New leak confirms variable aperture support for Apple's iPhone 18 Pro Max

While adding variable aperture to Apple's top-of-the-line iPhone is good news, the feature may make the device even more expensive.

Apple’s September product event is inching closer, at which the Cupertino-based tech giant is expected to pull back the curtain on the iPhone 18 Pro series and its first foldable iPhone. The latest rumors about the upcoming premium iPhone models hint at variable aperture support for the iPhone 18 Pro Max's main camera.

This isn’t the first time leakers have suggested that the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max will get a variable-aperture lens. However, this time, a deep dive into Apple’s leaked materials following the Tata Electronics data breach provides more details on the upcoming iPhones' camera specs.

According to Notebookcheck, the iPhone 18 Pro Max will feature a Sony IMX905 sensor in its main camera. The sensor will replace the IMX903 variant used on last year’s iPhone 17 Pro Max, while the pixel size remains 1.22 μm.

The ISP diagnostics log seemingly confirms variable aperture support for the iPhone 18 Pro Max's camera, and the feature is “backed by a calibration block that reads actuator data tied to the aperture mechanism from the sensor's non-volatile memory.” The log also suggests that the telephoto, ultrawide, and selfie cameras, as well as the LiDAR receiver on the iPhone 18 Pro Max remain unchanged from last year's model.

In addition to larger batteries, the variable aperture lens might be one of the few upgrades we see in Apple's iPhone 18 Pro series this September. The leaked images from the Tata Electronics files show that the iPhone design might remain unchanged, though the overall thickness might increase slightly to accommodate larger batteries.

The iPhone 18 Pro Max is Apple's most expensive model and is more likely to support variable aperture. It remains to be seen whether the feature will also come to the Pro model.

Meanwhile, previous reports suggest that adding variable aperture lenses to the 2026 iPhones won’t come cheap. The average selling price of variable-aperture lenses reportedly increased by 50% this year, which might impact the retail price of the iPhone 18 Pro series. After the recent price hikes for Macs and iPads, the upcoming iPhones could be next to become even more expensive.

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Posted Saturday 18 July 2026 at 7:17 am AEST (my time).

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