The iPhone 18 Pro camera is already years behind 2026 Android phones

Much of this week’s talk about Apple’s new releases centers on the brand’s first foldable—the iPhone Duo. But as a practical individual, I imagine a lot more consumers will be looking at the iPhone 18 Pro series and pondering whether there’s enough new hardware to justify the price hikes.

While there are some key tweaks to processing power and new camera software tools, the iPhone’s latest innovation is a return to variable-aperture technology, ranging from f/1.48 to f/4, that Android rivals trialed and abandoned years ago. If this is seriously the best Apple can do to catch up with China’s best camera phones, I can’t see serious photographers like myself rushing to switch to the iPhone 18 Pro or Pro Max.

Variable aperture is hardly an innovation

In theory, a variable aperture gives smartphone photographers another useful way to control exposure and depth of field. Opening the aperture lets more light reach the sensor, potentially allowing for faster shutter speeds or lower ISO settings, while stopping it down can reduce bokeh and keep more of a scene in focus. That’s particularly useful for close-up and macro photography, where smartphone cameras can otherwise produce more blur than you’d want.

The problem is that these benefits are heavily constrained by sensor size. The iPhone 18 Pro Max’s 1/1.28-inch main sensor is reasonably large by smartphone standards, but it still falls well short of the sensors found in dedicated APS-C and full-frame cameras.

That doesn’t make the aperture irrelevant. The wider f/1.48 setting should provide a low-light advantage over last year’s slightly narrower f/1.8 fixed aperture, potentially reducing the need for higher ISO settings or slower shutter speeds. But the relatively small sensor remains a fundamental constraint on the iPhone’s overall light-gathering capability and image quality compared with larger-sensor cameras.

The same limitation applies to depth of field. The small sensor is paired with a very wide 24mm-equivalent focal length, which naturally produces a relatively deep depth of field and limits the amount of optical background blur. Stopping down the aperture can reduce bokeh and improve the amount of a close subject that’s in focus, but the creative effect is far more subtle than changing the aperture on a larger-sensor camera. At moderate shooting distances, the difference is likely to be difficult to exploit creatively.

In other words, Apple’s variable aperture is a useful addition, but it’s hardly a revolutionary one. The wider f/1.48 setting offers practical benefits, while the ability to stop down to f/2.8 or f/4 is more of a niche feature for photographers seeking greater depth of field or finer exposure control when shooting RAW. For everyday photography, I doubt it’ll be the feature that suddenly transforms the iPhone camera experience.

The competition is moving on (quickly)

The problem, then, isn’t that Apple’s variable aperture is bad technology. It’s that Apple’s broader camera package is comparatively conservative while competitors are increasing sensor size, optical reach, and multi-camera capabilities.

The iPhone 18 Pro’s main camera still uses a 48MP, 1/1.28-inch sensor similar to the iPhone 14 Pro Max, albeit with subsequent improvements to the surrounding hardware and processing. The 48MP ultrawide arrived with the iPhone 16 Pro, but it still uses a relatively small 1/2.55-inch sensor, a size that Apple has stuck with for its ultrawide camera since the iPhone 14 series. The 48MP telephoto lens is the newest model, appearing in last year’s iPhone 17 Pro, but even that is still a compact 1/2.55-inch format that struggles in dim light.

My point is that the iPhone’s actual hardware setup is starting to age, and some of it rather poorly. But innovation in the mobile photography space is far from dead — you only have to look at China’s newest models to see that.

Take this year’s hugely impressive OPPO Find X9 Ultra, vivo X300 Ultra, and Xiaomi 17 Ultra. This trio has blown the lid off previously limited telephoto capabilities, adopting 200MP telephoto sensors as large as the iPhone’s 1/1.28-inch main camera.

The results speak for themselves: these phones offer class-leading portrait capture capabilities, thanks to a combination of flattering 70mm-equivalent focal lengths, large sensors, and wide apertures. At the same time, the high megapixel count gives these telephoto cameras enough resolution to produce useful 6x-to-12x cropped zoom without requiring a second periscope camera.

Rumor has it that these brands are about to push the boat even further. The upcoming OPPO Find X10 Pro Max is reported to sport three huge 200MP sensors, along with innovative DeepPix HDR technology. I don’t think I need to tell you what a boon that could be for shooting flexibility, particularly for videographers looking to capture ultra-high-quality footage across every lens.

Likewise, reports suggest best-in-class camera technology is set to become (slightly) more affordable. The upcoming vivo X500 is expected to sport much of the same high-end camera tech as the vivo X500 Pro, including up to 17 stops of dynamic range and telephoto extender support.

For me, the best mobile cameras combine flexibility and quality without compromise. This year’s Ultra phones from China have redefined versatility, pairing powerhouse hardware across three and even four cameras. Meanwhile, the iPhone 18 Pro adds a small measure of extra flexibility to its main camera while neglecting the equally important ultrawide and long-range capabilities.

That’s the bigger problem for Apple: variable aperture is a nice addition, but it doesn’t address the areas where the competition is making the biggest strides.

The big three need to do better

In fairness to Apple, it’s not the only major player failing to make a strong impression on the minds of the most discerning mobile photographers. Google and Samsung have also been relatively conservative with camera hardware. Both continue to rely on older technology in key cameras, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to ignore how aggressively China’s best camera phones are pulling ahead in areas such as sensor size, telephoto hardware, and shooting flexibility.

Instead, Apple and its closest rivals have doubled down on software features. The Pixel 11’s new Color Looks feature just echoes Apple’s successful Photographic Styles. The iPhone 17 is finally catching up to the competition with Pro Controls for finer manual adjustments. All nice to have, but these are complementary features to brilliant hardware; they can’t compensate for shortcomings in the hardware itself.

In many ways, it feels like the iPhone (and other brands) are relying on past successes to support increasingly mediocre improvements. Right or wrong, Apple is still perceived to have one of the best camera packages in the business, and this new aperture technology might help fans overlook the iPhone’s continually dodgy yellow color palette and overprocessed low-light pictures that I’d rather it fix.

With the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max costing $1,399 and $1,499, respectively, for the 512GB models, we’re well into Ultra-flagship territory anyway. I know what I’d pick when looking for the best smartphone cameras money can buy. What about you?