Sure, the foldable iPhone Duo is getting all of the buzz, but you shouldn’t overlook the new iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max — especially if you want the highest quality cameras.
Not only does the iPhone Duo lack the telephoto zoom lens on the iPhone 18 Pros; it also doesn’t get the brand new variable aperture main camera. There are laser-cut blades in the lens of the 48MP main cameras on the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max that move to let in more or less light depending on the conditions.
The goal? Better-looking photos without lifting a finger, as well as unprecedented creative control for those who want it through new Pro camera controls.
“Variable aperture is an amazing technology,” Apple CEO John Ternus told me in an interview with Tom’s Guide and TechRadar. “We have these tiny little blades. There's six of them in there, and they can open and contract. And when you open the aperture, you let in more light, so you end up with better low-light photography.”
There are four aperture settings that the camera chooses from: f/1.48, f/1.8, f/2.8 and f/4.0. For example, if you take a portrait, the iPhone 18 Pro might select f/1.48, which lets in the most amount of light and creates a background blur.
And if you’re taking a photo where you want the same amount of sharpness throughout the shot — say a family group shot — the iPhone 18 Pro might pick f/4.0. At this setting, the blades close down to the smallest setting, delivering maximum depth of field.
“When you're taking a group shot, the ability to make sure that the person in front is in focus and the person in back is in focus is really powerful,” Ternus said.
For photo enthusiasts and creative pros, the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max offer Pro controls for the first time. This allows you to manually select one of the four aperture settings on the fly.
For example, say you were in a swanky club. You could focus on the drink glass in front of me with a blur effect with f/1.48 or the person sitting across the table and the glass with f/4.0.
“We have these pro controls now where someone who really understands photography and really loves photography, they can get in there and manually adjust the aperture and the shutter speed, even the the focus — all of these things that that our real pro photographers love,” Ternus said.
You can also get creative with the various settings depending on the subject, such as accentuating point light sources with a smaller f/2.8 or f/4.0 setting. This can create a compelling stardust effect in your final shot.
Other Pro controls include shutter speed and white balance, the kinds of settings that used to be reserved for third-party apps like Halide.
“It's kind of the best of both worlds. You can choose not to think about it, or you can go really deep into it,” Ternus said.
Stay tuned for our full review on the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, which will include plenty of test shots with the variable aperture camera.
