blatantly copying Apple's ideas.

Here are five things the Galaxy Z Fold 9 should steal from iPhone Duo, and two things it should leave well alone.

What Z Fold 9 should steal from iPhone Duo

Under display camera

Samsung had under-display cameras on the Galaxy Z Fold lineup for four generations, from the Galaxy Z Fold 3 to Z Fold 6. The quality of those cameras was a little... weak, to say the least, so it's no surprise that Samsung pulled them for the last two generations. But maybe now is the time to bring them back.

Apple has added an under-display camera to the iPhone Duo's foldable display, though this one isn't designed for selfies. Apple has referred to it as a FaceTime camera, and talked about its use as an aid for video calling. That suggests the quality isn't all that either, but by limiting its use cases (at least in marketing) Apple can avoid the same criticisms as Samsung.

This means the Z Fold 9 could be the perfect time for Samsung to bring the under-display camera back — and give you more of your screen back. Plus, considering you can already take selfies with the rear cameras and the hole-punch on the cover display, I'd avoid using it as a way to take photos of yourself.

S Pen support

The loss of the stylus is one of the things Galaxy foldable fans have been complaining about since the release of Galaxy Z Fold 7. The stylus requires a special digitizer layer in the display, which was removed in an apparent attempt to reduce thickness. Which isn't a great reason to remove a long-standing feature, especially when it leaves Galaxy foldables feeling a little bit lacking.

Not only does the iPhone Duo have stylus support, it uses the Apple Pencil USB-C — which is compatible with almost every iPad on sale. There's no special iPhone-exclusive stylus; it's the one a lot of iPad users may already have. The same couldn't be said for past Z Fold models, which needed a special foldable-exclusive stylus designed for the more fragile folding display.

I felt that the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra was missing out on account of its lost stylus, and the launch of Z Fold 9 would be the perfect opportunity to reintroduce that support. Ideally, it would the form of a stylus that will work across Galaxy devices, including tablets and other phones.

IP68 durability

Google was the first foldable phone maker in the U.S. to add IP68 water and dust resistance to foldables with Pixel 10 Pro Fold, and Apple has followed its example with iPhone Duo. Galaxy Z Fold 8, on the other hand only has an IP48 rating, which means it's totally exposed to dust — even if it is sealed tight against water.

Obviously, that's not a good look for Samsung, especially when you consider all the moving parts associated with a foldable hinge. You should be able to take your $1,900 to $2,000 foldable to the beach. So Samsung definitely needs to do better with the Z Fold 9.

Magnetic wireless charging built in

One of the things I'll never understand is why Samsung is so seemingly against adding magnetic wireless charging to its phones — foldables included. The phones support Qi2 wireless charging technology, but they lack the integrated magnets that let chargers and accessories snap into place.

One reason I was given was that the magnets interfered with the S Pen, and Samsung couldn't offer both. But considering the iPhone Duo has Apple Pencil support and MagSafe, it's clear that there is a way to offer both features without asking users to compromise. Because a magnetic case system is just a poor show for a phone company that sells devices for close to two thousand dollars.

An actual Vapor Chamber

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chipset is powerful. But the phones that use it can get quite hot, and a lack of cooling can lead to worse sustained performance.That's why Samsung needs to add a vapor chamber, much like the Galaxy S26 Ultra and the iPhone Duo.

Vapor chambers help move heat across the phone, allowing it to dissipate more evenly, and keep key components from overheating. It also helps improve sustained performance, and les the phone work harder for longer.

Admittedly, the Z Fold 8 does have pretty good sustained performance compared to the S26 Ultra (72.4% versus 53.9%) but it's behind the iPhone 18 Pro Max (79.4%), But can you imagine how much better things could be if there was a vapor chamber to help keep everything cool?

Two things iPhone Duo can keep

Curved corners

Apple loves curved corners on its phones, a design that has made its way to foldables as well. Samsung may have opted for more curved corners on its non-folding phones, like Galaxy S26, but for the time being foldables have retained the sharper right-angles Samsung was once known for. The Galaxy Z Fold 9 should stay the same way.

My issue with the iPhone Duo is the lack of symmetry in the design. If you look at it from the cover display, the disparity between the left side and right side is painfully apparent. It looks wrong to have curved corners on one side and rounded edges on the other, even if you don't actually see that when the phone is unfolded.

The Z Fold 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra are the total opposite, with a symmetrical design regardless of which screen you're actually looking at — and it makes Galaxy foldables all the better to look at. Plus, you're likely to get a little bit more screen space if you're using the phone in certain display configurations.

The eSIM only design

Apple has been aggressively pushing eSIMs the past few years, and that's led to a foldable with no support for physical SIM cards — regardless of which part of the world you buy it in. Samsung, on the other hand, has stuck to the physical nano SIM slot on all its flagship phones — and it should continue that trend for Z Fold 9.

I get the appeal of eSIMs in certain situations, but I also feel as though they come with a key disadvantage compared to physical SIM cards. A physical SIM pops out of your phone and into another device without issue, while eSIMs have to be digitally transferred. The process is not as awkward or laborious as it used to be, but it's still not as convenient.

If you prefer eSIMs, that's great, more power to you. But it's good to offer users a choice on how they connect to cell networks, rather than deciding for you and giving you no flexibility. Which is a very Apple way of doing things.

More from Tom’s Guide

• I've been testing the iPhone 18 Pro Max and iPhone 18 Pro — your 10 biggest questions answered
• iPhone 18 Pro teardown reveals the ins and outs of the latest iPhone models — including one annoying repair issue
• Apple's $250 million class action settlement website is now open — here's how eligible iPhone owners can file a claim and how much they'll get

Apple settled a $250 million class action lawsuit over claims of false advertising about Siri's AI capabilities in May of this year. The settlement allows up to 36 million iPhone users in the U.S. to receive up to $95.

That window is finally opening, but it runs for only three months, starting Monday, September 21. Here's what you need to know to claim your share of the settlement.

How we got here

The lawsuit was initially filed in California in 2024 by Peter Landsheft after Apple promoted its more "personalized Siri" and the introduction of Apple Intelligence. The National Advertising Division bolstered the lawsuit, concluding that Apple misled users by claiming the new Siri was "now available."

Apple filed the settlement, which includes no admissions of wrongdoing, on May 5. "We resolved this matter to stay focused on doing what we do ⁠best, delivering ​the most innovative products and ​services to our users," the company said in a statement.

“False advertising settlements aim to raise the floor of truth-telling, protect fair competition, and increase consumer choice. The $250 million settlement fund represents the largest false advertising settlement in history, and we are proud to have achieved this result for Apple customers," Ryan Clarkson, one of the lawyers on the case, said in a statement to Tom's Guide.

Eligibility and how to claim

The settlement covers roughly 36 million iPhones, including the iPhone 16, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. All of which must have been purchased in the U.S. between June 10, 2024, and March 29, 2025.

The window for entering a claim starts September 21 and closes on December 21, 2026.

You can enter a claim by going to SmartphoneAISettlement.com. You will need your device's serial number. You can find the number by opening Settings, going to General, tapping About, and scrolling to Serial Number.

As for payout, claimants will receive at least $25 per device and up to $95, depending on how many claims are submitted.

Final approval by a judge won't happen until February 24, 2027, and Apple will have a set number of days after that to issue payments. Typically, those windows are 180 days.

More from Tom's Guide

• Apple increased the price of iPhone 18 Pro battery repairs — here's how much you'll pay now
• Siri in iOS 27 actually lives up to the hype — here are 3 truly unique uses
• Apple Watch Ultra 4 review: I ran 22 miles to test Apple’s ultimate adventure watch

Apple's new iPhones are officially on sale and there are dozens of iPhone 18 Pro deals to choose from. However, my favorite freebie deals come from T-Mobile.

Right now, T-Mobile is offering the iPhone 18 Pro for free when you bring your number and open an Experience Beyond plan. Or you can get it for free with trade-in and an Experience Beyond plan. Meanwhile, T-Mobile is also taking up to $1,200 off the iPhone 18 Pro Max with trade-in and Experience Beyond plan. Here's how you can get yours.

Quick Links

• iPhone 18 Pro: free w/ new line + unlimited
• iPhone 18 Pro Max: up to $1,200 off w/ unlimited

iPhone 18 Pro

iPhone 18 Pro Max

What's new

The 6.3-inch iPhone 18 Pro and 6.9-inch iPhone 18 Pro Max cost $1,199 and $1,299, respectively. Yes, that's $100 pricier than their predecessors, which is why T-Mobile's deals are so great. The carrier is offering various ways to save on your new iPhone.

As for the phones, they generally stick to Apple's familiar playbook. They feature rigid enclosures, proven water resistance, and toughened glass surfaces that have repeatedly demonstrated they can take real-world abuse. Both phones offer rock solid reliability, so which phone you get depends on how big of a screen you want and how much battery life you require.

The former packs a 6.3-inch OLED display, whereas the iPhone 18 Pro Max sports a larger 6.9-inch OLED screen. No matter which phone you get, you'll be in for a treat as they are Apple's flagship Pro devices. Stay tuned to Tom's Guide for all of the best Apple deals.

Shop more deals

The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are out in the world, and that means we’re starting to hear about all the things Apple didn’t tell us about. The teardown specialists at iFixit have already revealed how large the batteries are inside the eSIM-only models that are on sale in the U.S. But what other secrets are hiding inside?

Here's what was uncovered when iFixit popped open the iPhone 18 Pro and the iPhone 18 Pro Max.

The ins and outs of variable aperture

One of the biggest upgrades in the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max is the variable aperture camera lens, which lets you adjust how much light actually makes it through the camera lens. It’s a feature that a lot of people have raved about, though iFixit simply calls it “a nice gimmick.”

Why a gimmick? Because the site questions the feature's validity altogether, given how iPhone cameras actually work. The camera sensors are a little over half an inch in size, which limits the potential to let more light inside the camera in the first place. The short focal length of the lens already ensures most of your photo is kept in focus, while depth of field effects, including bokeh, have been software-based for a long time.

Most crucially, though, is the fact that the variable aperture blades offer a brand new place for iPhone cameras to fail. More moving parts mean more things that can break, as users reported in the past on other variable aperture-capable phones like the Samsung Galaxy S9. This means that the ability to fix those blades is crucial, and apart from some issues with the screen reaching the camera, it isn’t that difficult.

However, any issues with the aperture blades will likely require a full replacement of the camera assembly — which isn’t going to be cheap. Apple’s official spare parts store sells iPhone 17 Pro cameras for $250, and the addition of variable aperture isn’t likely to make a replacement iPhone 18 Pro camera any less expensive.

Sadly, replacing the aperture alone isn’t going to be possible. Getting inside the main lens is a complicated process, and putting everything back together again afterward straight isn’t going to happen. Better hope Apple’s reputation for quality control doesn't fail when it comes to those blades.

That said, if the issue is with the blades being stuck, and you can live without them, iFixit did spot that the blades can be controlled with an external magnet. That hopefully means stuck aperture blades don’t necessarily mean a broken camera system.

What other changes are involved?

The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max don’t quite make Face ID a true under-display system, but it has moved the facial recognition hardware around in order to make the Dynamic Island slightly smaller. This includes moving the infrared camera from the center of the screen to the left-hand side, with a punch hole in the under-screen frame and allowing the IR camera to hide out of sight.

How does the IR light come through the screen? Inspection with a microscope shows that every other pixel over that holepunch is missing. This allows IR light to pass through without requiring a noticeable break in the display itself.

The A20 Pro chip has also been moved to the outside of the logic board, which should help it dissipate heat more easily by giving it a more direct route to the 18 Pro’s active cooling system. Speaking of which, the new vapor chamber looks at least twice as large as the one on the iPhone 17 Pro and spreads across almost the entirety of the phone.

Curiously, iFixit notices that the U.S. version of the iPhone 18 Pro Max does not use the Apple C2 modem. Instead, it still has a Qualcomm modem, which is likely to use a lot more power. That extra power consumption probably explains why it’s only in the U.S. eSIM variant of the 18 Pro Max, which has the larger 5,567 mAh battery.

How easy is it to repair the iPhone 18 Pro?

Sadly, the back panels in the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max don't give you access to much, and fixing anything beyond the wireless charger is going to require you pop off the front screen — a complicated and fiddly process that has a good chance of causing problems.

In fact, the site opened up four iPhone 18 Pro models and found that removing the front glass broke the white plastic frame on three of them. That frame is a crucial part of the display panel, and it isn’t a part that can be purchased on its own. The broken frame means no water resistance and a screen that won’t ever stay flush against the rest of the device. Ouch.

The state of that frame is apparently inconsistent across the repair community, with some reporting breakages and others reporting no issues. It’s also been in Pro-tier iPhones since the 15 Pro, without causing nearly as many problems. Unfortunately, it’s not clear what might have changed this year, or what sort of external factors may have contributed to the repeated problems it faced. This means more testing is needed.

As for a battery repair, Apple has refrained from using any glue. Instead, the power pack is held in place by 13 different screws, and as much of a pain as it is to unscrew 13 tiny screws, it’s better than the alternative. The battery is still stuck to its tray with Apple’s special ionic adhesive, which disconnects when subjected to a 12V charge, but the tray itself is only attached via screws. I’ll be curious to see what the price difference is for replacement batteries with the tray and those without.

The USB-C port isn’t so lucky. While technically a modular component, the sheer amount of glue and screws involved in removing the board means it’s going to be a pain in the butt to remove and replace. Which is weird, with iFixit notes that the iPhone 16 Pro actually solved this issue two years ago. But sadly, port replacement has long been an issue with iPhones.

iFixit has complimented Apple’s repair support, particularly the availability of Apple’s thorough repair manuals. iPhone 18 Pro parts aren’t available yet, but they should be arriving in the near future, with the repair assistant tool all but eliminating the parts-pairing woes of the past.

iFixit has given the 18 Pro and Pro Max a provisional repair score of seven out of ten, with the score taking a hit on account of all major repairs having to go down through the screen. iFixit notes that the damaged frames haven’t been taken into consideration yet, simply because there are too many unknowns about why the white plastic has broken so easily.

However, the score itself isn’t going to be finalized just yet, at least not until Apple releases spare parts and iFixit can do more parts-pairing tests of its own.

More from Tom's Guide

• I spent 30 minutes with the iPhone Duo — 3 things you just don’t get from the pictures
• I put the iPhone 18 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra through a 7-round face-off — here’s the winner
• I've been testing the iPhone 18 Pro Max and iPhone 18 Pro — your 10 biggest questions answered

Apple elected to settle a $250 million class action lawsuit back in May that means up to 36 million iPhone owners are eligible for a payout of up to $95 per device. The lawsuit alleged Apple misled customers with false advertising over the arrival of Siri AI and Apple Intelligence.

Apple denied any wrongdoing, but did decide to settle the lawsuit to resolve the claims swiftly. In a statement, it said this meant it could "stay focused" on "delivering the most innovative products and services to our users."

