Apple is planning a huge camera improvement, but it may not come until 2026.
According to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the company is planning to incorporate a variable aperture main camera into the iPhone 18 Pro series.
That was not a typo: we’re talking about the iPhone 18 Pro, which is expected to debut in 2026. Yes, we understand it is far in the future, but Kuo obtains his information from Apple’s supply chain, and the corporation frequently plans this far ahead.
Kuo’s piece focuses on the probable suppliers of the new camera, which he believes will be Sunny Optical, Largan Precision, and Luxshare.
Notably, an earlier rumor from The Information said that Apple would introduce the variable aperture camera to the iPhone in 2025, but the introduction looks to have been postponed by a year.
The variable aperture main camera should increase performance in low light by allowing the camera to alter how much light hits the lens. It may also improve portrait mode, as variable aperture allows for more exact depth of field adjustment.
While we’ll have to wait two years for an Apple phone with this technology, phones with variable aperture cameras are already available on the market. One example is the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, which was presented (as a worldwide product) at the Mobile World Congress in February of this year.
Source: Apple Is Planning A Massive iPhone Camera Upgrade, But It Won’t Come Soon
