iPhone 18 Pro review: it's all about the manual controls
This is a hands-on camera review of the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max, centered on Apple's new hardware feature: a six-blade moving aperture in the main lens that shifts between roughly f1.8 and f1.48, alongside new manual controls, AI editing tools, and an anti-manipulation verification system. The reviewer tests how much the variable aperture actually changes photos given phones' historically fixed apertures, and questions whether it's a meaningful advance or a gimmick that past rivals (Samsung, Sony, Xiaomi) already tried and dropped. It also covers iOS 27's new AI editing tools (Reframe/Extend) and a Reference Image mode meant to cryptographically verify a photo hasn't been AI-edited, relevant amid growing concern over photo authenticity. Overall the reviewer concludes the aperture upgrade is a niche, technically interesting feature that won't matter to most people, and she still preferred shooting with the telephoto lens day to day.
[00:02:26] The iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max add a new adjustable aperture in the main camera that opens to f1.48, over a third of a stop brighter than the fixed f1.8 aperture iPhones have used for years
- [00:04:00] Samsung, Sony, and Xiaomi (including the Galaxy S9 and Xiaomi 14 Ultra Leica) all tried variable aperture on past phones and abandoned it, raising doubts about how committed Apple will stay to the feature
- [00:04:44] For the first time, the camera app lets users manually adjust shutter speed, focus, and white balance, though ISO still can't be changed, and the control icons are tiny and hard to hit
- [00:05:02] Stopping the aperture down to f/4 lets the blades produce sun stars in photos
- [00:05:20] Aperture adjusts automatically by default, sticking to f1.8 most of the time and opening to f1.48 only in low light
+ 4 more takeaways
- [00:05:58] iOS 27 adds AI editing tools called Reframe and Extend that change a photo's framing after capture by generating new image content to fill gaps
- [00:07:01] A new Reference Image mode preserves the original, unedited sensor capture so it can be cryptographically verified later, but it must be enabled in settings and only works with the main camera sensor
- [00:08:44] Updated AI focus tracking stays locked onto a subject even if they briefly leave the frame or someone steps in the way, though it can still be confused
- [00:10:19] Despite the new variable aperture, the reviewer kept switching back to the 4x telephoto lens simply because it was more fun to shoot with