Apple's iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max both get a 48 MP camera with variable aperture, a new sensor, 4K120 ProRes, and an inevitable price hike to $1199.
Plenty to talk about from Apple’s Surprise and Shine event yesterday, not the least of which was an unwelcome $100 price rise on existing phone models, never mind the price of the new phones. But IBC starts tomorrow and there’s a lot going on, so for now let’s bypass the $1999 iPhone Duo, and concentrate on the imaging capabilities of the new A20 Pro-powered iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
The big news here is that both models get a new 48 MP Fusion Main camera with variable aperture, the first time aperture control has come to iPhone. Previously this was thought to be a Pro Max only feature, but is being rolled out across both models. Six laser-cut blades move between four aperture settings, adjusting automatically for depth of field and lighting. The aperture can also be set manually in the Camera app, and Apple has released an API for developers to control it in their own apps.
As widely understood, the base level iPhone 18 has been decoupled from the autumn release program and will now follow in the spring. Whether the variable aperture will trickle down to that as well is, as yet, unknown. It’s also worth pointing out that despite the fuss Apple is making about it, variable aperture appeared on the Samsung Galaxy S9 years ago, and Chinese Android flagship phones already pair it with larger sensors.
There also has to be a slight niggling question mark about the mechanical reliability of a system that physically moves six blades that have been described as “thinner than a human hair” in a device that can be exposed to more rough and tumble than your average camera. On that though, we will just have to wait and see.
The customary teardowns are yet to appear online, but the chances are that the sensor is a Sony IMX905. The iPhone 17 Pro/Pro Max used the 1/1.28-inch sensor Sony IMX903. The Camera app has been overhauled with the assistance of Halide co-founder Sebastiaan de With, so should be a measurable gain over what has come before.
Certainly there are improvements. Photographic Styles gain new texture and grain controls. Cinematic effects can now be applied after capture to video shot at up to 60 fps, Time-lapse mode supports 4K and Dolby Vision HDR, and Audio Mix adds algorithms for higher-quality voice capture and can isolate music.
Both models shoot 4K120 ProRes video too, something Apple left out of its PR materials entirely, despite it being one of the more relevant specs for anyone actually making films with these phones.
Reference Image capture will also not be available at launch in the EU or China, though EU users will still be able to view and develop reference images with iOS, iPadOS, and macOS 27. Support for the SynthID watermarking standard, to help identify AI-generated or edited images, is due via a software update later this year.
Plus, of course, there are all the tools that Apple Intelligence brings to the party. Apple says users can improve the composition of a photo after it’s been taken with Spatial Reframing, Extend, and upgraded Clean Up, and Image Playground now offers photorealistic imagery.
The last is interesting. When it was first released, Apple deliberately kept its output cartoonish as a response to unease about AI image manipulation. A charitable interpretation of the new photorealism is that it reckons SynthID will help ensure that never becomes a problem. A more prosaic one is that, partly encouraged by investors, it is going more all-in on AI.
iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will be available in 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB storage capacities. Available in burgundy, glacier, silver, and black, iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1199, and iPhone 18 Pro Max starts at $1299.