Apple has brought variable aperture back to smartphones with the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. The new 48MP main camera can switch between f/1.48, f/1.8, f/2.8 and f/4.0, either choosing automatically or letting the user select an aperture manually through the Pro controls.
Variable aperture in context
Samsung previously offered a similar idea on the Galaxy S9, which could switch between f/1.5 and f/2.4. In 2018, f/1.5 was the widest aperture available on a smartphone and helped the S9 capture more light for lower ISO or faster shutter speeds, producing cleaner night photos with less noise or motion blur. Apple says the iPhone 18 Pro’s f/1.48 setting provides around 50% better low-light performance than its predecessor. However, a wide aperture is no longer unusual: the Galaxy S26 Ultra has a fixed f/1.4 main camera. Sensor size, lens quality and image processing will still affect final results, so variable aperture does not give the iPhone an obvious light-gathering advantage over Samsung’s latest Ultra phone.
f/4 setting tackles shallow depth of field
Modern smartphone cameras use larger sensors and wide fixed apertures that can produce a very shallow depth of field at close range. When focusing on one part of a flower, a plate of food or a document, other parts may look blurry even if they are not much farther away — a natural optical blur rather than the artificial background blur added by Portrait mode. By offering f/2.8 or f/4, the iPhone 18 Pro can increase depth of field and keep more of a close subject in focus; it will not reduce the camera’s minimum focusing distance but should make close-up shots easier to capture without leaving important details blurry. The trade-off is that a smaller aperture lets in less light, so f/4 will be most useful under bright lighting. Apple also suggests using it for creating ‘artful effects manually, like a luminous starburst from bright light.’
Samsung’s Dual Aperture system made sense in 2018 because f/1.5 gave the Galaxy S9 a notable low-light advantage. Apple’s variable aperture system goes in the opposite direction, potentially addressing the shallow depth of field produced by modern smartphone cameras.