The settlement allowed each eligible person who filed a claim to receive a per-device payment of $25, which could increase up to $95 depending on the claim volume.

More from Tom's Guide

• I've been testing the iPhone 18 Pro Max and iPhone 18 Pro — your 10 biggest questions answered
• Apple added 5 new lock screen tools in iOS 27 — here's what to change first
• I spent 30 minutes with the iPhone Duo — 3 things you just don’t get from the pictures

Since its local arrival in 2010, Lyca Mobile has sat firmly in Australia’s budget telco tier, focusing on prepaid plans that bundle large data allowances with extensive international call inclusions. Its pricing is aggressive even by MVNO standards — half-price introductory deals like 50GB for AU$15 or 120GB for AU$20 for the first 6 renewals make it one of the cheaper options for new customers, and prices remain competitive even after those discounts end — so long as you're happy to forgo premium network perks offered by going with Telstra, Optus or Vodafone direct, such as in-person assistance.

The biggest recent shift for Lyca customers has been its move away from using Telstra’s wholesale network. Since mid-2024, new and migrating Lyca users have been accessing Vodafone’s 4G/5G infrastructure, which delivers solid performance in metro and suburban areas but, compared to the previous Telstra coverage, doesn't quite reach into as many regional or remote parts of the country as it did.

International calling allowances is where Lyca really stands out. Many of its plans include unlimited minutes to dozens of countries, which will be appealing for people who regularly call family overseas. For everyday data use — browsing, streaming, social apps — its plans offer more than enough for most users.

Customer sentiment is mixed — while online reviews do generally skew negative, most Lyca customers are happy with its pricing and inclusions, though an equal number aren't fans of the telco's customer service. Complaints range from long waits for replies to difficulty resolving account problems.

Lyca’s strengths are clear: cheap prepaid pricing, plenty of data and excellent international call value. That said, its slightly more limited regional coverage versus Telstra and inconsistent customer service mean it won’t suit everyone. If you live in an area with strong Vodafone reception and want a low‑cost plan with international inclusions, it’s worth considering.

Lyca Mobile plans and pricing

• Very competitive pricing
• 50% off introductory offer

Strictly a prepaid‑only provider, Lyca Mobile offers several 28‑day SIM‑only plans built around large data inclusions, capped speeds and extensive international call allowances. All plans run on Vodafone’s 4G/5G network, include unlimited national talk and text, and allow unused data to roll over up to 500GB.

Kicking things off is the LycaPlan S, priced at AU$30 per 28 days and offering 50GB of data (AU$0.60 per GB). The LycaPlan M plan steps things up with 120GB of data for your first 12 renewals — that’s 80GB of base data plus a 40GB bonus (120GB total) — priced at AU$40 per 28 days (AU$0.33 per GB during the bonus period) and reverting to its standard 80GB allowance after the twelfth renewal. Both plans offer unlimited calls to 35 countries.

That’s already strong value, and it becomes even sharper once you factor in Lyca’s 50% introductory discount, which brings the LycaPlan S and M plans down to AU$15 and AU$20 per renewal for the first six renewals, respectively.

At the top end, LycaPlan L includes 150GB of data plus a 150GB bonus (300GB total) for the first three renewals, priced at AU$50 per 28 days (AU$0.17 per GB during the bonus period). International calling also expands to cover 59 countries, adding major destinations such as Italy, Greece, Sweden, Spain and the Czech Republic, among others.

Speeds remain capped at 100Mbps across all three plans.

Compared with Vodafone’s own prepaid range, Lyca’s pitch is simple: more data for the money, broader international call inclusions and lower introductory pricing, balanced by a fixed 100Mbps speed cap. Vodafone’s prepaid plans generally offer smaller data buckets but allow uncapped 5G speeds, so the choice comes down to whether you value raw speed or larger allowances.

If you're the type who enjoys a set-and-forget approach to phone plans, Lyca's long-term offerings might interest you. These come in 180‑day and 360‑day variants, each bundling a larger pool of data that lasts for the full term and includes unlimited international calling to 35 countries.

The 180‑day option costs AU$90 for new customers (averaging around AU$15 p/m over six months) and AU$120 after the introductory period (averaging around AU$20 p/m) and note that this plan doles out its 120GB allowance in 20GB chunks every 30 days. As with Lyca’s 28‑day plans, speeds are capped at 100Mbps and unused data can roll over up to 500GB.

Meanwhile, the Medium 360‑day plan comes in at AU$150 for new customers (about AU$12.50 p/m) and AU$240 ongoing (roughly AU$20 p/m), with 360GB split into 12 x 30GB blocks.

The Large 360‑day plan steps the total data up to 900GB, divided into 12 x 75GB blocks, priced at AU$220 for new customers (around AU$18.30 p/m) and AU$480 ongoing (about AU$40 p/m).

That said, right now we think it’s generally better value to stick with the 28‑day renewal plans — especially if you’re new to Lyca and can take advantage of the 50% introductory discount, which brings the S and M plans down to AU$15 and AU$20 for your first six renewals while offering significantly more data.

Lyca Mobile coverage

• Access to Vodafone's expanded network
• Had wider reach when it was on Telstra's Wholesale network

Lyca Mobile runs on Vodafone’s 4G/5G network, which has grown substantially since Vodafone and Optus began their network‑sharing arrangement in early 2025. With shared access now in place, its reach has expanded from roughly 400,000 square kilometres to more than 1,000,000 square kilometres, lifting overall population coverage to 98.4%.

That said, Lyca still had more reach when it operated on Telstra's Wholesale network — and while the latter doesn’t match Telstra's full footprint, the Wholesale network still covers more of rural and remote Australia than Vodafone — particularly in sparsely populated inland regions. Lyca has also inherited Vodafone’s slower 5G rollout, so you should expect to spend most of your time on 4G if you’re outside the capital cities.

Lyca Mobile plans: Extras, perks and offers

• Data can rollover up to 500GB
• Excellent international call inclusions

This probably won't shock you, but Lyca Mobile offers little in the way of extras or perks with its phone plans, presumably in an effort to keep costs down. That means no entertainment bundles and no loyalty bonuses.

The standout extra is its unlimited international calling, which stretches to 59 countries on its top plan — one of the widest ranges you’ll find from an Australian prepaid provider. Of course, that only matters if the country you’re calling actually appears on Lyca’s list, but for many users it covers a good chunk of the places they ring most often.

Additionally, Lyca customers can rollover their unused data up to 500GB, regardless of which plan they choose. And if you'd prefer not to deal with SIM cards, eSIM is also supported.

Lyca Mobile plans: customer service and community reviews

• Middling online user reviews
• Offshore call centres

Lyca Mobile’s Australian reviews land on the lower side overall. On Product Review, it holds a 2.1‑star average, which sounds low but, for context, is still higher than some other Aussie telcos. Coverage complaints, slow issue resolution and trouble getting clear answers from support show up as the main themes, though some customers note that the international call value is still a strong draw.

Trustpilot doesn’t offer a clean read on the Australian operation — most listings relate to Lyca Mobile’s European services. Those reviews are mixed, leaning toward frustration with customer service delays, porting problems and inconsistent network performance. Positive posts tend to focus on low‑cost plans and straightforward inclusions, but they’re outweighed by users dealing with unresolved account or reception issues.

Taken together, Lyca Mobile’s reputation is perhaps best described as 'modest': good for budget‑focused users who mainly want cheap calls and simple plans, but frequently criticised for reliability and support.

It's important to note, however, that online user reviews of most Australian mobile providers do skew negative — a poor support experience can be a strong motivator to leave a review, after all, while users who've not had any issues have little reason to leave a positive review.

Speaking of support, Lyca Mobile relies on offshore customer service, with most agents based in India and the Philippines. That setup keeps costs down but often means longer wait times and less consistent issue resolution. And because Lyca Mobile doesn’t operate any physical stores in Australia, there’s no way for customers to sort things out in person — everything has to be handled online or over the phone, which could be frustrating if you’re dealing with a tricky porting problem or patchy coverage.

Lyca Mobile plans: Bottom line

There’s no doubt Lyca Mobile Australia offers strong value for budget shoppers, packing large data allowances and generous international call inclusions into simple 28‑day or long-term prepaid plans. All plans run on Vodafone’s 4G/5G network and include unlimited national talk and text, but speeds are capped at 100Mbps — that's plenty for browsing, streaming and everyday use if you’re in an area with solid Vodafone coverage, less ideal if you want uncapped 5G performance and live in rural Australia.

Support is handled largely through offshore call centres, and Lyca doesn’t operate retail stores in Australia, so there’s no option for face‑to‑face help. For city dwellers who prioritise large data allowances, low cost and regular international calling, Lyca Mobile is an easy choice. If you’re a heavy streamer or gamer, or you live outside areas with strong Vodafone coverage, a plan from a telco that uses the Optus or Telstra network will be a better option.

• SIM-only mobile plans compared: The best Australian picks for every budget

For years, I’ve kept a compact point-and-shoot camera in my backpack when I commute to work or go on trips. Part of the reason is that it offers longer telephoto reach, as well as intuitive software with the manual controls I crave. But despite testing an assortment of the best iPhone lenses, none have really felt like a complete shooting solution compelling enough to pry me away from my dedicated camera.

That changed when I got my hands on the Telesin Master Grip Kit. Rather than treating the telephoto lens as an isolated add-on, it approaches mobile photography as an entire ecosystem — a MagSafe-enabled rig that pairs a lens with an ergonomic grip. It fundamentally changes how I handle the device, and after using it for nearly a month, I can tell you that the difference isn't subtle. Here’s why.

Way better telephoto performance

I don’t miss the Space Zoom on Samsung’s flagship models now that the Telesin 3.5x lens paired with my iPhone 17 Pro drastically sharpens its telephoto reach. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the side-by-side snapshots above comparing my standalone iPhone 17 Pro at 40x zoom against the Telesin 3.5x setup.

In the first set of images, the shot from my iPhone leaves the wood grain indistinct and almost smeary, with fine depth flattened by the phone's aggressive image processing. Distant textures simply lack clarity and definition. The results with the Telesin kit offer a stark contrast because every groove of the wood grain is sharp and clearly defined, while natural contrast and dynamic range are preserved.

This isn't just a minor bump in quality — it proves how dedicated optical glass can salvage distant subjects that's ruined by digital processing. The long-exposure shot above perfectly illustrates this reach, by transforming the distant 9/11 Tribute in Light as two distinctly separated pillars of light when zoomed all the way in with the Telesin lens. The kit delivers the kind of true optical performance that finally lets me leave my dedicated camera behind.

Versatile grip and case

The optical reach is only half the story because how the phone handles is what really cements that mirrorless camera feel for me. The Telesin kit centers around an ergonomic, MagSafe-enabled camera grip that snaps onto the back with a firm lock. With tactile buttons and dials that emulate a traditional camera layout, it gives my shooting hand the stability needed to keep my framing right while shooting with the telephoto lens.

Even better, the grip doubles as a power bank that actively charges my iPhone. Around the base, a standard 1/4-inch tripod mount lets me seamlessly attach the entire rig to essential accessories I typically carry — like my monopod or selfie stick — without taking anything apart.

The accompanying case ties everything together with thoughtful hardware touches. It features a slide-on protective lens cover with threaded mounts, allowing me to screw the add-on glass directly over either the main or telephoto camera. On top of that, built-in lanyard cutouts on the side let me thread standard camera straps and wrist lanyards directly to the phone.

Bottom line

At $229, the Telesin Master Grip Kit with the 3.5x telephoto lens isn’t an impulse buy — it’s undeniably an investment. But when I factor in the camera-style handling of the grip, integrated battery charging, and optical reach that actually rivals a dedicated compact shooter, it has convinced me to finally retire my old point-and-shoot.

If you don't need extreme 400mm-equivalent reach for concerts or wildlife, Telesin also offers a cheaper $179 kit that swaps out the 3.5x glass for a 2x telephoto lens, giving you the same ergonomic rig and street-friendly focal lengths for $50 less. For anyone tired of carrying a separate camera just to get reliable zoom and real manual feel, this setup is well worth the price.

More from Tom's Guide

• 11 best iOS 27 hidden features you can't afford to miss
• I tested iPhone 18 Pro Max variable aperture camera and I can (almost) ditch my mirrorless
• The iPhone Duo has a lot of hype, but this poll has a surprising reveal for Samsung's foldable

I’ve been testing the new iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max for our review and much more, and I know there's a lot of questions people want answered before they decide whether to upgrade. Is the A20 Pro performance leap big enough? How good is the battery life? Which model is better for you? And should you just wait for the iPhone Duo?

I've scoured all of the comments and questions we've been getting on the Tom's Guide YouTube channel, TikTok hot takes, Instagram videos and and my recent interview with Apple CEO John Ternus, and these are the top 10 questions you have about Apple's new flagships along with my answers.

'Glad I ordered the Pro, the Pro Max looks so massive. 249 grams is a whole iPad.'

The iPhone 18 Pro Max is not quite the weight of an iPad mini, but there's no denying that Apple's biggest flagship has been getting heavier each generation. The iPhone 17 Pro Max weighed 8.22 ounces while the iPhone 18 Pro Max is 8.78 ounces. That's a pretty significant increase for just one year.

The extra heft for the new iPhone is likely due to Apple adding a bigger internal vapor chamber cooling system, as well as physical mechanical blades for the variable aperture.

Plus, you get a bigger battery on the iPhone 18 Pro Max. The eSIM model of the iPhone 18 Pro Max reportedly has a 5,567 mAh battery, compared to 5,088 mAh on the iPhone 17 Pro max.

If you carry your iPhone 18 Pro Max in your front pocket all day, you will feel those 249 grams. The standard iPhone 18 Pro comes in at 211 grams, which is much more manageable.

'Will my iPhone 17 Pro case fit the iPhone 18 Pro?'

Yes, your iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro cases should fit your iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. Apple kept the physical height, width, and depth dimensions identical to last year's models, so you don't need to spend another $50 on a new case unless you just want a new style or color.

If you're looking to protect your investment, we've got a roundup of the 12 best iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max cases to get, including Apple, Otterbox and Casetify.

'Can we turn the Dynamic Island off? I hate when app icons block the top'

No, you can’t disable the Dynamic Island on the iPhone 18 Pro or Pro Max. But Apple did make the cutout smaller this year by moving the infrared sensor for Face ID underneath the display glass.

More good news: You can now show up to three Live Activities at once instead of just two. So I could easily toggle between a timer, Spotify controls, and Apple Maps directions at the top of my screen.

'How does the 18 Pro battery compare to the 17 Pro Max?'

The new iPhone 18 Pro models do last longer on charge than the iPhone 17 Pro series, but it's not quite the leap we thought it would be. Let’s look at the actual Tom's Guide lab test numbers:

The iPhone 18 Pro lasted 16 hours and 17 minutes on the Tom's Guide battery test, which involves web surfing over 5G at 150 nits of screen brightness. That’s nearly an hour gain over the 17 Pro, but it does not beat last year's 17 Pro Max, which hit 17:54.

