Apple iPhone 18 Pro review

Main camera gets a variable aperture lens

After two sort of major camera upgrades last year, Apple is taking a bit of a step back with the 18 Pros and isn't offering a whole lot of hardware changes. The 17 Pros were treated to new telephoto and selfie cameras, while the 18 Pros now only get a variable aperture mechanism on the main camera - and that's about it.

Well, that, and the actually wider maximum aperture on that main camera, plus maybe a new sensor, though the specs remain the same. Apple has fitted a six-blade iris to the main camera lens that can switch between four preset settings - the widest f/1.48 (which is wider than the 17 Pros' fixed f/1.78 aperture), f/1.8, f/2.8, and f/4.0. In-between options aren't manually selectable, and by the looks of it, the phone won't pick arbitrary values either when operating in auto mode.

Why you'd want a variable aperture lens on your phone is debatable. No matter where you stand, though, a wider maximum aperture is generally a good thing for low-light shooting. And with that as a starting point, we do appreciate the ability to stop the lens down at least a little to potentially improve its performance when the light is more favorable.

As for the ability to control depth of field, while indeed possible, in the iPhone's case that's rendered somewhat of a moot point because of the camera's relatively large minimum focusing distance.

Another aspect is video recording, where you might want the option to stop down your lens in order to achieve particular shutter speeds in brighter light. The iPhone 18 Pros do give you that, but whether it's actually a meaningful tool rather than an academic advantage is also questionable.

Either way, that's the big new thing - the variable aperture mechanism on the main camera.

Teardowns online indicate there's a new sensor model being used on the main camera, but it still has the same basic specs - 1/1.28" optical format and 48MP resolution. The camera uses sensor-shift image stabilization, as before.

The telephoto camera remains the same as last year, with its 100mm equivalent lens providing 4x optical zoom, but the lack of close focusing remains a pain point. The ultrawide is around 13mm equivalent, with competing Pixels and Galaxies also offering comparable coverage (rather extreme coverage, we might add). Both sensors have 1/2.55" optical formats and 48MP nominal resolution.

As last year, all three rear cameras offer 24MP shooting capability, and that's the default setting too - you get that at 0.5x, 1x, and 4x, while the 2x and 8x zoom levels stick to 12MP. At the native zoom levels, you also get a 48MP option.

The selfie camera introduced with the 17 generation is here to stay, its octagonal 18MP sensor letting you shoot in both portrait and landscape orientation regardless of how the phone itself is held. Still cool, of course, but we're not sure it's proven to be a gamechanger a year into its existence.

• Wide (main): 48MP Sony IMX 905 (1/1.28", 1.22µm-2.44µm), f/1.48-f/4.0, 24mm, dual-pixel PDAF (17.5cm - ∞), sensor-shift IS; 4K120.
• Ultrawide: 48MP Sony IMX 972 (1/2.55", 0.7µm-1.4µm), f/2.2, 13mm, PDAF (82cm - ∞); 4K60.
• Telephoto 4x: 48MP Sony IMX 973 (1/2.55", 0.7µm-1.4µm), f/2.8, 100mm, PDAF, sensor-shift IS; 4K60.
• Front camera: 18MP Sony IMX 914 (likely 1.0µm), f/1.9, 20mm, PDAF; 4K60.

The Camera Control is also carried over, still offering press and swipe functionality for launching the camera, taking shots, and modifying settings such as exposure, depth, zoom, or camera switching.

What is new is a sort of manual mode in disguise. From that same pane where you change things like flash modes and photographic styles, you can now get shutter speed and white balance selectors - kind of a big deal on an iPhone, we reckon. It's from here that you can also pull up the aperture selector - maybe Apple figured that since they're adding that anyway, a couple of other settings couldn't hurt. Manual ISO sensitivity control is still missing, though we're not sure ISO really means all that much on a smartphone with all the multi-frame stacking.

We wouldn't say the operation of these controls is particularly intuitive - you need to switch between them and set things one by one, and reverting them back to auto is also done one by one. It might take two taps per setting to return to auto and get the pane out of the way. But maybe if you're fully used to Apple's ways, you'd be fine with that. There's also the fact that a bunch of camera settings remain in the phone's general settings menu as opposed to being in the app itself, but by now that barely registers as an issue - it's just how it is.

Daylight photo quality

Main camera

You'll be in a familiar place when examining the iPhone 18 Pro's photos if you've seen something shot on a recent iPhone, and even more so if you're coming from a 17 Pro (Max).

The 24MP default shots have very good detail with well-defined, if somewhat digital, random textures. Colors are reasonably restrained in their saturation, but not entirely lifeless and white balance is typically accurate (though the Vespa was consistently off on this camera between modes and review units). Dynamic range is excellent too.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x)

We examined the results from the main camera at different aperture settings too. On a bright daytime outdoor scene at a non-extreme focusing distance we wouldn't say there's any meaningful difference in sharpness between wide open and stopped down. If you're shooting in slightly dimmer conditions, setting the aperture at f/4.0 may result in cranking up the ISO, and that might be detrimental to image quality.

