The iPhone 18 range is still a little under two years away, but suppliers have been busy for a while now, so the rumours have been flying. The latest indiscretion comes from Taiwanese analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who is announcing major advances in the camera module of the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max.
Variable aperture on the main camera of the iPhone 18££££
The main lens is said to have a variable aperture, the kind found only on DSLR cameras. This mechanical system allows you to control the amount of light reaching the photosites and, in particular, to manage the depth of field of an image. For comparison, the main lenses of the iPhone 14, 15 and 16 Pro/Pro Max have a fixed aperture of ƒ/1.78. The lens is always fully open and depth of field can only be simulated in software.
It's hard to say how much the inclusion of this technology would improve image quality, given that smartphone sensors are smaller than those on cameras, and therefore less powerful. But if Apple is thinking about it, it's to improve the quality of shots.