The iPhone 18 Pro Max is still the battery life king at 18 hours and 27 minutes. It's the longest-lasting iPhone we have ever benchmarked and makes it among the top performers on the Tom's Guide best phone battery life list. It also beats the Galaxy S26 Ultra by nearly 2 hours.

'Give me an iPhone Duo with the iPhone 18 Pro camera suite. That's literally all I want.'

I’m right there with you, but here’s why that camera setup is likely exclusive to the 18 Pro series. Apple likely couldn't find the room to add a telephoto lens to the Duo, so you get just a wide and ultrawide lens.

So if you want a longer 4x optical zoom, go with the iPhone 18 Pro or Pro Max.

In addition, Apple added six mechanical blades that expand and contract to the main 48MP camera on the Pros in order to achieve variable aperture. It shifts anywhere from f/1.48 to f/4.0 automatically, or you can customize it using new Pro controls.

That six-blade mechanism requires physical depth. That's why the thinner foldable iPhone Duo likely can't fit this exact camera suite without adding a massive camera bump. See our in-depth iPhone 18 Pro Max variable aperture camera testing for some good examples of what you can do.

'Can you actually edit Cinematic Mode AFTER you record a video now, or did I misread that?'

You read that right. And this is probably my favorite software quality-of-life upgrade on the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max.

Historically, if you forgot to select Cinematic Mode before hitting record, you were stuck with standard video. On the 18 Pro series, you can shoot standard 4K video, open up the editor, and toggle Cinematic Mode on or off after the fact right at the top of the display.

You can see the results above, as the background is more blurred out with Cinematic Mode enabled. It's essentially like Portrait mode for video.

Apple also added manual shutter speed controls for video and 4K Dolby Vision Timelapses. If you shoot video for social media or YouTube, this gives you way more flexibility in post-production without locking you into specific camera modes up front.

'Performance = Get the iPhone 18 Pro. Entertainment = Wait for the iPhone Duo.'

This is an interesting take on the iPhone 18 Pro vs. iPhone Duo comparison.

The 18 Pro is powered by the 2nm A20 Pro chip. In our benchmark tests, it scored over 4,700 on single-core CPU tests and turned in a massive 45% graphics jump over the 17 Pro Max, also comfortably beating Samsung's Galaxy S26 Ultra across the board.

The iPhone Duo uses this exact same processor. Our A20 Pro lab testing proves that this chip has the raw GPU horsepower and 80% thermal stability required to run dual-screen multitasking without overheating or tanking performance.

However, driving a larger display requires more resources, and it's not clear how much the iPhone Duo's thinner design will impact sustained performance. The bigger difference to me is likely to be battery life, though, as the iPhone 18 Pro Max is rated for 45 hours of video playback versus 31 for the Duo on its main 7.6-inch panel.

If you want a traditional, ultra-durable slab phone with max camera control and 18+ hours of battery, get the 18 Pro Max. But if you want a dual-screen workstation for media and multitasking, wait for the Duo, because the chip inside should be ready for it.

'Is Siri AI on iOS 27 actually useful now?'

I’m not going to say that Siri AI is smarter than Gemini or ChatGPT yet. But thanks to iOS 27 and the A20 Pro’s new dual 16-core Neural Engine, which logged a 40% to 48% speed boost in our Geekbench AI lab tests, it’s significantly more helpful.

The big difference this year is personal context and multi-step voice prompts. Instead of asking Siri to do one basic task at a time, you can do several things at once.

For example, I could ask for Siri to check my calendar for any openings for lunch with my brother, research restaurants around Bryant Park and include recommended dishes and send a text to him in a single prompt.

I just wish that you could talk to Siri in real time while looking at live video, as you can with Gemini and ChatGPT Voice.

'Is there actually $100 more worth of upgrades here?'

This question is referring to the $100 price hike for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, which is likely due to the component shortage. So, what does that extra $100 actually buy you under the hood?

• A blazing A20 Pro chip
• A physical, six-blade mechanical variable aperture main camera
• An internal vapor chamber that's three times larger for sustained cooling
• Upgraded 60W fast charging
• Solid battery life gains for both models

Whether these upgrades justify the extra cash depends on your current iPhone. If you're coming from an iPhone 17 Pro, paying $100 is a tough sell.

But if you're upgrading from a an iPhone 14 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro, that $100 gets you a massive 50% performance leap, real optical aperture control, and over three additional hours of screen time.

'Should I get the iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone 18 Pro Max?'

This is not an easy call. There’s four main differences between the iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 18 Pro Max.

No. 1 is the display size. The 6.3-inch OLED panel on the iPhone 18 Pro is great, but the 6.9-inch screen on the Max gives you a more immersive viewing experience for playing games and watching movies. Plus, there’s more info on screen at once when reviewing documents or surfing the web.

Second, you get more battery life on the iPhone 18 Pro Max, hitting nearly 18.5 hours — which is a bit over 2 hours more than the iPhone 18 Pro.

On the other hand, the iPhone 18 Pro is more compact and lighter. It’s like having a stealth bomber in your pocket with all that A20 Pro power. And the iPhone 18 Pro starts at $100 less. That might not seem like much but you can put that savings towards additional storage.

For me I’d get the iPhone 18 Pro Max but it really comes down to screen size and price.

Bottom line

The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max might not look radically different at first glance, but underneath, the A20 Pro chip, camera hardware, and thermal redesign set a new baseline for Apple flagships.

Did we answer your key questions about the 18 Pro series? Are you picking one up, or holding out for our full iPhone Duo review? Let us know in the comments!

More from Tom's Guide

• I spent 30 minutes with the iPhone Duo — 3 things you just don’t get from the pictures
• I put the iPhone 18 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra through a 7-round face-off — here’s the winner
• I replaced ChatGPT with Siri AI for a day — here's what surprised me

I have a confession to make: When I first saw the iPhone Duo announced at September’s ‘Surprise and shine’ keynote, I was happy to see Apple enter the foldable market — but I wasn’t entirely sold on the device.

My limited experience with various Android foldables has been positive — but it’s always left me feeling like I’d rather pair a small regular phone with a mini tablet instead of having them sandwiched together. So I went into a brief hands-on demo with the iPhone Duo this week with a healthy amount of skepticism.

Of course, I’m going to reserve full judgment for when Tom’s Guide can test and review the device properly — but three things immediately stood out to me after spending a half hour with Apple's $1,999 handset.

These were things you just don’t appreciate when you look at pictures or watch videos of the device; you need to hold it in your hand to really appreciate them. And I’m not talking about the crease.

The weighting is perfect

In an effort to make folding phones as thin and light as possible when folded, I’ve noticed they sometimes feel too flimsy when unfolded. Case in point is last year's Oppo Find N5, which is the foldable I've spent the most time with and measures just 4.21mm when open (8.93mm thick when folded) and weighs 229 grams (8.07 ounces).

The iPhone Duo, by comparison, is 5.2mm when open and weighs 254 grams (8.96 ounces). If your first instinct is to shudder and recoil because thinner and lighter is always better, then I’m here to tell you it’s not the case when you hold the device in your hand.

Part of the reason I like using a tablet is that there’s some degree of heft and chunk that you can actually grip onto when you’re reading, sketching or watching something. Not enough to make your arm sore, of course, but enough to make it feel like you’re holding something that won’t snap in half. The iPhone Duo nails that balance perfectly, and it was super reassuring the second I picked it up off the display table.

The matte display rocks

I’m not going to talk about the crease (yes there is one, and yes, you can see it if you look closely) or the animation, but what was really cool about the Duo’s inner display was the Nano-texture finish. It gives it this epic level of matte quality that Apple says is scratch-resistant and 40 percent stiffer than the competition.

My use case for foldable phones is chiefly about productivity — for my sins I look at spreadsheets more than Netflix movies while commuting — and the Duo’s inner display is so easy on the eyes I couldn’t help but feel it’d be perfect for this. Reflective glare from aggressive overhead lighting is expertly muted by this matte texture for readability and functionality.

If you want to read ebooks, or when you come to use an Apple Pencil to sketch or take notes, I’m convinced the decision to go matte will make this a quality experience.

It’s a fingerprint magnet

Okay, this isn’t exactly a positive point, but I need to make it anyway. The iPhone Duo comes in two shades: Star White and Night Sky. And the latter seemed — to me, at least — a fingerprint magnet. In all the images, you’re likely to see the finely polished Ceramic Shield back looking flawless. And it does... until you start pawing at it with greasy fingers. For what it's worth, I didn’t notice this as much on the Star White colorway.

It seems petty to dunk on such a well-engineered device for something so trivial, especially since Apple has achieved an IP68 protection rating. That means it's safe against both water and dust and (as with the weight example above) this really does feel like a durable device in the hand. If you're one of the people who wraps their iPhone up in a case anyway, then you can completely ignore this entire point.

Bottom line

There is, of course, way more to unpack with the iPhone Duo when it hits the market in October. And I have more thoughts on things like the camera performance and iOS 27 that I’ll write up if and when I get more time with it. But the points above were just what sprung instantly to mind the minute I picked it up. If you want more, read my colleague Mark’s in-depth hands-on with the Duo following his experience with it at Apple Park.

But from my very brief time with it, my takeaway is that Apple’s long-awaited entry into the foldable phone category has arrived in style. Everything from the feeling of snapping it shut to the way the passport-style form factor nestles into your palm is sublime. There’s certainly a high price of entry, but after using the iPhone Duo myself, I think a lot of people will be willing to pay it once they actually get to experience it in their own hands.

Let me know what your thoughts are about the iPhone Duo in the comments below. Are you interested in trying one, or are you happy with a regular, non-folding phone? I’d love to hear from you.

More from Tom's Guide

• iPhone Duo hands-on
• iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max deals are live — here's the biggest discounts at T-Mobile, Verizon and more
• I tested the iPhone 18 Pro Max's variable aperture camera — here's the results

I have spent an inordinate amount of money at Ikea since I moved into my house; you can easily find at least two Ikea products in every single room. But recently, the thing I've been liking the most about the Swedish retailer is its growing range of extremely affordable electronics. It seems too good to be true, but so far I haven't been let down by them.

Needless to say, I've been quite eager to try out Ikea's Västmärke Qi2 wireless charging stand which debuted last December. Clearly other people have had the same idea, because I've had to wait months for the charger to come back in stock here in the U.K. I'm not even exaggerating either: Not only have I been waiting for this to come back in stock since May, Ikea already seems to have run out.

Considering the Västmärke stand is just £9 here in the U.K. (roughly $12), it's no surprise that people would want to get their hands on it, even if they did have to spend a little extra for one of Ikea's 30W charging bricks. If there's a cheaper Qi2 charger out there, I haven't come across it.

Sadly Ikea U.S. isn't quite so generous in the price, and American buyers will need to pay $30 for a Västmärke stand of their own — $5 more than the original launch price. That's still a cheap price for a Qi2 stand, but it's on a par with other budget chargers on sale from big names like Belkin and Anker.

What is the Västmärke wireless charging stand?

Västmärke is cheap for a reason, and that reason is that it's primarily made out of cork and plastic. There are no premium materials here, like metal or rubber.

Personally, I think it looks like a cheap product, though I admit that I may be letting the fact I hate touching cork skew my opinion a little bit. I really can't stand the stuff, but I can't fault Ikea for using a material that is cheap, sustainable and biodegradable.

There's no charging brick in the box, but the Västmärke does come with its own 47-inch (120cm) USB-C cable. The cable is built into the stand, though, so if it breaks you can't just replace it with a new one.

Looks and materials only form part of the equation, though. What sets the Västmärke stand apart from most cheap wireless chargers is that it's fully Qi2 certified. For those who don't know, Qi2 wireless charging is faster than the original Qi1 standard, and offers more advanced charging protocols in the process. This includes adaptive charging speed that lets your phone dictate how much power comes in, rather than being forced to accept a fixed flow of electricity.

Crucially, though, this is a magnetic Qi2 charger. That means any Qi2 capable phones, including most iPhones and the Google Pixel 11 series, will connect to the charger using a built-in ring of magnets. Other phones, such as Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, can also take advantage of this with special Qi2-compatible cases. The use of magnets ensures that wireless charging coils are perfectly aligned, which means better overall efficiency — leading to faster charging and less heat.

The downside is that the Västmärke stand is limited to 15W charging speeds. That's fine for some phones, but there are phones like iPhone 18 Pro and Google Pixel 11 that support up to 25W Qi2 wireless charging. So bear in mind that such phones will not be wireless charging as fast as they physically can.

What's it like using Västmärke?

Cork aversion aside, I can't say I've seen a wireless charging stand that looks aesthetically pleasing on its own. So credit where it's due, Ikea's created something that doesn't look industrial and clunky. Even if the design does feel a little bit cheap.

From a performance perspective, I can't fault Västmärke in any way. The magnet snapped onto the back of my Pixel 11 Pro XL and iPhone 17 Pro Max as advertised, and immediately kicked off the wireless charging session right away. That includes both phones' special charging display modes, better known as "Standby" on iOS and the simple "Screen saver" on Android.

The magnetic connection is nice and strong, which makes it easy to pick up the phone without disconnecting the stand. That can be good and bad, depending on your point of view, and like most magnetic chargers a little bit of effort is needed to ensure your phone is disconnected when you need it to be. The rubber base on the bottom of the Västmärke ensures there is enough friction to do that pretty seamlessly, though.

There's not much more I can say about the charging process itself. The Västmärke recharged both of my phones without issue, and according to my USB-C power meter it was hitting the speeds you'd expect from a 15W wireless charger.

Surprisingly it did register power levels in excess of 15W at times. I'm not sure why, but when recharging my Pixel 11 Pro from zero percent, the power rose to just over 18W at certain points. That's no big deal for the phone, it can handle up to 25W wireless charging, but it was weird to see considering the Västmärke is a 15W charger.

I can only assume that the stand was charging at a full 15W, with the rest of the energy being wasted somewhere along the way. Wireless charging is notorious for producing heat, after all, and the Västmärke is no exception to that. So maybe avoid using it during heat waves, unless you have a very large fan nearby.

Bottom line

I'd be pretty impressed with the Västmärke wireless charging stand, even if I'd paid the full $30 for it. But for £9/$12? That's an absolute no-brainer, and none of my criticisms matter. I may not be a fan of the overall design, but I can't really be mad that a cheap stand looks cheap. Certainly not when its wireless charging capabilities rival those of other, pricier Qi2 chargers I've used.

The Västmärke charging stand feels like it's too good to be true. These are prices that you'd normally expect from no-brand wireless chargers that max out at 10W if you're lucky. Instead, this is an Ikea product, and after so many years of offering cheap chargers and other electronics, I feel as though it's more than earned my trust.

If you're in the market for a wireless charger, and your nearest Ikea has the Västmärke in stock, I definitely recommend picking one up. Especially if you're in the U.K., because it probably won't be there for long.

