While Apple is systematically making the iPhone 18 worse than its predecessor, the iPhone 17, things are much more interesting with the Pro versions. Chinese insider Digital Chat Station, known for reliable leaks, posted information on Weibo about four iPhone camera improvements that Apple is working on. At least one of them should appear as early as the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max — and it’s a genuinely useful feature for those who take a lot of photos with their smartphone.
Variable aperture will offer more creative freedom
Variable Aperture in iPhone 18 Pro — What It Offers
The main innovation the insider expects in the iPhone 18 Pro is a lens with a variable aperture. To put it simply: the aperture determines how much light reaches the sensor and how blurred the background is in a photo. Currently, the iPhone has a fixed aperture, and background blur is created digitally.
Blur depth can be adjusted more precisely
Variable aperture will allow you to control depth of field at the hardware level — right at the moment of shooting. In practice, this means three scenarios:
- Shallow depth of field — to isolate the subject against a blurred background (portraits, product photography)
- Medium depth — the subject is in focus, the background is slightly blurred but recognizable
- Deep depth of field — everything in the frame is sharp (landscapes, group shots)
An important point: earlier rumors suggested that variable aperture would only come to the Pro Max. But according to Digital Chat Station, the feature will also appear in the regular iPhone 18 Pro. This is good news for those who don’t want to buy the most expensive and largest version.
Most likely, iOS 27’s Camera app will receive convenient controls for adjusting depth of field in real time — but this is still an assumption, not a confirmed fact.
Camera Improvements in Future iPhones
Comparison of camera sensor sizes across different iPhone generations
In addition to the variable aperture, the insider mentions three more upgrades that Apple is developing. According to him, they won’t appear this year but form the camera roadmap for iPhone over the next few generations:
- Main camera — an ultra-large sensor measuring 1/1.12 inches. The larger the sensor, the more light it captures and the better the photo quality in low-light conditions
- Ultra-wide camera — improved optical image stabilization (OIS). This will reduce blur when shooting in motion or with long exposure
- Telephoto lens — a 200-megapixel periscope module. Currently, the iPhone 17 Pro Max has a 48 MP periscope lens, so the resolution increase would be enormous
The insider doesn’t specify exact timelines for these improvements. Most likely, they will be distributed between the iPhone 19 and iPhone 20, but that’s just speculation. Regarding the variable aperture, there are already several independent sources, which increases the likelihood of its appearance in the iPhone 18 Pro. As for the three future upgrades — they’re more of an indicator of the direction Apple is heading rather than a specific plan with dates.
Is It Worth Waiting for iPhone 18 Pro Because of the New Camera?
If you frequently shoot on your iPhone and find the flexibility in working with backgrounds lacking — variable aperture will be the first truly serious hardware camera upgrade in recent years. Software blur in portrait mode works reasonably well, but optical depth of field control is a completely different level of quality and naturalness.
For owners of iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max, this could be a compelling reason to upgrade. However, those with an iPhone 17 Pro should wait for the fall announcements and compare real photo samples — marketing promises and actual results don’t always match. Owners of the base iPhone 18 and Air 2 likely won’t get the variable aperture — the feature is expected only in the Pro lineup.
