If you’re a better player who’s spent any time at a fitting bay in the last couple of years, someone has almost certainly slid the Callaway Apex Pro 24 in front of you and said, “try this.” And honestly? That’s not without good reason. These irons sit right at the intersection of player’s iron feel and genuine, measurable forgiveness — a combo that used to be mutually exclusive. After putting them through serious testing on the range and on the course, here’s the real story.

The AI Advantage — What It Actually Means

Let’s cut through the marketing noise for a second. Callaway has leaned hard into artificial intelligence for their iron face design, and the Apex Pro 24 is their most polished version of that concept yet. Machine learning algorithms ran through an enormous number of design variables — face thickness patterns, flex zones, stiffness gradients — to land on a face geometry that no human engineer would’ve drawn up by hand. The result is a face that’s variable in thickness across its entire surface, tuned differently in every iron in the set.

What does that mean in practice? Consistent ball speed on off-center strikes. The sweet spot, in functional terms, is bigger than what you’d get on a traditional blade or muscle-back. And unlike a chunky game-improvement iron where you’re getting that through a massive cavity and thick topline, Callaway’s doing it through face engineering. That’s a meaningful distinction for players who care about what they’re swinging.

The individualized face approach is also worth calling out. Each iron — 4-iron through pitching wedge — has its own specific face design based on how that particular club gets used. Your long irons get a face tuned for maximum ball speed and launch, while your 9-iron and PW get a face that’s tight and precise for spin control and shot-making. That’s not just clever marketing copy; it’s genuinely a smart way to build a set.

Look at Address — First Impressions Matter

Pull out the 7-iron and set it behind the ball. What you’re going to see is a clean, narrow topline, minimal offset, and a compact blade length that sits about where a solid player expects it to. There’s no visual bulk here. The leading edge is sharp. The face looks square and confident, not artificial or puffed up.

The chrome finish is traditional and polished — the kind that catches light on the range in a way that looks premium. Some players prefer the matte satin look you get from competitors like Titleist or Mizuno, and that’s fair. But Callaway’s classic chrome won’t offend anyone, and it photographs beautifully if that matters to you at all. The stamping on the back cavity is clean and tasteful — not cluttered with branding noise.

One thing I’ll say: these do not look like hollow-body irons at address. You’d never know there’s a cavity filled with urethane microspheres inside. They look like a proper player’s iron, and for a low-to-mid handicapper who’s used to blades or traditional forged muscle-backs, that matters psychologically. You’re not fighting the club before you even pull the trigger.

Technology Breakdown

AI Flash Face

The Flash Face is the centrepiece here. Every club in the set has a unique face geometry, and no two are the same. Callaway’s AI crunched through millions of design iterations to find the configuration that maximises ball speed for each specific loft. The upshot is that you get high ball speed and low spin variance whether you catch it on the screws or slightly toward the heel or toe. For a better player who still misses the sweet spot occasionally (which is all of us), that’s a real-world benefit, not just a spec sheet win.

Forged 1025 Carbon Steel Body

The body of these irons is forged from soft 1025 carbon steel — the same material you’ll find in premium Japanese blades and high-end tour irons. Forging compresses the grain structure of the metal, giving you that dense, buttery contact feel that better players are addicted to. Despite being hollow construction internally, the Apex Pro 24 achieves feel that competes directly with solid-body forged irons. That’s largely down to two things: the quality of the steel itself, and the urethane microsphere fill.

Urethane Microspheres

Inside that hollow cavity, Callaway packs millions of tiny urethane microspheres. These act as a damping system — they absorb the high-frequency vibrations that make hollow irons feel clicky or harsh, while leaving the low-frequency feedback (the part your hands actually feel) intact. The end result is a club that feels more like a traditional forged iron than a hollow-body has any right to. It’s clever engineering that genuinely works.