More from Tom's Guide

• Best wireless chargers
• Best Magsafe chargers
• I tried this new MagSafe Wallet that actually makes me look cool

I’ve been dinging Apple for years for holding back on giving serious shooters like me what we’ve been asking for: true manual camera controls. But while testing the iPhone 18 Pro Max, I found myself initially distracted by another headline grabber: the variable aperture camera.

To be fair, it genuinely changes the mechanics of shooting with a phone — not just an iPhone. Instead of relying on simulated portrait blur, you get authentic optical depth of field and true light control. That's the exact tool I want when dialed into chasing a specific aesthetic.

But the longer I’ve spent working inside Apple’s revamped Camera app, the more I’ve realized my attention was pulled in the wrong direction. The real star of the show isn't the moving physical blades — it’s Pro Controls. Here’s why.

Not all iPhones get it

Pro Controls finally makes the native iOS Camera app feel less like a basic point-and-shoot and more like a serious mirrorless rig. Quite simply, it’s the dedicated manual shooting suite I’ve been demanding for years, with granular controls for exposure, shutter speed, white balance, focus, aperture, resolution, and more. Best of all, these tools are accessible right from the viewfinder — no more jumping into the system Settings just to tweak a shooting parameter. But there’s a catch.

Apple is keeping the feature strictly walled off, making it exclusive to the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. I was crossing my fingers that it might trickle down to the iPhone 17 Pro series via the official iOS 27 update, but that’s not happening. Just as surprising, the upcoming iPhone Duo won’t get Pro Controls either.

A familiar layout with depth under the hood

Along the edge of the viewfinder are the essential toggles for white balance, aperture, exposure compensation, flash, and Live Photos. They remain there for quick, one-tap access, but reaching the rest of the Pro Controls requires digging a little deeper by tapping the camera settings icon.

Doing so opens a floating overlay where you can adjust shutter speed, manual focus, format options, and more. It’s also where you can toggle a live histogram, select a Photographic Style, or tweak Night mode.

Interestingly, Apple includes separate controls for aperture and depth. The former physically moves the blades on the main sensor to cycle through four hardware aperture stops, while the latter controls simulated bokeh — fake background blur, as I call it. Both have their place, but I far prefer the authentic falloff of the physical aperture.

If there’s one issue I have with this setup, it’s that there doesn't appear to be a way to customize which parameters stay pinned to the primary screen. Personally, I couldn't care less about Live Photos or the flash. I just hope Apple realizes this and gives shooters the freedom to organize the layout that best suits them with subsequent software updates.

Video also gets the Pro treatment

Stills aren’t the only beneficiary on the iPhone 18 Pro series — Pro Controls makes its way over to video recording as well. While the suite isn’t quite as extensive as the photo side, Apple included the two parameters that matter most for serious video work: physical aperture and manual shutter speed.

Unlocking shutter speed is a huge win for videographers like me who juggle multi-camera workflows. Previous iPhones locked shutter speed behind automated computational exposure, often resulting in unnatural or jittery motion blur that.

Being able to manually dial in your shutter speed makes it far easier to cut footage from the iPhone 18 Pro alongside dedicated cameras. For instance, you can lock in at 1/50 or 1/60 to maintain natural motion blur, or crank it to 1/240 to give fast-paced action sequences that dramatic edge.

Bottom line

At the end of the day, Pro Controls is the real camera upgrade I’ve been asking for because I no longer need to rely on third-party apps just to take full creative command of a shot. Everything I need is finally baked directly into the native Camera app, with zero subscription fees or clunky workarounds.

The only glaring omission left on the table is manual ISO control, which Apple stubbornly keeps locked down. Even with that limitation, Pro Controls is the definitive feature that transforms the iPhone 18 Pro series from a mere point-and-shoot smartphone into a genuine creative powerhouse.

More from Tom's Guide

• iOS 27 has a hidden Mac Easter egg — here's how to trigger it
• iPhone 18 Pro benchmarks: Apple just built the most powerful phones we've ever seen
• iPhone 18 Pro Max and 18 Pro battery life tested — the results are surprising

For years, your iPhone’s lock screen was designed around Apple’s rigid aesthetic rules rather than your personal taste.

With the release of iOS 27, Apple has finally handed full visual control back to users. Alongside system-wide refinements to the frosted Liquid Glass interface, the update introduces five key settings that let you strip away visual clutter, resize UI elements, and shape your display to look like you designed it yourself.

If your iPhone is running iOS 27, taking a few minutes to tweak these controls will completely change how your phone looks every time you pick it up.

5 new lock screen tools in iOS 27

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It’s official. Apple’s first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, will be taking up a surprisingly small space in early adopters’ pockets next month.

It’s undeniably expensive, however. The base 256GB model will set you back $1,999 which critics have noted is more than it would cost to buy the iPhone 18 Pro and the latest iPad mini 7.

So is that worth doing, or does the unique form factor of the iPhone Duo justify the extra cost? Here’s what you should consider before making your choice.

Why you should choose iPhone Duo

Unmatched portability

The main thing the iPhone Duo has going for it is its portability.

When folded, it measures 117.8mm x 84.1mm x 11.3mm. Though that’s not too far removed from the iPhone 18 Pro’s 71.9mm x 150mm x 8.75mm, add in a 134.8mm x 195.4mm x 6.3mm iPad mini 7, and pockets alone just wouldn’t cut it.

And while the iPhone Duo weighs a not-insubstantial 254g, that’s still lighter than the combined weight of the phone and tablet, which together tip the scales at 504g.

When Tom's Guide sat down to talk with CEO John Ternus and Greg Joswiak following the Apple keynote, Joz specifically highlighted the joy of being able to fold up an iPad and take it around with you as part of the device's appeal.

Unique features

As well as the cool factor of a folding phone, the iPhone Duo has a couple of features that are unique to the iPhone family. The internal FaceTime camera is an under-screen model, only visible when required. And that internal screen has a matte finish for less glare and fewer reflections.

In addition, the iPhone Duo's apps can morph based on the folding state of the device. For example, if you're watching Netflix and fold the device like a laptop, you'll see the video up top and controls down below.

Also, bear in mind that while the iPhone Duo uses the same A20 Pro chipset as the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, the iPad mini 7 is a bit longer in the tooth, still using the same A17 Pro silicone as the iPhone 15 Pro. The iPad mini 8 will no doubt close the gap, but its release date (and likely price increase) is still to be determined.

Better multitasking

One of the main reasons people use a tablet is for the enhanced multitasking abilities that a larger screen offers.

While both the iPhone Duo and iPad mini allow multiple apps for genuine multitasking, the former has the advantage here. Why? Because all your files, apps and notes are in one place. With an iPad mini, you’d need to make sure your files were synced between devices — something made that bit harder if you opt for the Wi-Fi-only model.

Only one device to keep charged

Keeping electronics charged is one of the more tedious things about modern living. As a two-in-one device, you only need to monitor the battery of one handheld, rather than two.

Why you should choose an iPhone 18 Pro and an iPad mini

Significant savings

The most obvious advantage of opting for a phone and a tablet over the iPhone Duo is the price difference. An iPhone Duo starts at $1,999, whereas buying both an entry-level iPad mini 7 and a base iPhone 18 Pro together comes to $1,698 — a $301 saving. Even if you opt for an iPhone 18 Pro Max with the iPad mini, you'll still pay a combined $1,798 that comes in cheaper than the Duo. Given the iPad mini 7 is coming up to its second birthday, you’d be able to save a packet by shopping around, too.

These savings can be even greater if you opt for a different combo, too. The iPhone 17 starts at $899 on the Apple site, immediately slashing a further $300 from the price, and again, if you shop around, you’ll be able to get it cheaper.

The battery power of two devices

Though I already covered the hassle of having to top up two batteries, the flip side to this is the added longevity.

The iPhone Duo is expected to have a battery that will last for 44 hours of video on the outer screen, or 31 on the internal one. The iPhone 18 Pro is quoted as going for 34 hours of video (our own battery test knocked it out after 16 hours and 17 minutes of real-world endurance), and the iPad mini lasted just over ten hours in our battery tests. That’s a slight edge to the pair of devices if the Duo is only used folded, and a resounding win if unfolded.

Better camera power

For a flagship device, the iPhone Duo is surprisingly under-specced in the camera department. There are two 48MP rear cameras: a f/1.6 main lens and a f/2.2 ultrawide.

While the iPad mini’s camera can be safely ignored for the most part, the iPhone 18 Pro is clearly far more flexible. Not only does the 48MP main camera include a variable aperture, letting photographers choose between f/1.48m, f/1.8m f/2.8 and f/4.0 values, but you also get an additional 48MP telephoto lens with 4x optical zoom.

A full Apple Pencil experience

Although the iPhone Duo supports the Apple Pencil on both of its screens, there is one big caveat: you have to use the paired-back USB-C version. That means there’s no pressure sensor, haptic feedback, Find My support or added features like squeeze or double-tap.

While that’s better than the iPhone 18 Pro, which doesn’t support any Apple Pencils, the iPad mini 7 lets you use the USB-C model or the far better Apple Pencil Pro. That makes it the superior option for serious doodlers.

iPhone Duo or iPhone 18 Pro + iPad mini?

Ultimately, there are benefits to both configurations. The iPhone Duo is undoubtedly more convenient and portable than lugging around two devices, and it has a few neat features that aren’t (yet) available on other Apple handhelds, like the under-screen selfie camera and a matte display.

But opting for both a less glamorous iPhone and iPad instead will save you at least $200, and likely more if you shop around or look beyond the brand new iPhone 18 Pro. On top of that, you get a superior camera setup and the full Apple Pencil experience.

In short, there’s no straightforward right or wrong answer here, and what you should choose will depend on your budget and specific circumstances.

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I'll admit, I stopped using Siri around 2010. I didn't think it was very helpful for more than setting a timer and I often had to repeat myself, which seemed to make using it frustrating at times.

But Siri AI in iOS 27 is something very different and has made me a believer again. The difference is the "AI" in Siri AI. Apple has turned Siri into a conversational AI assistant, much like ChatGPT Voice, that can answer questions and understand what's on your screen and, perhaps most importantly, tap into information already sitting on your iPhone.

In the same way Personal Intelligence can navigate through Google Workspace, Siri AI does that right on your phone. And that's the thing about this update that caught my attention.

So I decided to try something I wouldn't have considered doing with the old Siri: I stopped using ChatGPT for a day and asked Siri AI to handle as many of my usual AI tasks as possible.

I expected ChatGPT to run circles around it. That wasn't always what happened. Here are five things that changed how I use it.

1. Finding something I barely remember

I save everything. I have about 70,657 photos on my iPhone as proof that I'm a digital hoarder. But one of the most frustrating things about having years of messages, emails and photos on my phone is knowing something is there but having absolutely no idea where to look for it. I can't tell you how many times I think "I know I took a screenshot of that phone number sometime in July..."

Normally, I'd start opening apps and searching individually. Siri's personal context makes a completely different approach possible.

Instead, I can ask something vague like, "What was the name of the restaurant Steve sent me?" or "When is that appointment I got an email about?"

That's a deceptively big change. Traditional Siri worked best when you knew exactly what you wanted and phrased the command correctly. The new Siri is much better suited to those moments when you don't know exactly what you're looking for. That's honestly one of the main reasons I need an assistant at all.

2. Doing something with what's already on my screen

If I'm looking at something on my iPhone, I don't necessarily have to explain what "this" is before asking Siri about it.

For example, if someone sends me information I need later, I can bring up Siri and say, "Remind me about this tomorrow."

Or I can ask Siri about something I'm looking at and then continue from there. With a traditional chatbot, there's often an extra step involved. I might need to upload a screenshot, copy some text or explain what I'm looking at before asking my question.

Siri is already there. It's one of those advantages that has less to do with having a smarter model and more to do with where the AI actually lives.

3. Handling a messy, normal-life request

AI benchmarks are great for comparing models, but my actual life leads to questions that are more like, "I need to make dinner before soccer at 6. I have chicken in the fridge, I don't want anything complicated and it needs to take less than 25 minutes."

That's the kind of request I've traditionally taken straight to ChatGPT. So I started giving similar requests to Siri. And, what I noticed about Siri AI is that it finally keeps the conversation going. It's a lot like ChatGPT voice

What's different from the Siri of a few years ago is that I can continue the conversation without starting over every time.

I can ask for dinner ideas, reject the first suggestion, add another constraint and keep going.

"Nothing spicy."

"What if I don't have rice?"

"Give me the easiest one."

That conversational back-and-forth is something we've taken for granted with ChatGPT and Gemini Live, but it fundamentally changes what Siri feels like to use.

4. Doing the things ChatGPT can't

My opinion started to really change about Siri AI when I tested it to do things that ChatGPT cannot do. If I ask ChatGPT and Siri the same difficult question, I'd still expect ChatGPT to have an advantage in plenty of situations.

But that's not necessarily the comparison here. Siri can interact with the device I'm holding. That means that Siri is doing so much more than answering questions — it actually takes action. I can ask about information on my phone and then do something with it. I can move between finding information and acting on that information without treating the AI as a separate destination.

Chatbots have become remarkably good at telling us how to do things. The next step is having an assistant that can actually help carry them out. And because Siri sits at the operating-system level, Apple has an enormous advantage here.

5. Knowing when I'd still choose ChatGPT

To be clear, Siri hasn't suddenly made ChatGPT irrelevant on my iPhone. I still prefer to brainstorm and fact-check with ChatGPT, or even work through a complicated idea. I just think ChatGPT-6 is a simply better AI, but after diving into Siri AI, I've found myself using the two differently.

ChatGPT is where I go when I want to think with AI. Siri is now where I go when I want AI to help me do something on my phone.

The line between those two things will probably get blurrier as both assistants evolve, but right now it's a surprisingly useful distinction. I'm just glad to know that Siri finally has a reason to exist.

Bottom line

Siri AI in iOS 27 has made me a believer in Siri again. It finally understands what I need and what I'm looking at without me needing to repeat myself. And, the information is actually useful and already on the device I'm using, which can turn a conversation into an action faster than using ChatGPT.

There are still plenty of situations where I'd choose ChatGPT first, particularly when I need deeper reasoning or I'm working on something complicated.

But when I'm holding my iPhone and simply trying to get something done, I'm starting to reach for Siri more often.

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Over the past few years I have spent an inordinate amount of my time sitting in virtual queues, waiting for my chance to buy something. Recently my phone was sitting in one for around four hours as I attempted to book a family trip to Disneyland Paris. Since it was the day bookings opened, it seems as though half of Europe was doing the same thing.

Waiting is bad enough, but it was made worse by the fact I got distracted partway through waiting and missed my window. That means starting the whole process again, and mentally kicking myself for letting myself get distracted attempting to troubleshoot my temperamental 3D printer. This is far from an isolated case for me, either.

