Short version: the iPhone 18 Pro takes the same shell as the 17 Pro, and the 18 Pro Max the same as the 17 Pro Max. Your design goes onto a mould we already run — no tooling charge, no wait for a new tool, and no guesswork about whether it will fit.
The shell did not change, and that is a fact rather than an estimate
Apple kept the body of the 18 Pro identical to the 17 Pro. Our existing moulds for the 17 Pro and the 17 Pro Max therefore produce shells for the new models. Nothing was re-cut for this launch, and nothing was projected from leaked dimensions.
That is worth explaining, because it is not how we usually work. We cut moulds four to six months before a phone reaches the shelves, working from market data rather than a retail device. It is how we can quote a model that does not exist yet — and it is also why we say plainly, before every pre-launch order, that a mould cut from data cannot be promised to fit perfectly, and that the risk sits with the buyer.
On the 18 Pro none of that applies. The fit is not a projection. It is the same part.
What you are not paying for
- Tooling. There is no new mould to amortise into your unit price. A shape we do not hold is a different conversation with its own tooling quote; the 18 Pro in a standard body is not.
- Waiting. A new tool carries a lead time of its own. This one is already on the floor, so your order starts at artwork approval instead of at mould cutting.
- Risk. No fit gamble, no sample round just to prove the shell works, no argument later about whose data was wrong.
What we can put on it
The shell is the starting point, not the product. Every decoration method we run is available on this body:
- IMD — the graphic is formed into the shell in one shot, so it cannot peel off. The default for high-volume branded work.
- UV printing — full colour, photographic detail, short runs. The cheapest way to test a design.
- 3D sublimation — wraps the image around the edges, so there is no seam down the sides.
- Water transfer — for patterns that would be impractical to print, such as all-over marble or camo.
- Screen printing and laser engraving — small logos, tight registration, one or two colours.
- Resin — a recessed shell with real objects sealed under clear epoxy, if that is the product you are building.
The full comparison, including where each method fails, is on the decoration methods overview.
One floor, from mould to boxed case
Most suppliers in this category buy blanks. When the blank supplier is late, the order is late, and nobody upstream will tell you why. Our moulds, our injection machines and our decoration lines sit in the same building in Guangzhou — which is why a lead time we quote is a date we control rather than a date we hope for.
It also means a problem gets fixed at the source. If print registration drifts, the answer is a machine setting two floors away, not a complaint to a third party.
Pro and Pro Max are two different shells
They share a generation, not a body. The 18 Pro and the 18 Pro Max take different moulds, and a case for one will not fit the other. Mixed orders are fine — they are quoted and counted separately, because each model has its own tooling and its own minimum.
The standard iPhone 18 is a third shell again, and it does not share with the Pro either. That one runs on its own timetable — custom iPhone 18 cases covers it, including how far ahead of launch the tool is ready.
Minimums and lead time
- Quantity: 100 pcs per model per design to reach the standard price band. Smaller runs are quoted individually — the MOQ page explains how the tiers work.
- Lead time: days once artwork is approved and the shell is in stock, rather than the weeks a new mould would add. A firm date comes with the quote.
- Samples: available before a full run. On a shell we already hold, a sample checks the print, not the fit.
What we need from you
- Model and quantity — 18 Pro or 18 Pro Max, and how many pieces per design.
- Artwork — vector (AI, EPS, SVG), or a layered file at 300 dpi. A flat JPEG will print, but the edges soften.
- Finish — glossy, matte, or a textured mould finish.
- Anything the design touches — a cutout for a camera ring, a raised area around the buttons, a logo on the side.
Send those four and you get a price range and a date, not a request for a call.
Questions
Do you actually have an iPhone 18 Pro mould?
We have the 17 Pro mould. The 18 Pro uses the same shell, so that mould produces 18 Pro cases. The fit is a property of the part, not a claim about it. Same for the 18 Pro Max and the 17 Pro Max.
So a 17 Pro case fits an 18 Pro exactly?
Yes. We treat them as one part number.
How do I know you are not guessing the dimensions?
Because this is not a pre-launch mould, and pre-launch is where guessing would enter. We say so when it does. Here the body is unchanged from a phone that has been on sale for a year, and the tool has been running that whole time.
Can you do other models?
Around 5,000 models across Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei, OPPO and vivo — current and recent generations. In more than a decade of cutting moulds we have missed two or three times. Send the exact model and we confirm from stock, rather than from a list on this page.
What if I want a shape you do not hold?
Then it is a tooling job, quoted before anything is committed. The mould page covers what that involves.
Can I ship 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max in one order?
Yes, each counted separately against its own minimum.
Send the model and a file. Get a price.
Tell us 18 Pro or 18 Pro Max, how many pieces, and the finish you want. You get a price range and a lead time within one working day.