Tungsten Toe Weighting

Precisely positioned tungsten in the toe section of the longer irons bumps up the MOI without adding visible bulk. Toe-side misses are the most common error pattern for right-handed golfers, and the Apex Pro 24 handles them better than most irons in this category. You lose distance — you’ll always lose something on a miss — but the face stays more square and the ball flight stays truer than a traditional blade would allow.

Performance Testing — Feel, Forgiveness, Distance, Workability

Feel

Straight out: the feel on these is exceptional. Flush contact produces a satisfying, muted thud that radiates up the shaft cleanly. It’s not the bone-dry click of a hollow distance iron, and it’s not quite the dead softness of a pure muscle-back blade — it’s somewhere in between, and honestly, it might be the best of both. Mishits feel noticeably different from centre strikes (as they should on a player’s iron), so you’re getting genuine feedback without being punished harshly. The urethane microspheres do exactly what Callaway says they do.

Short iron feel — 8-iron through PW — is particularly good. These are the clubs where feel really matters for touch around the green, and the Apex Pro 24 delivers. You can feel the ball compressing, you can feel the spin, and you can feel the difference between a half-swing and a three-quarter. That tactile connection gives you confidence to actually commit to shots.

Forgiveness

Testing on a launch monitor with deliberate off-centre strikes told the story clearly. Toe misses lost about 7 yards of carry. Heel misses were similar at 8 yards. Thin strikes dropped around 11 yards, and fat strikes cost around 15 yards. In context: these numbers are noticeably better than a blade or classic forged cavity, and they’re respectable for the category — though a chunky game-improvement iron will beat these numbers because that’s not the point of the Apex Pro.

What matters more is direction. The Apex Pro 24 keeps toe and heel misses straighter than you’d expect. The tungsten toe weighting does real work on those toe strikes in particular. For a 5-to-12 handicapper who’s working toward better consistency, that’s the number that should get your attention.

Distance

Testing produced these carry numbers on a TrackMan at a fitting bay with a 92 mph 6-iron swing speed:

Club	Carry	Total	Launch	Spin
5-iron	193 yds	204 yds	16.2°	4,900 rpm
6-iron	181 yds	191 yds	17.8°	5,500 rpm
7-iron	170 yds	179 yds	19.1°	6,200 rpm

The honest truth on distance: these are not the longest irons in their price bracket. If you put them head-to-head with the TaylorMade P790, the P790 will win that fight by 5-8 yards depending on the club. But those P790 numbers come with lower spin, which means less stopping power on approach shots — particularly into firm greens. The Apex Pro 24’s spin rates sit in a range that gives you real bite on the second shot, which is ultimately what scoring irons are supposed to do.

If you play on soft, receptive courses most of the time, the distance difference matters more. If you’re regularly hitting into firm greens or competing in conditions where a ball that checks up is worth 10 yards of carry, the Apex Pro 24’s spin advantage is the smarter play.

Workability

This is where the Apex Pro 24 earns its “Pro” label. These irons respond to what you do with your hands. Set up for a draw and deliver a slightly closed face with an inside path, and the ball will move right to left predictably. Work a fade with a slightly steeper angle and a bit of cut, and it’ll shape that way too. The face isn’t so forgiving that it flattens out your shot shape — it cooperates with your intent.

Trajectory control is equally sharp. You can hood the face and drive the ball low into a headwind without the club fighting you. Open things up and take a three-quarter swing for a high, soft shot into a par 3, and it responds. That kind of creative shot-making is where better players live, and the Apex Pro 24 is a willing partner for it.

Sound and Feel — The Full Picture

Sound is underrated in iron reviews. The Apex Pro 24 produces a muted, solid “thwick” at impact — not a high-pitched ping, not a hollow thud. It sounds like premium forged metal, which is exactly what you want. Strike one off the toe and the sound changes slightly, giving you honest feedback without the harsh vibration that would make your hands sting. The acoustic engineering here is as deliberate as everything else, and it shows.