So you can imagine my excitement when I found out about the new "Notify Me" feature in iOS 27, with the promise that it can monitor webpages and alert you to any changes. Unfortunately spending time with Notify Me shows that Apple hasn't really gone far enough.

What Notify Me is, and how it works

Notify Me is an artificial intelligence feature for Apple's Safari browser. The idea is that you can single out a webpage and have Apple's AI tell you when things change. That can be general changes, or it could be something specific that you describe with a written prompt.

The main thing to remember about Notify Me is that the AI doesn't monitor that page all the time. Instead you have to tell it when it should come back and see what's changed. Your options are to do this hourly, daily, weekly or monthly. You also get to set the exact time, day or date (depending on the frequency) that the AI goes back to check.

It's a very simple feature that can be accessed from the Safari menu bar which sits on the left-hand side of the URL bar — which is typically at the bottom of the screen on iPhone and iPad. It's easy to find and use, which is more than I can say for a lot of features in iOS 27.

From a practical stand point, Notify Me has everything going for it. Apart from the fact its usefulness is currently rather limited.

Hourly checks aren't enough to be truly useful

I'm not saying that Notify Me is useless in its current form, quite the opposite in fact. The tool is ideal for keeping tabs on certain pages in the long-term. Use cases include keeping tabs on restocks, or checking for discounts on specific products. The pages that you would only look at periodically, checking in very briefly before going back to whatever you would normally be doing.

Notify Me saves you the effort of remembering to do this yourself, especially if you want to check on some sort of schedule. You don't need to take time out of your day to look, when you have an AI that has been instructed to take care of that for you.

But in the short term? Notify Me's scope is still a little too limited for my liking.

Typically getting to the front of a virtual queue means you get some kind of grace period to complete whatever transaction you're doing. In the case of my trip it was 20 minutes, but I've seen them vary anywhere between 10 minutes and an hour. Obviously, having a tool that refreshes a page once an hour at most is not ideal for dealing with these kinds of situations. By the time the AI checks the page, it'll already be too late and you'll have missed your spot.

Really it would be better if Apple expanded Notify Me for much smaller periods of time. Five to ten minutes would expand its usefulness by a lot, since it would be as close to real-time monitoring as we can hope for with a free AI tool. But even increasing page refreshes to 30 or 15 minutes would make it a more useful and versatile tool.

Bottom line

Notify Me is definitely a useful tool, but its scope is too limited right now. The fact that you can instruct AI to check webpages for any kind of change you can describe is pretty incredible. But it's very much a long-term tool, that a lot of people probably won't get much use out of. It certainly has the potential to offer a lot more, though.

The question is whether Apple can actually do that. AI needs a lot of resources to run, and the more you utilize it the more pressure it's going to put on your hardware. In fact, we don't know where this processing is done or how it affects your phone, so there's no telling what sort of stress checking a page multiple times an hour might inflict. Even if Apple has just released the fastest phones we've ever tested.

But I hope that this is just the start of what Apple has planned, and that Notify Me will be getting an expansion in future versions of iOS and Apple Intelligence. After all, the less we all have to sit in virtual queues to try and get tickets to the next big concert or event, the better.

More from Tom's Guide

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When Samsung launched the Galaxy S26 Ultra earlier this year, it set the benchmark for every other contender gunning to be the best phone around. Now that the iPhone 18 Pro Max is finally here, Apple has a lot to prove to dethrone its rival.

That’s why I’m exploring one of the most heated matchups in tech right now: an iPhone 18 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra face-off. Samsung certainly didn’t disappoint, as the S26 Ultra introduced an innovative Privacy Display, more helpful agentic AI features, and major camera hardware overhauls.

Apple didn't just deliver incremental tweaks this time around, either. With the blazing A20 Pro chip under the hood, a mechanical variable aperture camera system, and deeper Apple Intelligence integration, the iPhone 18 Pro Max lands late in the release cycle with serious firepower aimed directly at Samsung’s crown.

After putting both phones through rigorous testing, only one emerges as the clear recommendation.

iPhone 18 Pro Max vs Galaxy S26 Ultra: Specifications

iPhone 18 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra: Price and release

Samsung’s flagship is no longer more expensive than Apple’s. That’s because the iPhone 18 Pro Max received a $100 price hike that brings its starting price to $1,299, matching the Galaxy S26 Ultra dollar for dollar out of the gate.

Samsung kicked off the year by releasing the S26 Ultra on March 11, which by now can be had with significant discounts through carrier promos. Meanwhile, the iPhone 18 Pro Max launched later on September 18 with its own introductory offers and incentives.

Considering that both flagships demand the exact same initial investment for their entry-level storage, neither handset manages to undercut the other at checkout.

Winner: tie

iPhone 18 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra: Design

Predictably, both flagships showcase exceptional build quality — but they take drastically different approaches to aesthetics and in-hand feel.

I still prefer the iPhone 18 Pro Max's noticeably more refined look, highlighted by how its gently contoured edges soften the aluminum unibody frame. However, picking up the two side-by-side reveals a stark physical contrast. Despite sharing a nearly identical footprint, the iPhone 18 Pro Max feels significantly denser, tipping the scales at 8.78 ounces. As much as I love how that extra heft gives it a rock-solid build, I don’t like that it’s the heaviest iPhone to date.

On the other side, Samsung plays it far safer with the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Its boxy industrial look borders on boring for my taste, as it simply doesn't turn heads the way a top-tier flagship should. That said, Samsung deserves immense credit for making it feel lighter in hand while still carving out dedicated housing for the embedded S Pen — delivering built-in utility Apple still can't match.

Ultimately, while the S Pen remains a killer productivity perk, the iPhone’s premium finish, contoured ergonomic touches, and superb craftsmanship make it the more stunning piece of hardware.

Winner: iPhone 18 Pro Max

iPhone 18 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra: Display

In my years of reviewing phones, one general rule I go by is that a brighter display is typically superior — but I’m reluctant to adhere to that here. Impressively, the iPhone 18 Pro Max doesn’t disappoint, pushing out 2,396 nits of peak brightness from its 6.9-inch Super Retina XDR panel. Paired with a buttery smooth 120Hz refresh rate and an upgraded anti-reflective coating that deflects glare better than before, it handles virtually any viewing condition with ease.

That brightness matters outdoors in the harsh mid-afternoon sun. Most phones struggle under direct sunlight, but not this one. In fact, Apple’s panel punches through glare with noticeably more power than Samsung’s.

Yet, despite Apple’s brightness advantage, Samsung pulls off the far more meaningful breakthrough with its Privacy Display. Instead of forcing you to rely on third-party screen protectors, Samsung natively integrates the technology into the OLED panel — shielding the screen from prying eyes from all sides. When you ride the train or subway as much as I do, you quickly appreciate how big a difference this makes.

Apple gives you pure brightness, but Samsung delivers genuine hardware innovation that solves an everyday headache. I'll trade extra nits for real privacy any day.

Winner: Galaxy S26 Ultra

iPhone 18 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra: Cameras

I’m always most interested in camera performance, seeing that it’s the biggest deciding factor whenever I buy a phone. The iPhone 18 Pro Max comes to the table with a 48MP main camera featuring a mechanical variable aperture (f/1.48, f/1.8, f/2.8, f/4.0), a 48MP ultrawide, and a 48MP telephoto with 4x optical zoom. Around the front, Apple equips it with an 18MP Center Stage camera.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy S26 Ultra packs a quad-camera system led by a massive 200MP main sensor, a 50MP ultrawide, a 10MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom, and a 50MP periscope telephoto with 5x optical zoom — backed by a 12MP selfie camera.

For years, Samsung held an uncontested edge over Apple when it came to granular creative control, largely thanks to its Pro modes, Expert RAW app, and specialized shooting tools. However, Apple has finally closed that gap with Pro Controls. This new addition lets me manually dial in shutter speed, white balance, focus, and crucially, physical aperture.

That mechanical variable aperture is a game changer. Instead of simulating depth with computational portrait mode blur, the physical aperture blades can open wide to f/1.48 to flood the sensor with light, or stop down to f/4.0 to pull an entire landscape into tack-sharp focus.

Samsung counters with clever tricks of its own. Its camera app features Horizon Lock, which keeps video level on the horizontal axis no matter how much the phone tilts or shakes during capture. Furthermore, Samsung's dedicated 5x periscope lens simply pulls in more optical reach than Apple's 4x telephoto.

I’ll cut straight to the chase and focus on their low-light performance, as it’s the area that separates a good camera from an excellent one. The iPhone 18 Pro Max’s wider f/1.48 aperture proves its worth, producing a sharper image of the flag under dim conditions. By contrast, the Galaxy S26 Ultra struggles to retain edge clarity and yields a noticeably softer shot.

The results are a smidge closer indoors with ambient artificial lighting, as both do a decent job at exposing the scene including the shadows. I do like how the iPhone captures the tiny fairy-light points reflecting inside glass and shiny surfaces.

There are notable differences between their ultrawide lenses, with each phone delivering its own distinct look. What immediately grabs my attention is how the iPhone 18 Pro Max produces a more balanced dynamic range, pulling cleaner contrast and richer detail from the clouds without washing out the blue sky.

Again, the iPhone 18 Pro Max immediately jumps out with the way it handles portraits. It manages the intense direct sunlight far better, preserving skin tones and natural warmth across Mark's face. By contrast, the exposure runs darker with the Galaxy S26 Ultra, casting a dull shadow and tilting the color temperature toward a cooler tone.

The photographer in me knows the advantage of a longer optical zoom. Yet, these images captured at 10x tell an interesting story, because despite the Galaxy S26 Ultra's 5x optical reach, fine detail and definition remain remarkably similar across the face of the pumpkin decor.

Moving up to 40x zoom, the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s extra reach and image processing render the tiny words underneath the "Happy Hour" sign better, despite smoothing out surrounding textures. In fact, I can actually read the specific days and times on the sign far more easily.

Video recording performance remains remarkably close between the two, as is evident in the clips above captured at 4K 30fps. While the iPhone pulls sharper details from the rocks around the koi pond and offers a more fluid zooming motion, the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s 5x telephoto lens proves its worth by capturing distant subjects with greater clarity.

Because the iPhone delivers a cleaner low-light performance, more natural dynamic range and color science, true mechanical aperture control, and matched manual settings, it takes the victory over the S26 Ultra's extra zoom reach.

Winner: iPhone 18 Pro Max

iPhone 18 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra: Performance

When it comes to pure muscle power, Apple proves that the A20 Pro inside the iPhone 18 Pro Max is an absolute powerhouse — showing up the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy in more ways than one.

For example, Geekbench 6 scores reveal how the A20 Pro widens the gap with single- and multi-core tallies of 4,741 and 12,789, respectively. Clearly, those beat out the 3,785 and 11,563 scores put up by the Galaxy S26 Ultra, but Apple's lead doesn't stop there.

Graphics and gaming benchmarks tell a similar story. In 3DMark’s Solar Bay Unlimited test, both handsets deliver blistering frame rates, but the iPhone 18 Pro Max's 67.9 fps average frame rate and 17,850 score easily blow past its rival's 49.37 fps and 12,984 mark.

While the A20 Pro excels in raw computation and graphics, dedicated on-device neural processing flips the script. The Galaxy S26 Ultra posts a massive score of 83,047 running TensorFlow Lite QNN in Geekbench AI 1.7. That comfortably outpaces the iPhone 18 Pro Max's score of 71,974, proving that Qualcomm’s silicon still has the upper hand when processing complex machine learning tasks.

Winner: iPhone 18 Pro Max

iPhone 18 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra: Battery Life and Charging

Apple never shares official battery capacities with its iPhones, but it doesn’t have to based on the endurance it puts out with our battery drain test. The iPhone 18 Pro Max outlasts the Galaxy S26 Ultra by running nearly 18.5 hours before it’s zapped — versus the S26 Ultra’s average of 16 hours and 40 minutes. For heavy power users, streamers, and commuters who go long between charges, the iPhone 18 Pro Max gives you that extra cushion to cover the gap.

Both phones offer 60W wired charging, which is plenty fast to add a decent amount of charge with short bursts. Yet, the iPhone 18 Pro Max gets to 80% in 30 minutes, which is better than the 77% pulled in by the S26 Ultra.

Winner: iPhone 18 Pro Max

iPhone 18 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra: Software and AI Features

Fundamentally, I think most people will appreciate the underlying software powering both phones: iOS 27 for the iPhone and One UI 9 on top of Android 17. There’s plenty of customization offered by both, but I really dig the aesthetic of Liquid Glass on the iPhone 18 Pro Max.

With the release of iOS 27, Apple is making up considerable ground with new AI tools that rival features long available on the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Tools like Reframe and an improved Photo Clean Up highlight how Apple has refined its generative AI capabilities, while handy additions like generating passes directly in the Wallet app provide genuine daily utility.

However, it’s the introduction of Siri AI that catapults the iPhone 18 Pro Max forward in a big way — evolving far beyond a static voice assistant. Quite frankly, Siri AI’s grasp of on-screen context makes everyday interactions remarkably proactive. For example, when someone messages me an appointment time or address, the system immediately surfaces relevant in-app actions. I’ve also tested Siri AI with the new CarPlay, where it breezily handles multi-step voice tasks like jotting down detailed notes while I drive.

Yet, despite those advances, I still prefer Samsung’s approach on the Galaxy S26 Ultra with Gemini Live and Galaxy AI. As much as Siri AI has matured, Gemini remains the benchmark to beat on a smartphone. Not only does it seamlessly execute multi-step automations — like ordering Dunkin' for me through DoorDash — but tapping into its multimodal camera features unlocks an entirely new level of utility.

Beyond machine learning, Samsung’s software includes a powerhouse productivity tool Apple simply refuses to match: Samsung DeX. Plugging the S26 Ultra into an external monitor or a pair of smart glasses instantly transforms the handset into a full-blown desktop workspace with true multi-window multitasking.

Winner: Galaxy S26 Ultra

iPhone 18 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra: Verdict

This iPhone 18 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra face-off has a clear winner, as Apple’s flagship takes more categories overall. While I’ve seen narrower finishes with previous generations, Apple’s $100 price increase levels the playing field, making both phones an identical $1,299 investment for their 256GB base configurations.

Samsung certainly deserves credit for packing more robust AI features and comprehensive software that makes it feel like I have a computer in my pocket. Gemini’s deep integration is a big part of that, especially with how seamlessly it handles complex, multi-step automations. The Galaxy S26 Ultra also earns high marks for unique perks like the built-in S Pen and Privacy Display.

However, Apple clinches the overall crown by delivering decisive victories across the area that matter most in daily use. The A20 Pro sets a blistering standard for computational and graphical power, while the two-hour battery life gap it holds over its rival means you won’t have to worry about running short between charges. Throw in its mechanical variable aperture, superior low-light camera performance, and an overhaul with Siri AI, and the iPhone 18 Pro Max stands as the most refined and dependable flagship phone you can buy.

