iPhone 18 Pro packs lots of camera upgrades ( great rundown here ), with the tentpole addition being variable aperture. But there’s one other Main camera change that users like me might deem their favorite.
As impressive as Apple’s new iPhone Duo foldable is, when it comes to camera features, it’s a clear loser to the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max ( see our iPhone Duo-iPhone 18 Pro comparison here ). Not only does iPhone Duo lack a Telephoto camera, but its Main camera also misses out on the improvements coming to iPhone 18 Pro. For a rundown of iPhone 18 Pro camera upgrades, I recommend my colleague Ben’s piece here .
All of the manual ‘Pro controls’ iPhone 18 Pro offers intimidate me, and I don’t expect to ever use them. And the iPhone 18 Pro camera change I’m most intrigued by is something highlighted by The Verge . Di Benedetto writes: I think the real star feature of the iPhone 18 Pro’s camera is its f/1.48 maximum aperture…People love bokeh. Last year’s Pro iPhone cameras had an f/1.7 aperture, and now being at f/1.48, the 18 Pro camera should work better in low-light as well as have a slightly shallower depth of field. Will f/1.48 be a huge difference in bokeh from f/1.7? Most iPhone 18 Pro buyers will, I suspect, never touch any of the custom manual controls.
Even the tentpole variable aperture feature feels a bit over my head, though I’m glad it can work automatically. Antonio G. Probably not. It’s likely to have depth of field that’s just a smidge shallower — but that’s the look that people often like.
As I’ve been thinking about the new camera system, many of the changes appear meant for users that are more “pro” than me. But if their everyday photos offer more natural, “dreamy” bokeh—even if just a little bit—then the iPhone 18 Pro camera could be beloved for that reason alone.