Shaft Options

Steel

• True Temper Elevate ETS — Slightly lighter, promotes a higher ball flight. Good all-around choice for most players.
• Project X LS — Tour-preferred profile with a penetrating, lower flight. Better for faster swings who want control in wind.
• Dynamic Gold — Classic heavy feel. If you’ve been gaming DG for years, you know what you’re getting.

Graphite

• UST Mamiya Recoil — Excellent vibration dampening for players with joint issues or slower tempos.
• Mitsubishi Tensei — Lightweight with a smooth feel. Good for mid-speed players wanting more clubhead awareness.

For most players in the target range for these irons, the True Temper Elevate ETS is the right starting point. Get fitted and see where you land — the shaft can change carry numbers by 5+ yards, so don’t skip this step.

Set Makeup and Configuration

Callaway sells these in the standard 4-PW configuration, with an AW option available. One thing worth knowing: the combo set strategy makes a lot of sense with Apex Pro. Run the standard Apex (slightly more forgiving, higher launching) in the 4- and 5-irons, then switch to the Apex Pro from 6-iron down through the wedges where you want the precision and feel advantages. Many fitters will actually recommend this split — it’s not a compromise, it’s smart set-building.

Who Should Buy This

Let’s be straight with you here, because these aren’t irons for everyone — and that’s fine. The Apex Pro 24 is built for a specific type of golfer, and if you fit the profile, they’re excellent. If you don’t, there are better options for your game.

These irons are built for you if:

• You carry a handicap between 2 and 12 and are trending in the right direction
• You care about feel and want to actually sense the ball on the face
• You hit greens in regulation often enough that stopping power matters
• You like working the ball — drawing it around a dogleg, fading it into a tucked pin
• You’ve been gaming blades or older forged cavities and want a modern step forward without going full game-improvement
• You want one set that can grow with you as your game improves

Look elsewhere if:

• You’re above a 15 handicap and struggling with consistency — a more forgiving iron will serve you better right now
• You want maximum distance above all else (the P790 will add yards, and that’s not nothing)
• Budget is a real concern — at $1,499 for a 4-PW set, these are firmly in premium territory
• You strongly prefer the feel and feedback of a solid-body forged iron and don’t trust hollow construction

Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Outstanding feel from the 1025 carbon steel construction	Not the longest irons in the category — P790 wins on distance
AI face design delivers genuine, measurable forgiveness on off-centre strikes	Premium price tag at $1,499 for a 4-PW set
Tour-caliber look at address — thin topline, minimal offset, clean chrome	High handicappers will struggle to get the most out of them
Excellent spin rates for approach shot control and stopping power	Hollow construction (with microspheres) isn’t for everyone’s taste philosophically
Responds well to shot shaping — draws, fades, and trajectory adjustments all work	Urethane microspheres could theoretically shift over time with heavy use
Excellent shaft and fitting options through Callaway’s custom program	Chrome finish shows fingerprints and wear faster than satin alternatives

How It Compares

Every serious review needs an honest head-to-head, because the Apex Pro 24 doesn’t exist in a vacuum. At $1,499, you’re shopping in a bracket with some genuinely strong competition. Here’s where things stand.

Callaway Apex Pro 24 vs. TaylorMade P790

This is the matchup everyone wants to know about. The TaylorMade P790 is the distance iron in this price range — it will carry 5-8 yards longer per club, and it achieves that without completely sacrificing feel. The P790 also uses a hollow-body design (SpeedFoam Air) and has a slightly more forgiving profile.

The Apex Pro 24’s edge is spin and stopping power. If you’re regularly hitting into firm greens, the P790’s lower spin can leave you chasing balls through the back. The Apex Pro also has a slightly better feel on mishits in my experience — that urethane microsphere system is genuinely superior to SpeedFoam for dampening unwanted feedback. Pick the P790 for distance. Pick the Apex Pro 24 for control and feel.

Callaway Apex Pro 24 vs. Titleist T200

The Titleist T200 is the closest competitor in terms of intended player profile. Both target the 5-12 handicapper who wants modern technology without a game-improvement look. The T200 is arguably slightly more workable at the elite end, and Titleist’s Max Impact technology does excellent things for distance on centre strikes. Feel-wise, it’s a coin toss — both are excellent. If you bleed Titleist, the T200 is a legitimate choice. If you’re agnostic on brand, let a fitting session decide.