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Battery capacity for the new iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max has officially been revealed thanks to iFixit, which shared the results with Tom's Guide.

Apple typically doesn't officially list the battery capacity for its iPhones. On the Apple website the only battery spec listed is "Up to 45 hours video playback."

What iFixit found

From their teardown, iFixit found that the North American iPhone 18 Pro has a battery capacity of 4,288mAh. Compared to the iPhone 17 Pro eSIM version, that's only a 1% increase over last year's 4,252 mAh battery.

In our iPhone 18 Pro battery tests, that 1% larger battery capacity added an hour of battery life, up to 16 hours and 17 minutes, compared to 15 hours and 17 minutes on the 17 Pro. Of course, those gains are also attributable to the iPhone 18 Pro's new A20 chip, which is more efficient than the A19 chip in last year's model.

iFixit also found the iPhone 18 Pro Max has a 5567 mAh battery, which is 9.41% larger than the iPhone 17 Pro Max, which has a 5088 mAh battery in the eSIM version.

Surprisingly, though, that didn't translate into a corresponding increase in battery life; on our tests, the iPhone 18 Pro Max lasted 18 hours and 27 minutes, which was barely half an hour longer than the iPhone 17 Pro Max (17:54).

Interestingly, the iFixit teardown appears to show a different capacity for the U.S. version of the iPhone 18 Pro compared to the EU versions. In Europe, all phones must have a publicly accessible Energy Label which list key details about the device including battery specs.

Per the listing we've seen, iPhone 18 Pro will have a 4,056 mAh battery, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max will offer 5,391 mAh capacity. The EU iPhones will likely come with physical SIM card slots and not eSIMs only. This does mean the EU models could differ somewhat.

Unfortunately, it'll also cost you a bit more to repair the iPhone 18 Pro battery compared to last year's iPhone.

Apple raised the prices of the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max by $100 for the base 256GB model. And if you need to repair the battery, Apple will charge you $129 (plus tax), $10 more than for the iPhone 17 Pro.

Other repairs appear to have remained the same, though the prices are still high, making AppleCare+ more enticing.

Notably, the last time Apple charged more for battery repairs was when it launched the iPhone 16 Pro, which also saw an overall price increase.

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The 6.3-inch iPhone 18 Pro and 6.9-inch iPhone 18 Pro Max cost $1,199 and $1,299, respectively. That's $100 pricier than their predecessors. Fortunately, there are plenty of iPhone 18 Pro deals you can take advantage of right now.

I've been buying iPhones since the 6s, so when it comes to deals I know where to look. For example, right now T-Mobile is offering the iPhone 18 Pro for free when you bring your number and open an Experience Beyond plan. Or you can get it for free with trade-in and an Experience Beyond plan. That's one of the best iPhone 18 Pro deals around.

Prefer the bigger screen of the iPhone 18 Pro Max? Verizon is taking up to $1,200 off the iPhone 18 Pro Max when you open a new line and trade-in an old phone. You'll even get NFL Sunday Ticket by YouTube for free with your account.

Below I've found all of the best iPhone 18 Pro deals at carriers and retailers alike. I'm also tracking all the iPhone 18 Pro delays, so you know when you can expect your phone to arrive. If you're looking for deals on accessories, Amazon has iPhone accessories from $14 including cases, cables, chargers, AirPods, and more.

Quick Links

• T-Mobile: free w/ new line + unlimited
• Verizon: free w/ new line + trade-in on eligible myPlan
• AT&T: up to $1,200 off w/ new line or trade
• Xfinity Mobile: up to $1,300 off any new iPhone w/ trade + unlimited
• Mint Mobile: up to 50% off 3-month data plans
• Visible: $480 off any new iPhone purchase w/ unlimited
• Walmart: from $31/month on select carriers
• Red Pocket: $100 off iPhone 18 Pro or Pro Max
• Apple Store: up to $885 off w/ trade-in @ Apple
• iPhone accessories: from $7 @ Amazon

iPhone 18 Pro

iPhone 18 Pro Max

Shop more deals

Today is the day the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are released. One of the things most buyers will have noticed is that both phones are $100 more expensive compared to last year. However, the list price isn't the only thing that's increased, since Apple has raised the price of out-of-warranty battery repairs as well.

If you need an official battery service for iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, Apple will charge you $119 (plus tax). However, with the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, that price has risen by $10 to $129 — a difference of around 8%.

Thankfully, other out-of-warranty repair costs have stayed the same for the time being. But with an official Apple repair of miscellaneous damage costing more than two-thirds the price of a new iPhone ($849 on an iPhone 18 Pro), AppleCare+ starts to look appealing.

These fees only apply to out-of-warranty repairs, and any legitimate warranty claim will be free of charge. That said, there aren't many circumstances where actual damage to your iPhone would be considered a fault with the phone itself. Certainly not when you remember that Apple has previously brushed away user complaints like scratchgate, bendgate and antennaegate.

Having AppleCare+ reduces those repair costs considerably. Battery servicing is free, while fixing damage to the display and back glass costs $29 each. Inner display damage comes with a $99 fee, as does any other accidental damage repair. AppleCare+ also features coverage for stolen and lost iPhones, with a $149 deductible.

AppleCare+ costs $10 a month for an iPhone, or $20 a month if you cover two other devices as part of the AppleCare One plan. Apple also recently launched the $50 a month AppleCare One plan, which covers all Apple devices for up to six people, so long as they're relatively recent or already have AppleCare coverage.

Those of you who already ordered an iPhone 18 Pro or Pro Max without AppleCare+ can still add coverage for up to 60 days after purchase.

What's the deal with the price hike?

The last time we saw the cost of battery servicing go up was with the release of iPhone 16 Pro, when the price rose from $99 to $119. That was also the last time the iPhone 16 Pro got a price hike, as Apple ditched the 128GB storage option that year.

Whether that's a coincidence or not, the truth is that the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max batteries are a little different. According to EU listings, the iPhone 18 Pro Max battery is a whopping 11% larger than the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and that extra capacity doesn't come cheap.

The iPhone 18 Pro is less impressive, with a battery that's a mere 1.44% larger than its predecessor. However Apple has promised that the new batteries employ a different design, which would also explain the price increase. Better batteries are more expensive to make, which means they're going to be more expensive to replace.

Plus we have to remember that things are generally more expensive nowadays — especially when it comes to manufacturing electronics. Batteries don't have the same issues as RAM or storage, but that doesn't mean they're cheap. This means the cost of a replacement can be pretty high, even if other official repair work costs considerably more.

So if you're not going to buy AppleCare coverage, be sure to at least put a case and screen protector on your phone to minimize any damage that might happen.

More from Tom's Guide

• 11 best iOS 27 hidden features you can't afford to miss
• I tested iPhone 18 Pro Max variable aperture camera and I can (almost) ditch my mirrorless
• The iPhone Duo has a lot of hype, but this poll has a surprising reveal for Samsung's foldable

I’ll be the first to admit I stopped relying on Siri years ago for anything more than quick kitchen timers or checking the weather. Like many iPhone users, I had grown accustomed to its limitations.

But after spending time testing the new Siri experience in iOS 27, I'm actually shocked by how much it's improved. Instead of just answering basic questions, Siri finally feels full integrated into your phone.

If you've been ignoring the feature like I was, here are the three unique tools that actually changed my daily routine.

More from Tom's Guide

• iOS 27: 7 features you need to try first after updating
• I tried the new iOS 27 Safari features — here's 3 settings worth using
• iOS 27 Photos features that transform your pictures — here's how to use them

With every iPhone release, Apple hypes up camera performance through a blend of new hardware and computational photography improvements. Even now, I still dream about a phone that could replace my dedicated mirrorless body — and the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max certainly put that dream to the test.

For years, carrying a heavy mirrorless kit was the only way to obtain genuine optical depth of field and true creative control. Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro Max comes dangerously close to changing that reality by introducing a physical variable-aperture system to its 48MP main camera. Because of this, the phone is no longer entirely reliant on software-simulated background blur because the optics finally deliver natural focus falloff.

Paired with a revamped interface packed with Apple’s new Pro Controls, it’s a massive leap forward that puts more creative power directly into shooters' hands. Here’s what I found.

Why aperture matters

Most people don’t have the urge to dig into camera specs, but breaking down the differences between the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro is important this time around. On top of introducing a mechanical variable aperture, Apple made another critical upgrade: swapping in a faster f/1.48 lens. That alone is a meaningful leap over the fixed f/1.78 aperture found on the 48MP main cameras of the previous generation.

With access to a wider f/1.48 lens, the iPhone 18 Pro draws significantly more light into the sensor than the 17 Pro’s fixed glass. This improvement delivers cleaner low-light exposures, faster shutter speeds, and authentic optical depth of field — without leaning on artificial Portrait mode blurring algorithms.

In low-light situations, a faster aperture shortens exposure times in Night mode. Because you need to stay as still as possible, any handshake can easily blur a shot. By having a faster lens, it helps prevent motion blur better while also keeping digital noise from creeping into the shadows.

Authentic background blur

The iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max offer four different aperture values to choose from: f/1.48, f/1.8, f/2.8, and f/4. Depending on the look you’re going for, each delivers a distinct result. I’d typically use f/1.48 for portraits and close-ups when I want to isolate my subject, giving backgrounds that creamy, blurred-out look. Meanwhile, I’d switch to f/4 when I want to keep the entire frame sharp.

You can see from the shots of my colleague above how these two extremes perform when shot from a slight distance. If you zoom in on the wall art in the far background, you’ll notice that at f/1.48, the words are soft and blurred — whereas at f/4, they’re crisp and legible.

What makes the f/1.48 shot stand out over Portrait Mode is that it doesn’t rely on software to guess edge boundaries, which often leads to messy cutouts. Instead, this wider physical aperture delivers the natural optical falloff I’d expect from a dedicated mirrorless camera.

Distance plays a roll with the bokeh intensity

If you really want the background to be blurred out, distance plays a crucial role. Take the other shots of my colleague above, which illustrate the effect at varying distances. The first set shows the disparity between shooting at f/1.48 and f/4 at roughly three feet away, with the former blurring the background dramatically — while at f/4, more of the frame remains in focus.

Stepping back to five feet, the effect is still quite noticeable because the food menus directly behind Mark remain soft and blurred at f/1.48. It’s a genuine optical blur — and I can tell because the planter off to the left, which sits much closer to Mark than the menus do, stays noticeably sharper.

Finally, at seven feet away, there's virtually no noticeable difference between the two aperture settings, proving that depth of field and bokeh intensity are heavily dictated by your distance to the subject.

You also get control when recording video

The variable aperture isn't just for stills — you get direct control over those blades when shooting video, too. This has been a long time coming; the historical lack of granular manual controls prevented me from using an iPhone as my dedicated B-camera, often pushing me toward Samsung’s flagships instead.

As you can see from the screenshots above, adjusting the lens aperture slider lets me toggle between settings on the fly, right alongside the other Pro Controls. At f/1.8, the lens opens wide to isolate the DualSense controller, softening the background cabinets and shelving with smooth, genuine optical blur.

Switching to f/4.0 stops the mechanical iris down, visibly deepening the field of focus. The wood grain along the table stays sharp much further back, and background details gain noticeably clearer definition. Having the ability to manually control the aperture gives me exact control over the cinematic aesthetic I want for any given scene.

Bottom line

Apple has come a long way to finally give enthusiasts like me the meaningful tools we’ve been demanding for years. The addition of a true variable aperture gives me the optical control to dial in a very specific look — delivering authentic background separation and natural focus falloff that almost makes me want to leave my mirrorless camera behind.

The only real catch is that this system is strictly limited to the 48MP main camera, leaving the telephoto lens stuck with a fixed aperture. Telephoto focal lengths naturally compress a scene and crave genuine depth-of-field control even more for tight framing. If Apple could bring this variable aperture system to the zoom lens next, it would add unprecedented depth and versatility that I wouldn’t have thought possible just a few years ago.

More from Tom's Guide

• iOS 27 has a hidden Mac Easter egg — here's how to trigger it
• iPhone 18 Pro benchmarks: Apple just built the most powerful phones we've ever seen
• iPhone 18 Pro Max and 18 Pro battery life tested — the results are surprising

We asked Tom's Guide readers if they would rather pick up Apple's new iPhone Duo or the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, and the winner was quite surprising.

With 2,761 votes, one device proved far more popular than the other by more than double the votes, but was it the Apple iPhone Duo or Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8? Check out the results below.

Which flagship foldable would you rather purchase?

• 1st place: 62%, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8
• 2nd place: 23%, iPhone Duo
• 3rd place: 15%, Neither

With a total of 1,705 votes, 62% of respondents said the Samsung foldable is their preferred foldable phone. Apple's Duo came in a distant second with 632 votes, or 23%.

Meanwhile, 424 people said they weren't interested in either phone. If you find yourself in that camp, what would you buy instead? Or is this category too pricey for you?

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is the winner, but why?

So why did the Galaxy Z Fold 8 dominate our poll over the iPhone Duo.

I think it comes down to a few of factors in the battle between the Z Fold 8 and iPhone Duo: design, price and expertise.

The Duo starts at $1,999 for the 256GB version and goes up to over $3k for the 2TB option. Samsung's foldable starts at $1,899, not a big difference but with how expensive the world has gotten in the last two years every dollar matters. No, Samsung doesn't offer a 2TB variant but the top-end 1TB model will cost you $2,499, again $100 than the equivalent Duo version.

Additionally, the Z Fold 8 offers a thinner and lighter design than the iPhone Duo. And Samsung lets you run more than two apps at once, which is better for multitasking. Plus, Samsung has been iterating foldables for eight generations, while this is Apple's first attempt.

There is concern over visibility and brightness with the matte finish on the Duo display, which is meant to hide the crease. Pictures of CEO John Ternus at the Emmys recently stirred up controversy online, but we thought it was plenty bright in our hands-on time.

As we've found, though, the iPhone Duo has multiple features that the Z Fold 8 doesn't, including iP68 durability, stylus support, faster charging, and a vapor chamber for better cooling.

What you have said

One reader said in a comment that they were staying away from all things Apple as they didn't want to get sucked into another ecosystem. "I have Samsungs 8 ultra, and I am impressed with it," they said.

As a counterpoint, another reader wrote that the "crucial factor" when comparing Samsung and Apple is Apple's "after-purchase service experience."

"Functionally, I have liked both platforms, but there is a fundamental difference in corporate philosophy. Apple actively invests in both technology and the customer service infrastructure required to support it. Samsung, on the other hand, focuses almost entirely on tech specs while leaving its customer support framework completely neglected," they said.

Bottom line

The iPhone Duo may be the belle of the ball after its recent announcement, but you won't be able to actually hold it in your hands until October 23.

Meanwhile, the Z Fold 8 is available right now and is a pretty impressive foldable, even if Apple's device beats it in some areas.

Let us know: why would you pick the Duo or the Z Fold 8? Don't like either? What's your replacement?

