iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max: Variable aperture camera, A20 Pro chip, price from Rs 1,64,900
Apple has launched the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, and the most significant change sits inside the main camera. The new Pro models also get the 2nm A20 Pro chip, a larger vapour chamber, longer battery life, a smaller Dynamic Island and Siri AI, Apple’s all-new assistant that arrives with iOS 27. For the first time on an iPhone, the 48MP Fusion Main camera gets a variable aperture that physically controls how much light reaches the sensor.
Apple Reference Image helps iPhone 18 Pro users prove what the camera saw
Six laser-cut blades move the main camera between four apertures: f/1.48, f/1.8, f/2.8 and f/4.0. Built on a 2-nanometre process, the A20 Pro uses a 6-core CPU with two super cores and four efficiency cores. Its 7-core GPU is up to 40% faster than the A19 Pro’s, according to Apple. The Dual 16-core Neural Engine has 32 cores in total, giving the chip twice the AI compute of last year’s model, and memory bandwidth is up 50%. Both phones also get Apple’s C2 modem, which the company says improves cellular reliability while using 15% less energy. iOS 27 rolls out on September 14, bringing Siri AI in beta.
The camera switches automatically based on light and depth of field, or users can pick a setting themselves. In the new Reference mode, the main camera’s sensor signs the pixel data as the photo is taken. Apple’s Private Cloud Compute then develops it into a reference image that cannot be altered. This sits next to the regular photo in the Photos app, so users can compare the two and spot edits. The feature is opt-in and will not be available in China at launch. Apple also plans to add support for Google’s SynthID standard, which identifies AI-generated or AI-edited images, later this year. The new assistant can find information across messages, emails and photos, take action on what is on screen, and answer questions using online information. It can also draft text in the user’s own writing style in Messages and Mail, while a Siri mode in the Camera app answers questions about what is in front of the lens. Siri AI starts in English, with French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish coming in October.