Apple announces that the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max use a redesigned thermal system intended to deliver significantly improved cooling compared with the iPhone 17 Pro.
Across reports, the core change is a “next-generation” vapor chamber with about three times the cooling surface area. Apple says the vapor chamber cycles deionized water throughout the system to improve heat dissipation during sustained, heavy workloads. The redesigned thermal design is also linked to allowing the A20 Pro chip to maintain higher performance for longer.
MacRumors adds detail on Apple’s approach to packaging. The company describes custom packaging inspired by its M-series chips that places the silicon die and memory side by side rather than stacked, removing memory from the chip’s thermal path and enabling more direct thermal contact with the vapor chamber. Apple credits the combined effect of the larger vapor chamber, new materials, and updated packaging with up to a 40% gain in sustained performance over the previous generation, which it describes as the highest for any iPhone.