More from Tom's Guide

• Apple Watch Ultra 4 review: I ran 22 miles to test Apple’s ultimate adventure watch
• 11 best iOS 27 hidden features you can't afford to miss
• iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max benchmarks: These are the fastest phones we've ever tested

The much-hyped new iPhone Duo was announced a few weeks ago — and while it's not available until October 23, there are already plenty of deals on cases for the new gadget. We previously rounded-up a selection of great cases to keep this exciting – and expensive – new smartphone safe, but even more designs are now available as the hype steadily builds for the new device.

In the article I've picked out nine designs that will keep your iPhone Duo in mint condition, protecting it from dings and scratches, while looking good in the process.

There are some clean and simple cases for those who like to keep things elegant, as well as some flashier and more colorful designs. Whatever your style, you should be able to find an iPhone Duo case here.

iOS 27 is finally here, and it's packed with a bunch of interesting new features you're going to want to try. The problem is that there are a lot of them, and some aren't that easy to find. In fact, Apple straight-up didn't tell us about a bunch of things iOS 27 can do.

Thankfully, the beta has been invaluable in this respect, with beta testers and early adopters figuring out a bunch of cool things hiding in the depths of iOS 27. So once you've installed iOS 27 on your iPhone, and checked out the seven features you should try right away, your next stop should be these 11 hidden features — and start making the most of what your phone can do.

Dual Cameras in FaceTime

iPhone 17 debuted with the helpful Dual Capture feature, which allowed you to simultaneously record video from the front and back cameras. iOS 27 has expanded that by adding it to FaceTime, allowing you to utilize both cameras during your Apple-to-Apple video calls.

This means you can show people what you're looking at without cutting off the feed of your face and expressions. It also means you can have calls that include larger groups, provided you're with people that are happy to be visible on camera without seeing the person on the other end of the call.

To get things going, simply start a Facetime call, tap the screen to bring up call controls and then tap the Flip button. Tapping this button again turns off dual camera mode and only shows the view from the front camera. Dual camera mode is the default option the first time you make a call, but the FaceTime app will remember if you switch it off for the remainder of your call.

Create custom passes in Apple Wallet

Apple Wallet is an incredibly useful tool but iOS 27 just made it even more useful to have. This is the year Wallet catches up with Android, and gives users the ability to create their own custom passes — regardless of whether the pass is officially compatible with Apple Wallet or not.

You can create digital versions of passes that you'd otherwise need to carry around with you. Be it gym membership cards, tickets, gift cards or something else entirely. Just open up Apple Wallet, then tap the (+) button in the top corner followed by Create a Pass.

iPhone 15 Pro and above will be able to scan the barcode or QR code with the camera, while older models will require you to enter the details manually. From there you can Choose a template to match the physical pass and customize the colors and details to your liking. Hit Save and you're done.

Updated AirPods software

You don't need to buy the brand new AirPods 5 to get the benefit of some new earbud features. iOS 27 features a bunch of new AirPods settings that could make your existing buds feel like new. Especially if you're into the idea of customizing the level of active noise cancelling, and blending it with transparency mode.

That's right, this is a thing you can do in the AirPods app on iOS 27. The new slider doesn't force you to pick full ANC or full Transparency, and you can go somewhere in the middle if you prefer. Apple's also added a brand new EQ mixer, which lets you adjust the levels of your sound — whether it's bass, midrange or treble. Sadly this is only available on more recent AirPods, including AirPods Pro 2 and Pro 3, AirPods 4 and the upcoming AirPods 5.

Save video frames as photos

Google just released an entire mode dedicated to capturing video and photos simultaneously, but Apple's taken a different approach to the problem of deciding whether to snap or record. iOS 27 is able to pull single frames out of video clips and convert them into photos, and without forcing you to take a screenshot in the process.

Simply tap the Three-dot menu in the top right corner of Apple Photos, then choose the Save Video Frame as Photo. The frame is then pulled from the video and saved to your Photos library in full resolution.

Give your alarm a custom volume

Tying your alarm to system volume can be a pain, because it means you have to choose between silent notifications and remembering to wake up on time. Thankfully iOS 27 has split everything up, and now alarms have their own independent volume toggle. You may need to flick a switch in the Settings app first, though.

Head to Settings > Sound & Haptics and find the Alarms and Timers section. You'll then want to make sure the Match Ringtone Volume toggle is gray and switched off, at which point a volume slider will appear — letting you customize how loud the alarm actually is. You can do the same for Alerts and System Sounds as well, though you will need to navigate back into the sound settings if you want to customize the volume of both.

The clock is also able to recognize holidays, based on your own personal calendar. This allows the Clock app to proactively ask you if you want to skip alarms for days you may not be working — such as public holidays.

Rate your own photos

We're all used to leaving reviews with a star rating of some kind, but did you know you can do the same thing to your photos in iOS 27? Apple added this new organizational trick as a way to help find specific photos more easily. Even if you don't think a certain photo is worth one star, this gives you five new ways to save specific kinds of photos and videos — rather than simply marking it as a favorite.

This does need switching on in the settings app, though. Head to Settings > Apps > Photos > View Options and switch on Show Rating Controls. From there head into the Photos app and you'll see a drop-down menu with a star in the top right corner. Tap is, and select the star rating of choice.

To find your starred photos, simply tap the Filter icon in the top right corner of the Photos gallery, followed by ☆ Rating and select the rating you want to see.

Full-screen home widgets

Home screen widgets have a brand new size variant in iOS 27, and it means they can now fill an entire page of your home screen if you wish. It's not available for every widget, but the likes of Calendar and Photos can now be expanded further than they could before.

This can be done when you first add a widget to the home screen, or by pressing and holding an existing widget to summon the pop-up menu. In both instances, all you need to do is pick the largest design available, and iOS will take care of the rest.

Avoid accidental voice messages

Nobody wants to accidentally start recording a voice note at awkward moments, and if that's a problem you deal with frequently, iOS 27 can help. The new update lets you remove the audio message button from the Messages app, or switch over to dictation. Either way, you won't be accidentally sending incomprehensible messages to your contacts anymore.

Head to Settings > Apps > Messages then select the Show in Text Field. From there select one of three options: Record Audio, Start Dictation or None. If you ever find you do want to send Audio Messages you can either switch the setting back, or tap the + menu on the left side of the screen and select the Audio option

Siri's "Notify me" watches websites for you

If you've ever had to sit and watch a website for an extended period, whether it's because you're in a virtual queue or waiting for a product restock, you know how tedious it can get. Fortunately iOS 27 can take all the stress out of the equation, by having Siri watch websites for any major changes.

Specifically, this feature is called Notify Me and it's only available in Apple's Safari browser. But it means that you can leave Siri watching a specific webpage, safe in the knowledge that it will tell you when things change.

All you need to do is open Safari on the relevant page, tap the three-line menu button on the left side of the URL bar, then tap Notify Me. Safari will ask you to describe what sort of change you want and how often it should check. Your options are hourly, weekly or monthly, which means it's not going to be useful for situations where speed is of the essence, like grabbing the latest hot product before scalpers do. But it does mean you have the ability to zone out and relax a little more.

Call Context

One of the big things AI is good for is contextual assistance, by which I mean it can proactively surface key information when it thinks you need it the most. That can be useful when you're making phone calls (assuming you still make phone calls) and don't want to waste time flicking through different apps or inboxes looking for stuff you might need.

Apple has added Call Context to iOS 27 and does exactly this. Recently it's been making headlines about how it's able to remind users about important dates, such as birthdays or anniversaries. On the off chance that you may have forgotten, and were calling for a very different reason. Though you do need to have added that information to the Contacts app first.

Just remember that this is an AI feature, and won't work on older devices that don't support Apple Intelligence.

Simpler slideshow generation

If you like creating slideshows of your photos, but hate the hassle involved, iOS 27 just made it a whole lot easier. In fact, all you need to do is select the photos you want to feature in the Apple Photos app, and it'll do all the hard work for you.

Simply head to Apple Photos, and choose a specific album or your main photo feed. Then tap Select to choose the photos you want, followed by the Three dot button at the top of the page — between the filter menu and the big X. A pop-up menu will appear, at which point you tap Start Slideshow.

Your slideshow then begins, scrolling through the selected photos automatically. Tapping the screen lets you pause everything, while swiping from the left and right lets you skip through photos. It doesn't loop by default, though, so be sure to tap the Customize button to set that up. This menu also lets you add music, and control the speed at which everything happens.

More from Tom's Guide

• iOS 27 has a hidden Mac Easter egg — here's how to trigger it
• iPhone 18 Pro benchmarks: Apple just built the most powerful phones we've ever seen
• iPhone 18 Pro Max and 18 Pro battery life tested — the results are surprising

There’s no device as useful as your smartphone since you carry it with you at all times. Whether you want one with a massive display, one that takes amazing photos or even one you can fold up to take up even less space in your pocket, there are plenty of fantastic options and we’ve tested the best ones from the biggest names in the business.

From budget phones that won’t break the bank to flagships with top of the line specs, our team of experts has spent the past year testing and reviewing all of the best phones for the Tom’s Guide Awards 2026.

Below, we highlight all of our favorite phones from the last 12 months with the designs, features and pricing that impressed us the most. These smartphones have earned our highest recommendation and are the perfect upgrade pick.

Best phone

iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max

When you earn the title of best phone, it has to be backed by substantial upgrades and next-level performance that puts rival devices out of reach. The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max certainly live up to those standards, driven by the blisteringly fast A20 Pro chip, an innovative variable-aperture main camera for true optical depth, and smarter, context-aware Siri features. All of this comes together seamlessly on these flagship handsets.

Rather than offering just incremental battery gains, they decisively outperform their predecessors while easily outlasting competing Android flagships. Photographers and videographers in particular will appreciate Apple’s deeper Pro Controls alongside the variable-aperture lens, which together unlock creative possibilities well beyond standard point-and-shoot mechanics.

While they do carry steeper price tags than before, their premium build quality and refinements make them definitive smartphone champions.

— John Velasco, Senior Editor

Best Android phone

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

If you're looking for an Android phone that can do just about everything well, then there's no better option than the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. This phone is the ideal mix of good cameras, high performance hardware, strong battery life and a mix of excellent AI and software-related features.

But that's not all. Samsung has packed this phone with all kinds of cool features, including long-standing support for the S Pen stylus. On top of that we have the Privacy Display to deter prying eyes, and a more-advanced version of Circle to Search that (so far) hasn't made it to other devices. If you want the best possible Android experience, this is the phone to go for.

— Tom Pritchard, UK Phones Editor

Best camera phone

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

The best camera phone isn't determined solely by how well the results turn out. That's only one part of a broader picture that demands robust shooting modes, granular manual controls, and video recording features that go well beyond simple point-and-shoot mechanics to deliver a truly versatile imaging system.

No other phone exemplifies this better than the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. From a hardware perspective, its quad rear camera array is among the most adaptable on the market, built to cover virtually any scenario, whether shooting near or distant subjects. What cements its position as a top-tier camera phone is how its 200MP main sensor excels at resolving fine detail and texture. Meanwhile, the 50MP 5x optical telephoto lens doesn't just bring subjects closer — it leverages advanced AI processing to noticeably enhance the final output.

Finally, it's a mobile videographer's dream, offering extensive manual control over shutter speed, ISO, and white balance. Throw in native support for external wireless microphones, Log recording, horizon lock, and 8K capture, and it's easy to see why it checks every box for demanding creators.

— John Velasco, Senior Editor

Best AI phone

Google Pixel 11 Pro XL

Google's invested a lot into AI for its phones, and the Pixel 11 Pro XL comes with some of the most well-rounded AI features out there. Not only do Pixels come with all the benefits Google's Gemini AI affords to Android OS, there are a bunch of exclusive features that help make buying a Pixel a much more appealing prospect -- aided by the AI-focused Tensor G6 chipset.

The Pixel 11 Pro XL saw the introduction of a bunch of new AI features. They include the new "Rambler" dictation tool, that uses natural language speech and commands to dictate what you want written — without all the verbal bluster. There's also Magic Capture which simultaneously captures photos and video, as well as Live Translate lets you watch foreign language videos in real time.

Plus there's all the other AI features that debuted in previous years. Magic Cue's contextual image surfacing. 120x ProRes zoom, Camera Coach, Circle to Search, Gemini Live and so on. All of which bands together to make the Pixel 11 Pro XL the strongest AI phone you can buy.

— Tom Pritchard, UK Phones Editor

Best foldable phone

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8

Foldable phones generally split into two camps: compact flips and book-style hybrids. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 belongs to the latter, but Samsung shakes up the formula with a critical design shift: it ditches the squarish shape of older models for a passport-style cover screen that unfolds into a genuinely wide canvas.

That wider footprint immediately transforms daily use. Closed, it fits comfortably in your hand and lets you type one-handed without cramping. Open, it reveals a gorgeous 7.6-inch inner display tailored for serious multitasking, immersive video, and mobile gaming. In addition to packing a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip capable of powering three apps side-by-side simultaneously, Samsung still keeps the chassis razor-thin at 4.5mm and featherlight at just 7.09 ounces.

The Z Fold 8 doesn't just show off cutting-edge tech — it delivers the most polished, practical hybrid device Samsung has ever built.

— John Velasco, Senior Editor

Best phone battery life

OnePlus 15

Battery life has exploded over the past few years, but no company can compete with the gains made by the OnePlus 15. Our custom battery test, which involves continuous web surfing over a 5G connection, recorded the OnePlus 15's battery life at 25 hours and 13 minutes. The next closest OnePlus phone, the ROG Phone 9 Pro, only managed 20 hours 34 minutes.

A lot of this comes down to what OnePlus did with the battery. An early adopter of Silicon Carbon batteries, it allowed OnePlus to fit a crazy 7,300 mAh into the OnePlus 15 without any meaningful increase in thickness or weight. On top of that, this device also features 80W wired charging and 50W wireless charging speeds. That ensures you can regain 45% battery in 15 minutes and 81% in half an hour — in case you do ever find yourself needing a speedy recharge.

— Tom Pritchard, UK Phones Editor

Best budget phone

Nothing Phone 4a Pro

The Nothing Phone 4a Pro does all the things Nothing does best, offering a range of excellent features for a price point that can't really be beaten. While the overall performance power is lacking, and there's no wireless charging to speak of, it comes with everything else you'd expect from a premium smartphone experience.

For under $500 you get a set of flagship-rivalling cameras, a premium-feeling design, strong battery life, a bunch of interesting (and unique) AI features, and one of the brightest displays we've tested. If that wasn't enough you also get Nothing's Glyph Matrix, a customizable LED dot-matrix display that adds extra functionality to the back of your phone.

— Tom Pritchard, UK Phones Editor

Apple made a lot of bold claims about the A20 Pro chipset that's powering the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. Apple promised that these phones are faster and more efficient, while offering big improvements to graphics and AI processing. But how much of a difference do these new chips actually make?