Variable aperture samples, main camera (1x): f/1.48 • f/1.8 • f/2.8 • f/4.0

The most significant difference can be seen if you shoot nearby objects in scenes with some depth, where the wide-open setting will result in less of the subject being in focus and stronger blur in the out-of-focus areas - in theory and, to a varying extent, in practice.

Depth of field depends on several factors and among them is subject distance, with the closer the subject, the shallower the depth of field. With that in mind, the main camera's relatively long minimum focusing distance of 17.5cm (to the outer edge of the camera bump, so technically subject distance) means you won't have that shallow of a depth of field even at minimum focusing distance to necessitate stopping down to increase it. That said, the Vespa shot may benefit from stopping down to get the flower bouquet in focus, so maybe in the right scene, with the right photographer, it would be useful.

If you're looking at it from the other perspective - increasing the background blur and getting more subject separation - the difference between the f/1.48 and the f/1.8 results (what the older iPhone will get you) is often negligible, even at minimum focusing distance where it would be most pronounced.

So, yeah, a variable aperture is nice to have in principle, but it's our opinion that it's of limited actual practical benefit, at least in this particular implementation.

More variable aperture samples, main camera (1x): f/1.48 • f/1.8 • f/2.8 • f/4.0

Moving on to more trivial stuff, the iPhone's people shots look very good. We'd say they've gotten better this year, with sharpness and detail improved somewhat. We can still observe the long-standing and well-documented iPhone tendency to aggressively protect any and all brightly-lit skin from blowing out, which can result in needlessly warm and saturated colors when out in the sun - in addition to the generally warm take on skin tones. It's not terrible, though.

Human subjects, main camera (1x): Photo mode • Portrait mode

The main camera's 48MP mode does produce very good shots within the context of nominal resolution modes, with well-defined detail and essentially the same dynamic range as the default resolution photos.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x), 48MP

The main camera's 2x photos also have great detail definition and the same global properties as the 1x ones, as expected. These come in at 12MP though, while the 1x ones are at 24MP, so while the framing is indeed that of 2x zoom, the difference in subject reproduction at 1:1 magnification isn't 2x.

Daylight samples, main camera (2x)

2x zoom portraits are looking good as well, with plenty of detail and some of that warmth and highlight protection going on too.

Human subjects, main camera (2x): Photo mode • Portrait mode

Telephoto camera

The telephoto camera's 4x results are good overall, but are missing that detail crispiness we'd like to see - so same as last year then. We'd probably prefer to look at the 12MP versions instead of the default 24MP ones, but if Apple keeps insisting on 24MP, the telephoto should be evaluated based on those and they're just not pin-sharp. When you take a step back, dynamic range and colors are great, no complaints.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (4x)

Headshots at 4x appear sharper than last year's take, which is more likely Apple tweaking processing than anything else - as in, abandoning what we had deemed a deliberate smoothening of detail on the 17 Pros. Either way, the 100mm focal length is great for tightly-framed portraits.

Human subjects, telephoto camera (4x): Photo mode • Portrait mode

The 48MP mode images are a little grainy and don't immediately strike us as more detailed, but there just might be a smidge of extra texture there in bright scenes, if you're willing to put in the extra work and do your own detail treatment.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (4x), 48MP

The 8x zoom photos are quite grainy and have a bit of a softness to them, but taken in context, they're actually pretty solid.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (8x)

Ultrawide camera

The ultrawide's 24MP photos are good in terms of detail in bright outdoor scenes and a little less likable indoors - we'd say the ultrawide is the least good of the three cameras at making things look good in 24MP, but it's sort of hanging in there. Once again, dynamic range doesn't leave us wanting, and colors are looking great too, in line with the other cameras.

Daylight samples, ultrawide camera (0.5x)

The 48MP images are another instance of 'maybe a little extra detail, if you look very closely, but why bother'.

Daylight samples, ultrawide camera (0.5x), 48MP

Close-ups

The iPhone's approach to close-up shooting has long been based on digital zoom from the ultrawide camera to match the main camera's field of view, and that continues to be the case on the iPhone 18 Pros. It's clear that this tends to result in casting shadows on your subject or otherwise disturbing it, plus the perspective is hardly ideal unless that's what you're particularly after. Even so, if you can work around these constraints, the photos can be very good.

Close-up samples, ultrawide camera (1x)

The alternative is to shoot on the main camera at 2x in an attempt to get a better reproduction ratio than at 1x, while also maintaining some distance from the subject (17.5cm, as already mentioned), which you can't on the ultrawide. Detail is certainly not better on these, though, and the reproduction is nowhere near what you can get from the ultrawide.

Close-up samples, main camera (2x)

We'd really appreciate it if Apple would just make the switch to a close-focusing telephoto instead.

Selfies

The selfie camera's changeable orientation party trick has been carried over from the previous generation. The 20mm equivalent native focal length is most welcome for shooting large groups or more of your surroundings, while the phone will tend to default to the zoomed-in 30mm-equivalent mode if you're staying in portrait orientation. The AF capability means you can take photos from up close too, which is also appreciated.

