iPhone 18 Pro's variable aperture camera, torn down in tiny detail

iFixit's teardown reveals the six hair-thin blades and magnets driving the iPhone 18 Pro's variable aperture, and why repairing it may be next to impossible.

iFixit has done what it does so well, and torn down the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max to give us all the first proper look inside Apple's new variable aperture main camera.

In short, it’s all very tiny, very delicate, and, in iFixit’s estimation, almost impossible to repair.

“Very few repair enthusiasts on this planet will have the tools, techniques, or knowledge to get this variable aperture mechanism apart in a way that allows it to go back together,” it says. “The tolerances are tight, the glues are gummy. We're reluctant to call a repair 'impossible,' but this is about as close as it gets.”

A close look at it all is fascinating nevertheless. The mechanism uses six overlapping "polymer composite" leaf-like blades, each about as thin as a human hair, with a lens-covering nub a little more than 1 mm long. iFixit photographed the blades against a human hair to prove the point, and called the mechanism "a feat of precision engineering."

It's all oddly hypnotic. Pic: iFixit

The blades pivot on outer holes and slide along center pins engaged by tiny slots and drive pins, and the whole thing is moved magnetically. iFixit says it could get the mechanism to open and close just by holding a magnet near the unpowered camera module, even with the surrounding hardware stripped away.

The system offers four preset stops, f/1.48, f/1.8, f/2.8, and f/4.0, with the widest opening measuring 4.6 mm, half a stop brighter than the fixed aperture on the 17 Pro. It sits in front of a main sensor iFixit describes as a little under half an inch on the diagonal, paired with a 6.8mm focal length lens, all packed into essentially the same footprint as last year's camera module.

The workaround for the inability to repair it is, of course, to swap out the whole camera assembly. The assembly is modular and the process is “painless” says iFixit, though it may not be to your wallet. Apple hasn't opened self-service parts sales for the 18 Pro yet, but its own out-of-warranty camera repair is already priced at $249, slightly surprisingly matching the 17 Pro rather than exceeding it.