IPhone 18 Pro Camera May Come With Variable Aperture For Better Photo Results

JAKARTA - The camera on the iPhone 18 Pro is expected to be the first on the iPhone line to use a variable aperture system, which is believed to be able to significantly improve the quality of photos.

So far, the iPhone's rear camera uses fixed aperture size. However, in its 2026 launch plan, Apple is said to be turning to a camera system with adjustable aperture.

According to an ETNews report on Wednesday, October 15, this news comes from an "industrial source" that says Apple has finalized plans for the components and is starting to prepare a production process for related parts.

The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max will still have three cameras on the back. However, this variable aperture feature will only be applied to the main camera. Ultra Wide and Telephoto cameras will still use fixed aperture for a while.

Two major manufacturers, LG Innotek and Foxconn, are rumored to be the main suppliers of this new camera system. Meanwhile, actuators who drive aperture changes will be supplied by Luxshare ICT and Sunny Optical.

In fact, the issue of variable aperture is not new to rumors about the iPhone. In 2024, news circulated that this feature would be introduced on the iPhone 17, but not realized.

TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also mentioned in November 2024 that the wide-angle camera on the iPhone 18 Pro will be equipped with a variable aperture. He then reaffirmed the prediction the following month.

Benefits of Variable Aperture

Aperture variables can have a major impact on photography capabilities on smartphones.

Smartphone cameras generally use fixed aperture, namely the hole between the lens and the sensor where the light enters. Changing the aperture size usually requires additional physical space for the mechanism and driving motor.

With adjustable aperture, the camera can change how much light the sensor receives. This affects triangular exposure' in photography balance between aperture, core speed, and sensor sensitivity to get the best photos.

Aperture changes also affect the depth of the field (depth of field) on images. The wider aperture generates a opaque (keyh) background with a sharp main subject, while the smaller aperture makes more parts of the image look sharp and focused.

Currently, Apple still relies on computational photography techniques to create a bokeh effect on portrait mode. However, with variable aperture, these effects can be produced naturally without software manipulation.

In addition, this capability can also help the computer vision system (computer vision). By changing the aperture and depth of the field, the system can estimate the distance based on the object's brightness rate between two or more images.

With the application of variable aperture technology, the iPhone 18 Pro has the potential to bring a significant improvement in photography experience, presenting more realistic and professional results without the help of any software algorithms.