Although currently, Apple has launched the iPhone Air, the brand's thinnest and lightest device history, it is also possible that, in 2026, the weight record will be broken again, due to the changes that the iPhone 18 Pro Max model will have.
This is normal, since although smaller and lighter chips are increasingly being made, larger versions are also made, with more battery capacity, thicker lenses, etc., which, together with what we will see today, would make an iPhone 18 Pro Max, the company's heaviest.
iPhone 18 Pro Max weight
According to rumors from a leaker, the iPhone 18 Pro Max, the next Apple modelcould become the heaviest iPhone to date. Although the screen size would remain at 6.9 inches (same as the previous model), the case is expected to be slightly thicker, raising its weight above 240 grams (which would correspond to the current record).
Specifically, the leaker (a Weibo account known as Instant Digital) estimates that the increase compared to the iPhone 17 Pro Max would be about 10 grams, that is, possibly its weight is around 243 grams. This would surpass the heaviest so far, the iPhone 14 Pro Max, which weighs 240 grams, and we would return to the trend of having, in our hands, something increasingly heavier, instead of the other way around, due, above all, to the change in materials that we have had.
And the weight has been affected by several factors. First, there was, as we said, a change in materials: the previous Pro models used titanium, then it switched to aluminum in the iPhone 17 Pro, which allowed it to reduce weight. But now, it seems that the combination of a thicker design, a larger battery or new internal systems (such as a variable aperture camera or three-layer image sensor, or a renewed vapor chamber) have increased the weight again.
- iPhone XS Max: 208 grams
- iPhone 11 Pro Max: 226 grams
- iPhone 12 Pro Max: 228 grams
- iPhone 13 Pro Max: 238 grams
- iPhone 14 Pro Max: 240 grams
- iPhone 15 Pro Max: 221 grams
- iPhone 16 Pro Max: 227 grams
- iPhone 17 Pro Max: 233 grams
- iPhone 18 Pro Max: ~243 grams?
The leaker does not offer precise details as to why the case will be thicker, but suggests that a larger capacity battery is the most likely explanation. It also mentions that Apple has understood that reducing thickness and weight is not always what consumers value most when it affects autonomy or functions.
As always with leaks, it is worth taking the information with a grain of salt: although Instant Digital has been right in some previous cases, its track record is spotty. In any case, the iPhone 18 Pro Max is emerging as a device that could bet more on performance and battery than on lightness. Every time we get smaller pieces, which helps to have more space for a batterywhich exceeds the previous one in weight, and is the majority of the volume of these devices, so, if so, surely many will not complain, since it has its advantage that it ends up weighing more, without becoming a brick, of course.
And you, are you one of those who prefer a lower weight, even if the battery lasts less, or do you not care much as long as, logically, it is not a super exaggerated increase? Leave us a comment with your opinion, and if you think this is true or not, although there is still a long way to go to know, and you could even change your mind despite it being real.
