The Vergecast · Thursday, September 17, 2026
The iPhone 18 Pro introduces a variable aperture in its main camera, a feature that allows for adjustments to light intake and depth of field. Unlike most smartphone cameras which have a fixed aperture, this new mechanism can open and close, similar to traditional cameras, a feature previously seen in limited implementations by other manufacturers like Xiaomi and Samsung.
“It's It's like uh, a thing, it's an opening in a lens, and any camera system that lets light in. And it opens up traditionally opens and closes down. That's how you can change how much of your scene is in focus and it lets in more or less light.”
“Um, smartphone cameras are tiny, they're little babies and they almost exclusively have an aperture that doesn't move. It's just fixed at one, um, F stop, F 1.8 in the case of the iPhone for many years.”
“So, um, a couple of other companies have tried this before, um, Xiaomi most recently, I think had a variable aperture that moved. Um, Samsung way back had one that was like two different stops.”