Adjustable bezel: This is believed to be a feature only on the iPhone 18 Pro

In a future iPhone generation, it will be possible to adjust the aperture of one of the camera modules for the first time. This prediction has been made by renowned Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of TF International Securities. However, according to him, it will take a while: the plan is reportedly Only with iPhone 18 Pro Implemented, scheduled to appear in 2026.

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No fixed aperture anymore?

Kuo mentioned the innovation in a report to investors about potential suppliers of components. The innovation is planned for the wide-angle camera on the back of the iPhone 18 Pro – that is, the main camera with ultra-wide-angle and telephoto. Apple is currently using a fixed aperture of f/1.78 on the iPhone 16 Pro (as well as its predecessors the 14 Pro and 15 Pro). The ultra wide-angle camera is at f/2.2 and the telephoto is at f/2.8.

Kuo has not mentioned here in which areas the iPhone 18 Pro will be transformative. According to him, the adaptability should lead to a “much better user experience in photography”. In practice, an adjustable aperture means that the main camera can be better adapted to different lighting conditions. Bokeh, i.e. background blur or depth of field, can also be better controlled – optionally and even without using computational photography such as Apple’s Portrait mode.

Three suppliers have already been found

Kuo claims that the aperture and necessary mini lenses coming from Sunny Optical and Largan, or Luxshare should help as well. Sunny Optical already has experience in this area for Android customers and can potentially make comparatively faster deliveries for Apple.

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The idea of ​​an adjustable mechanical bezel was originally speculated for the iPhone 17 Pro. Over the summer, American news service The Information reported on related plans. As it turns out, Apple apparently needed a little more time to implement this. However, given the size of the image sensor and optics, it cannot be expected that the aperture will be very variable. However, this can be compensated for with computational photography.

(B.Sc.)