Perhaps the iPhone 18 Pro Max should disappear altogether and make way for the iPhone 18 Ultra - Apple’s ultimate flagship - as soon as this fall.

With roughly a month to go before the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are expected to debut, rumors suggest the upgrade will be relatively modest, with one notable exception. Apple is reportedly taking a page from the Galaxy S9, released in 2018, by adding a variable aperture to the main camera.

Rather than bringing the feature to the entire iPhone 18 Pro lineup, however, Apple is reportedly reserving the camera upgrade for the iPhone 18 Pro Max. It would mark the first time since the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max that the two Pro models differ in more than just size and battery capacity.

Even if variable aperture is not particularly exciting on its own, this could still be a perfect opportunity for Apple to bring its lineup more in step with trends that have shaped premium Android smartphones over the past few years. It may also be the right time to retire the Pro Max name and replace it with something more compelling.

Should the iPhone 18 Pro Max disappear?

If the iPhone 18 Pro Max really does offer meaningful advantages over the iPhone 18 Pro beyond its larger size and longer battery life, it deserves a different name - and Apple should know that. Users have long expected Apple’s top-tier iPhones to offer essentially the same specifications. Whenever that has not been the case, disappointment has followed.

When the iPhone 12 Pro Max arrived with a 50% larger main camera sensor and a telephoto camera with a longer focal length, some users felt forced to give up the more manageable size of the iPhone 12 Pro if they wanted the better camera.

Later, the iPhone 15 Pro Max offered 5x optical zoom while the iPhone 15 Pro was limited to 3x. For many people, the decision between the two models came down to the zoom capability they wanted rather than their preferred screen size.

In both cases, users were effectively pushed toward a phone size they might not otherwise have chosen simply because they wanted certain camera features. That frustration is understandable. After all, the word “Max” naturally suggests a larger version. If the phone is also significantly better in other important ways, it is no longer simply a “Max.”

Could weakening the iPhone 18 Pro hurt Apple?

What made those earlier cases even more frustrating was that Apple did not maintain the differences for long. Just a year later, the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro offered almost all the same specifications and features as their Pro Max counterparts, apart from differences resulting from their physical size.

There is little reason to expect Apple to behave differently this time.

That could give many buyers a reason to skip the iPhone 18 Pro and wait for the iPhone 19 Pro, when variable-aperture technology could potentially make its way to the smaller model.

And why wouldn’t they wait? Modern smartphones are powerful enough that keeping one for another year rarely creates significant problems.

It may be time for the iPhone 18 Ultra

The best solution for Apple could be to drop the Pro Max name entirely and introduce the iPhone 18 Ultra. Beyond resolving the problem of how the lineup is positioned, the move could also help Apple compete more effectively with Chinese rivals.

The timing could be particularly favorable. Vivo and Oppo are rumored to continue limiting the successors to the Vivo X300 Ultra and Oppo Find X9 Ultra to the Chinese market, while Xiaomi may have scrapped plans to launch the Xiaomi 18 Ultra.

Apple could also position its iPhone lineup more directly against Samsung’s Galaxy S27 Ultra and the rumored Galaxy S27 Pro with corresponding iPhone models.

Launching an iPhone 18 Ultra could also give Apple a more convincing rationale for the price increases that appear increasingly likely to accompany this fall’s new iPhone generation.

Whether Apple takes this route and introduces an iPhone 18 Ultra or not, many people will still opt for the smaller iPhone 18 Pro. Variable aperture is not necessarily a compelling enough feature on a camera module of this size to change that decision.

Hai Phong