Callaway Apex Pro 24 vs. Mizuno Pro 225

Mizuno is the feel standard-bearer and always has been. The Pro 225 is a gorgeous iron that many testers — including seasoned fitters — will say has a slight edge in pure feel over everything else. However, the Apex Pro 24 has more technology-driven forgiveness and a more consistent ball speed on misses. The Mizuno is the choice if you’re chasing maximum sensory feedback. The Callaway is the choice if you want feel plus measurable performance insurance.

Callaway Apex Pro 24 vs. Srixon ZX5 Mk II

If budget is on your radar at all, the Srixon ZX5 Mk II is worth a serious look. It comes in around $300-400 less for a comparable set and performs within striking distance on most metrics. The Apex Pro 24 has better feel and slightly better off-centre performance, but the gap isn’t so wide that the premium is obvious. For the price-conscious better player, the ZX5 Mk II should be in your fitting session.

Fitting Considerations

Don’t skip the fitting. Seriously. The Apex Pro 24’s performance numbers above are based on specific shaft/length/lie combinations. Change the shaft and you can add or subtract yards, change ball flight, and alter feel substantially. Key variables to get right:

• Lie angle: Even a 1-degree error at this level of play will show up in your accuracy. Get this measured dynamically, not statically.
• Shaft flex and weight: Match to your swing speed and tempo, not just your speed. A smooth-tempo 95mph swinger often plays better with a heavier shaft than the speed alone would suggest.
• Length: Standard is based on wrist-to-floor, but your posture and setup preferences matter too.
• Grip size: Too small and you’ll over-release; too large and you’ll lose draw bias. Often overlooked, always meaningful.

Callaway’s fitting program is one of the better ones in the industry. Use it. And while you’re at it, think about getting your driver dialed in too — if you’re in the market for the full bag overhaul, check out our picks for the best golf drivers in 2026 to round out the equipment conversation.

Pricing

The Callaway Apex Pro 24 retails at $1,499.99 for a standard 4-PW set. That puts it squarely in the premium tier alongside Titleist, TaylorMade, and Mizuno’s top offerings. For what you’re getting — AI-optimized faces, forged carbon steel body, urethane microsphere fill, and tungsten toe weighting — the price is defensible. It’s not cheap, but it’s not overpriced for the category either.

Previous-generation Apex Pro irons (the 22 and earlier versions) are available at reduced prices and offer similar design philosophy with slightly older technology if budget is genuinely constraining your decision.

Final Verdict

The Callaway Apex Pro 24 is one of the strongest iron releases of the last couple of years in the player’s-iron-with-technology category. It does what it promises: you get the look and feel of a premium player’s iron, with measurably more forgiveness than a traditional forged blade or muscle-back, without the bulky aesthetics that come with full game-improvement designs.

The AI face design isn’t just a talking point — it produces real, trackable improvements in ball speed consistency on off-centre strikes. The forged 1025 carbon steel body and urethane microsphere fill combine to give you feel that competes with pure forged irons. And the shot-shaping response means better players won’t feel like the club is fighting their creativity.

The trade-off is distance. The Apex Pro 24 isn’t trying to win the yardage arms race, and if that’s your top priority, the P790 or a hot-faced distance iron is a more honest choice for your game. But if you’re the kind of golfer who wants to hit a 7-iron to 170 yards and actually stop it near the pin rather than blast it to 178 and watch it run through the green — this is your iron.

Rating: 4.6 / 5

For golfers who’ve been grinding away at a 7-12 handicap and feel like their scoring irons should be doing more work for them, these are genuinely worth a fitting session. Give them an honest try. You might not go back.

Also worth reading: our Scotty Cameron Special Select Newport 2 putter review — because irons get you close, but the flat stick is where scores are actually made.