Kerry Wan/ZDNETZDNET’s key takeaways
- The iPhone 18 Pro adds variable aperture and new Pro controls.
- Apple’s software makes manual camera controls easier to use.
- Its unchanged telephoto camera may still trail Android rivals.
I’m a frequent traveler and love photographing new places. While I’m an iPhone user, over the last year, I’ve carried an Android camera phone for every trip due to Apple’s lack of Pro imaging capabilities. The Vivo X300 Ultra has earned a permanent spot in my pocket, thanks to its pleasing natural bokeh on the main and telephoto cameras, high-quality macro mode, and mindful videography features. That’s why I’m stoked about Apple’s new iPhone 18 Pro camera upgrades.
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The new Pro controls, variable aperture, and smart video tracking features look great. However, it will not be easy to beat Android heavyweights like the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, Oppo Find X9 Ultra, and my current favorite, the Vivo X300 Ultra.
Variable aperture looks like a good upgrade
Apple said its iPhone 18 Pro models have “the biggest camera upgrades in years.” The main 48MP camera has a standout feature in the form of variable aperture, which uses six aperture blades that actually open and close to affect how much light enters the sensor.
It can open up to let in more light at night or close down to offer better depth of field in bright lighting conditions. You can get ƒ/1.48, ƒ/1.8, ƒ/2.8, and ƒ/4.0 f-stops on the new iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max models.
Kerry Wan/ZDNETThis isn’t the first time a phone maker has introduced this capability on a smartphone. Samsung offered variable aperture support with its Galaxy S9 in 2018 and Galaxy S10 in 2019. They had dual-aperture lenses, which switched between wide open and a narrow opening (half-open lens).
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The Xiaomi 14 Ultra in 2024 also had the same feature, and it ranged from f/1.6 to f/4. This year’s Huawei Pura 90s Pro Max has a 10-step physical aperture running from f/1.4 to f/4.0, which is more flexible than Apple’s new models.
Finally leveling up with Pro controls
I’m also stoked about the new camera system because of Apple’s software. The camera interface includes new Pro controls that offer easy-to-access settings for manual controls like aperture, shutter speed, white balance, and histogram. You can add these to the viewfinder itself and then get easy-to-adjust toggles for quick access. For instance, you can adjust the shutter speed with a tap and scroll to capture motion blur shots on the move.
These are the settings every Pro camera system should have, and I’m glad Apple is finally leveling up with the new iPhones this year.
Kerry Wan/ZDNETHowever, I’m disappointed by the lack of upgrades to the zoom camera. While Apple improved the telephoto camera on its iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max last year, it doesn’t compete as well as it should against Chinese camera smartphones.
My Vivo X300 Ultra beats the 2025 iPhone model with its sharper results in almost every situation. It offers excellent macro photos (the iPhone’s don’t stack up) and high-quality portrait shots. I would have loved to see telephoto camera improvements.
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The iPhone 18 Pro’s product page still mentions the same 4x optical zoom and 8x hybrid zoom. I hope the new processor helps deliver better results with digital zoom, but I’m keeping my hopes low. And yet, I can’t wait to get my hands on the new iPhone 18 Pro and take it for a spin. If that variable aperture capability is tuned well and the Pro controls are easy to use, it might force me to upgrade from my iPhone 17 Pro Max.