The actual images have a bit of a digital rendition of detail with some pixelation on facial hair, but it's still plenty of detail, and that's a good thing. The insistence on highlight restoration on faces continues here too, and it can result in some extra warmth, though that too isn't necessarily offensive.

What's more questionable is the low-light performance - the phone didn't manage to focus on the face in one of the usual scenes (and neither did the other review unit in that scene), though the other scene does look nice overall, if still somewhat softer than ideal. Try not to get us wrong; we're still fans of the iPhone selfies, it's just that they're not quite perfect.

Selfie samples

Low-light photo quality

Main camera

At night, just as before, the iPhone 18 Pro doesn't tend to apply its dedicated Night mode processing too often, getting you 24MP low-light shots with the main camera in all but the darkest of scenes.

They are quite excellent shots too, we should say. They do have a bit of grain in there, but there's also plenty of detail mixed in with it. Dynamic range is nice and wide; the white balance copes well with mixed lighting, and colors are on point.

Low-light samples, main camera (1x)

2x shots are properly great too - some of the best results you can expect from a main camera at 2x in the dark, and about as good as you can expect from a dedicated camera at that zoom level if someone were to make one.

Low-light samples, main camera (2x)

Telephoto camera

The telephoto camera can do quite well at 4x, but there are caveats. It too is reluctant to engage Night mode, and without it, the 24MP shots turn out softer than ideal - perhaps if you deliberately shoot in 12MP you'd be better off, Night mode or otherwise. In the scenes where Night mode did kick in, which are saved in 12MP, things are looking better on a pixel level, with less grain and sharper detail. Either way, there's not a lot more you can ask for from a global perspective - dynamic range and colors are pretty hard to fault.

Low-light samples, telephoto camera (4x)

At 8x zoom, photos are softer and noisier and could use some clarity/microcontrast boost. If you put in some work, they have potential, but straight out of the phone they're a little underwhelming.

Low-light samples, telephoto camera (8x)

Ultrawide camera

The Night mode situation is the same on the ultrawide, so you often end up with softish and grainy 24MP shots, where you could have had sharper and cleaner 12MP Night mode enhanced ones. Exposures look quite dark, with plenty of fall-off towards the edges and corners. Apple should do better with the low-light processing, particularly on the ultrawide, we reckon.

Low-light samples, ultrawide camera (0.5x)

Video quality

Not a lot has changed with the iPhone Pro's video recording capabilities this year. It can still record video up to 4K at 60, 30, or 24fps with all of its cameras (the three rear ones and the front-facing one) and the primary camera on the back can also do 4K120 at both 1x and 2x zoom. On our retail European units, we also had PAL modes (25fps and 100fps) if you enable them in settings.

You get Dolby Vision recording capability in all modes too, plus ProRes and Apple Log 2 options, though you will need to record to external storage for some of the higher fps modes to be able to work.

If you want to capture 4K60 or higher, you must do so in the 'high-efficiency' HEVC/h.265 format, while for lesser modes you can choose between that and the AVC/h.264 option. The manual controls (shutter speed, white balance, aperture) are available in video too, which is quite surprising but most welcome, of course.

Cinematic mode now maxes at 4K60, up from 4K30, for what it's worth.

As before, the iPhone can be set to record Spatial Audio, in which case it will embed two audio tracks - stereo AAC for backward compatibility and four-channel AAC. Simple stereo and mono options are also available.

Stabilization is always on in all modes (including 4K120) - you can't turn it off if you have other means of ensuring stable footage.

You can hit '> play' below and use the '>| next' button to advance through the playlist of all video samples, or you can watch the full playlist on YouTube.

iPhones are revered for their video quality, and there's no reason why that would change with the iPhone 18 Pros. The rear cameras are precisely matched in their output when it comes to color and exposure, and that means pleasing hues, wide dynamic range, and great contrast from all three. Detail is very good as well, with even the 2x and 8x zoom levels looking quite alright.

Video screengrabs, daylight: 0.5x • 1x • 2x • 4x • 8x

At night, the main camera and the telephoto tend to show pretty visible internal reflections from bright lights shining into the camera - it's a long-standing peculiarity of Apple lenses that's not been addressed this time either. The ultrawide doesn't suffer from that, for what it's worth.

Other than that, main camera clips are very good, capturing wide dynamic range, accurate color, and sharp detail. The telephoto is nicely sharp and detailed too, and great on a global level as well. The ultrawide is decent, but you wouldn't want to use it for anything critical.

Video screengrabs, low light: 0.5x • 1x • 2x • 4x • 8x

It's hard to argue with the iPhone's stabilization algorithms. The main camera and the ultrawide are super stable when used from a standing position, and the telephoto's slight waviness is anything but troubling. The smooth pans are also nice, and on the telephoto they're smoother than many competing zoom efforts. The main camera does a great job with stabilizing walking shake too.