Apple is working on a major upgrade for the iPhone camera, though it won't be available anytime soon.
Think about 2026.
Apple is planning a significant upgrade to the main camera of its future iPhone models, specifically the iPhone 18 Pro, although these changes are not expected until 2026. According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the company is developing a camera with a variable aperture for this upcoming series of smartphones. Although this may seem a distant prospect, Kuo has access to information from Apple’s supply chain, allowing him to anticipate these moves well in advance.
In his analysis, Kuo highlights that potential suppliers for this new camera technology could be Sunny Optical, Largan Precision, and Luxshare. It is worth mentioning that a previous report had suggested the variable aperture camera could launch in 2025, but it now appears that this release has been delayed by a year.
For users, the addition of a main camera with a variable aperture should result in noticeable improvements. This technology promises better performance in low-light conditions by allowing more precise control over the amount of light entering the lens. Furthermore, the portrait mode is also expected to benefit, as the variable aperture could provide better control over depth of field.
While the arrival of this technology in Apple’s phones is still a couple of years away, there are already phones on the market that include variable aperture cameras, such as the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, which was launched as a global device at the Mobile World Congress held in February of this year.
