The Vergecast · Thursday, September 17, 2026
The new iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max retain a similar physical design to their predecessors but include internal upgrades. A notable change is a new mechanical variable six-blade aperture in the main camera, which affects focus and light intake.
“So in the main camera on both of the phones, um, there's a new mechanical aperture, like a variable moving six-blade aperture from the keynote, right where it was like, *whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh six blades*.”
“Um, so that has all kinds of camera things, you know, that I spiraled about, but, um, other than that, which you can barely see from the outside.”