The A20 Pro changes things up this year, having been built with a 2nm design that offers much better transistor density than the 3nm A19 Pro from last year. On top of that Apple promises that the 6-core CPU has a pair of "super cores" that are 20% faster, plus an additional four efficiency cores. The seven-core GPU is supposed to offer 40% improved graphics, while Apple had added a second neural engine to double the new chip's AI processing power.

We've been testing both new phones for our iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max review, and the benchmarking tests paint a very good picture for Apple's latest flagship. In fact, based on benchmark scores, there's been a huge performance leap that puts the likes of iPhone 17 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra to shame.

If you're looking for a phone with the best performance and graphics prowess, Apple should top your shopping list. Though, it would be nice if the AI processing power was a little higher. Here's what we learned after testing the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.

A20 Pro: Overall Performance

Every time we review a phone, we run Geekbench's benchmarking tests to gauge the overall CPU performance and how different devices compare to their contemporaries. In the case of the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, we did the latest Geekbench 7 benchmark, and the older Geekbench 6 tests.

As you can see, both tests showed a massive improvement in both single- and multi-core testing. The iPhone 18 Pro came out of Geekbench 6 testing with a respective 4,735 and 12,800 in single and multi-core testing.

Meanwhile Geekbench 7 saw the phone record scores of 4,022 and 11,543. The iPhone 18 Pro Max scored similarly, with Geekbench 6 scores of 4,741 / 12,789 and Geekbench 7 scores of 4,025 / 11,525

That's a huge improvement compared to the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max. Both phones came out with similar scores in both iterations of Geekbench benchmarking, with iPhone 17 Pro recording scores of 3,834/ 9,988 in Geekbench 6 and 3,138 / 8,692 with Geekbench 7. Meanwhile, the iPhone 17 Pro Max finished testing with 3,871 / 9,968 from Geekbench 6 and 3,285 / 8,999 from Geekbench 7.

As for Apple's biggest rival, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, that came out with a score of 3,785 / 11,563 for Geekbench 6 and 3,149 / 10,612 with Geekbench 7. That sits in the middle of the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro, and while this means Apple has Samsung beat at the moment, things may change with the release of the Galaxy S27 Ultra and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 for Galaxy chipset

A20 Pro: Graphics Performance

Graphics performance is often where Apple chips lag behind the Snapdragon flagship, but this year the A20 Pro has pushed well beyond what Samsung's flagship phone has to offer. In fact, considering the S26 Ultra was almost neck and neck with the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, the fact that the A20 Pro has jumped so far ahead is pretty impressive.

Using 3DMark's Solar Bay Unlimited benchmarking test, the iPhone 18 Pro produced a score of 16,228 and an average frame rate of 61.93 fps. The iPhone 18 Pro Max did even better, with a 17,850 score and 67.9 fps average frame rate. The S26 Ultra, on the other hand, recorded a score of 12,984 and an average frame rate of 49.37 fps.

As for the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, both phones came out with scores of 12,208 and 12,260, respectively. Alongside average frame rates of 46.4fps and 46.6fps.

A20 Pro: AI performance

Geekbench's AI test gives us an idea of how good a phone is at overall AI processing through its Neural Engine. Since Apple added a second engine to the A20 Pro, we should see major gains. Thankfully for Apple, the results do reflect this, though the scores are not twice as high as the A19 Pro.

The iPhone 18 Pro recorded an AI processing score of 69,245, which rose to 71,974 on the iPhone 18 Pro Max. That's a significant increase over the iPhone 17 Pro's 49,050 and the 17 Pro Max's 48,549. However, it seems Apple is still lagging behind Samsung, with the S26 Ultra recording a score of 83,047.

Clearly Apple still has work to do on AI, though considering it jumped onto the bandwagon a little later than its rivals, that's to be expected.

A20 Pro: Sustained Performance

Recording performance figures is one thing, but it doesn't matter much if the phone can't sustain it for extended periods of time. Last year saw the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max's sustained performance score rise, on account of the new design. A combination of the aluminum unibody design, raised plateau and brand new vapor chamber meant that heat could be transported away from key areas and dissipated more effectively — letting it work harder for longer.

This year the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max came with a redesigned vapor chamber that has three times the surface area of last year's design. Apple promises this will improve sustained performance by around 40% — but did it?

According to our testing, the iPhone 18 Pro Max's stability score, the measure at which we measure sustained performance during graphics testing, rose from 65.2% to 79.4%. Meanwhile iPhone 18 Pro rose from 61.1% to 62.8%.

That's a pretty major gain for the iPhone 18 Pro Max, with a 14.2% rise, but it's far less impressive that the iPhone 18 Pro only achieved a 1.7% gain. Still, both phones are leagues ahead of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, which only managed a stability score of 53.9%.

A20 Pro: Bottom line

It's fair to say that Apple has done a great job with the A20 Pro. While AI processing still lags behind one of its biggest rivals, the benchmarking tests show that Apple has made serious gains compared to the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max. Work still needs to be done, but this is definitely a positive step forward.

As for raw computing and graphics performance, we can't fault the improvement Apple has made. Not only has it put A-series chips back on top, and ahead of Snapdragon, it's made enough of an improvement to graphics performance that Qualcomm and Samsung are going to have to put the effort in for the next generation "for Galaxy" chip.

That said, with the Snapdragon Summit happening next week (September 22 to 24), we don't have to wait long to see what the next generation of Android flagships is working with.

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With every new release, Apple is confident about the endurance of its devices — and that hasn't changed with the iPhone 18 Pro Max and iPhone 18 Pro. Even with expectations set higher than ever, the stakes are undeniably steep for this year's Pro lineup.

Not only do they need to prove their endurance against their predecessors to truly earn the best iPhone crown, but they also need to outlast many of the best Android phones around. Apple leaves no doubt that these are positioned as the longest-lasting phones it's ever built, backing up those claims with the efficiency gains of the new A20 Pro silicon alongside upgraded battery capacities.

After putting both handsets through our custom battery drain test, the results are surprising. Here’s what we found.

iPhone 18 Pros vs iPhone 17 Pros battery life comparison

If you check Apple’s official comparison tool, the iPhone 18 Pro Max and 18 Pro are rated for up to 45 and 36 hours of video playback, respectively. In the Tom’s Guide battery test, however, we test real-world endurance by setting displays to 150 nits and running an automated script that simulates web browsing over a cellular connection until the device shuts off.

Our testing reveals an average battery life of 16 hours and 17 minutes for the iPhone 18 Pro, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max stretches that endurance to 18 hours and 27 minutes. While both represent clear year-over-year gains, the numbers are surprising given the heavy emphasis placed on the A20 Pro’s power efficiency.

Specifically, the iPhone 18 Pro Max lasted 33 minutes longer than the iPhone 17 Pro Max — a modest 3.1% increase. The iPhone 18 Pro gets a more meaningful jump, outlasting the iPhone 17 Pro by 56 minutes for a 6.1% bump. Even if these figures don't quite deliver the dramatic generational leap many anticipated from Apple's shift to 2nm silicon, progress is progress nonetheless.

How they compare to rival Android phones

Just as importantly, the iPhone 18 Pro Max and iPhone 18 Pro need to prove their worth against their primary Android rivals. The iPhone 18 Pro Max holds its ground convincingly against key competitors like the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and Pixel 11 Pro XL. It bests Samsung’s flagship by a solid margin of 1 hour and 47 minutes, a lead that stretches to nearly 4 hours over Google’s largest Pixel. Meanwhile, the smaller iPhone 18 Pro also holds its own against these supersized flagships, trailing the Galaxy S26 Ultra by just 23 minutes despite its noticeably more compact footprint.

Despite these promising gains, neither iPhone can touch the staggering endurance of the OnePlus 15 — the undisputed best phone battery life champion. Clocking in at an unbelievable 25 hours and 13 minutes, the OnePlus remains in a league of its own, beating the iPhone 18 Pro Max by more than 6.5 hours. That victory is largely thanks to the massive 7,300 mAh silicon-carbon battery packed beneath its hood.

iPhone 18 Pro Max and 18 Pro battery life: Bottom line

The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max deliver dependable, all-day endurance that easily handles demanding tasks. However, this year's modest gains highlight an area where Android manufacturers are pulling ahead. While the new A20 Pro chip is an efficiency powerhouse, Apple’s reliance on conventional lithium-ion batteries has clearly reached its limits.

To truly unlock multi-day battery life — like the staggering endurance we're seeing on the OnePlus 15 — Apple needs to explore silicon-carbon battery technology. Silicon-carbon anodes provide substantially higher energy density without adding bulk, preserving the slim profiles and comfortable ergonomics users expect. While Apple can claim a clear victory over Samsung and Google for now, embracing this battery tech is the essential next step if it wants to capture the overall endurance crown.

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If you have ever felt like the technology today has lost its sense of humor, Apple just snuck a nostalgic surprise into its latest software update that might change your mind.

Tucked deep inside the iOS 27 Settings menu is a direct callback to one of the most beloved mascots from the early Macintosh era: Clarus the Dogcow. The hidden surprise is tied to iOS 27’s new Liquid Glass customization features, but finding it requires a bit of digging.

Here is what the Easter egg is, why it matters to long-time Apple fans, and how to trigger it on your iPhone.

How to unlock the iOS 27 Dogcow Easter egg

To reveal the hidden mascot, open your iPhone's Settings app, tap Appearance, and select Liquid Glass.

This menu features a new slider that lets you adjust the transparency level of the UI, ranging from fully clear to deeply tinted. To show you how the glass effect looks in real-time, Apple built a mock website preview directly inside the settings.

If you scroll all the way to the bottom and keep pulling upward on the screen, a high-resolution photo of a Clarus the Dogcow figurine sitting near the Apple Park pond will pop up with text reading "Moof!" — the iconic noise it makes.

Mac users can also spot the exact same easter egg inside the Appearance menu on macOS Golden Gate.

Who is Clarus the Dogcow?

For anyone who didn't grow up using 1980s or 90s Apple hardware, the hybrid animal has a surprisingly rich place in tech lore.

Clarus the Dogcow was originally created by legendary Apple designer Susan Kare as a simple glyph for the Cairo font on the original 1984 Macintosh. It eventually became the official test image in the Classic Mac OS Page Setup dialog.

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The quality of AI-generated and altered imagery has gotten a lot better over the past few years. We're currently at the point where it is terrifying how realistic they are, and it always leaves doubt as to whether images are genuine or not. That's why we're starting to see tools and systems designed to identify AI-generated imagery, including Apple's new "Reference Image" camera mode.

Apple did explain the basics of how the system works during the iPhone 18 Pro launch event. But if you want a full explanation of how Reference Image works, and why Apple has decided to release it now, the company has released a full blog post explaining everything.

Why Apple has done this

The reasoning behind Apple's decision should be obvious, but the blog does confirm that it all comes down to the ease with which people can create AI-generated images. Apple also notes that since a lot of cameras now rely on post-shot image processing, a lot of which involves AI and machine learning, claiming a photo is AI-free is not that simple.

Apple does admit that the C2PA industry standard can help, since it adds the relevant metadata after the image is captured and certifies the image edits that happen thereafter. However, the always-security-conscious Apple claims that this system is "vulnerable to compromise at any point in the editing chain," and there's no way to tell if the edit history has been tampered with or not.

Apple also claims that it may create a privacy risk, since images could be tied to specific devices or individuals.

Since iPhones are so popular, Apple says that it is "uniquely positioned" to try and solve the problem. This is why it's developed a system that ties the camera to "a platform that sets the industry’s highest standards of security from the silicon up."

The system behind Reference Image's authentication

According to Apple, the Reference Image "offers a trustworthy, scalable guarantee that a reference is what it claims to be." In other words, it's a way to prove that an image has been taken by an iPhone camera at a specific time. On top of that, "dedicated secure hardware" helps protect the integrity of the image itself, while Apple's Private Cloud Compute promises to protect user privacy during the processing stage.

During the Apple event, Apple said that Reference Image was an iPhone 18 Pro feature. However, the blog post isn't so limiting, and confirms three core requirements for a camera to be compatible with Reference Image.

Semantic authenticity relates to the reference image "faithfully" showing what the camera sensor saw. Any alterations made before the image was ready to view must be publicly verifiable. Also required is resilience to compromise, ensuring that image authenticity can't be affected by tampering with the camera. Listed examples include software-level jailbreaks or "common cryptographic attacks."

Finally, there's privacy preservation, which is meant to ensure "outside observers" can't figure out whether reference images were taken by the same device. It also means Image contents can't be revealed to Apple or another third party.

While the language suggests this isn't necessarily an Apple-only system, Apple does say that it believes the custom image sensors in the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max are designed to ensure reliable image data. Apple believes that "no other commercially-available photographic provenance system meets these strict requirements."

In other words, don't expect this system to appear on other phones, even older iPhones. I don't see Android phone makers jumping to partake in Apple's standard, assuming Apple would even let them. These requirements are no doubt in place to reassure people that Apple is doing its due diligence, not just slapping an extra sticker onto any old iPhone camera.

What capturing a Reference Image actually does

The beginnings of snapping a Reference Image happen as soon as the camera sensor initializes while the phone is being manufactured. The system generates a signing key pair and only releases half of it to the factory recording station. The station then signs it with a factory certificate authority (CA) and then records both to your hardware manifest.

The other half is kept private and is used to sign every image your phone takes in reference Image mode. That links the pixel data and sensor metadata to a single camera sensor — all before any other processing takes place.

Apple also uses a cryptographic timestamp to mark a window in which a photo was taken, rather than relying on the time in your device's operating system — which Apple says can be compromised. To narrow that window down, iPhones will occasionally reveal secure timestamp tokens, which serve as a lower bound. A second secure timestamp token is requested after each photo capture, which establishes the upper bound, allowing Apple to verify that a photo was taken between the two timestamps.

Apple's Secure Enclave then plays a part by signing metadata that comes from outside the camera sensor. This is verified by Private Cloud Compute, which confirms that both the sensor and Secure Enclave belong to the same phone. Timestamps are then checked, and a secure digital negative is developed.

This negative is then processed by Private Cloud Compute and turned into a JPEG Reference Image that's signed by a mix of traditional and post-quantum cryptography. This, Apple says, future-proofs the image to ensure it's verifiable against future quantum computing-based attacks.

The whole process is a lot more complicated than this, and you can read it all in depth over on Apple's Reference Image blog post. It's safe to say that Apple has gone to a lot of effort to ensure that new iPhones are able to take photos that can be verified as legitimate, and not doctored in any way. However, the fact that this is currently limited to two devices, and probably won't be applicable to non-iPhone photos in the future, means that its scope is limited — even if iPhones' popularity means it'll be incredibly widespread in the future.

At least in this instance, Apple is still supporting other anti-AI standards, including C2PA and SynthID. This wasn't always the case in past instances of Apple developing its own alternatives to industry standards. Just look at how long it took to add RCS messaging to iPhones.

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