Apple unveils iPhone 18 Pro with variable aperture, A20 Pro chip

Apple has introduced the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, bringing a variable-aperture camera to the iPhone for the first time alongside the new A20 Pro chip, expanded artificial intelligence features, and a system designed to help verify the authenticity of photos.

The new Pro models feature a 48-megapixel Fusion Main camera equipped with six laser-cut aperture blades that can automatically adjust based on lighting and depth of field.

Users can also manually select from four aperture settings through the Camera app, giving photographers greater control over how images are captured.

Apple said the new camera sensor and computational imaging pipeline improve low-light performance and detail, while its new Pro controls allow users to manually adjust aperture, shutter speed and white balance and access a histogram for monitoring exposure.

The company also introduced Apple Reference Image, a new image-authenticity feature that uses the Main camera sensor to sign the data it captures.

When users take a photo in Reference mode, the device captures signed sensor data that is processed through Private Cloud Compute to create what Apple describes as an unalterable reference image.

The reference can then be viewed alongside the main photo in the Photos app, allowing users to visually compare the images and determine whether edits have been made.

Apple said image metadata and planned support for the SynthID standard could also help identify images generated or edited using AI. The company cited photojournalists and photographers among those who could benefit from the authenticity tools.

Powering the new phones is Apple’s A20 Pro chip, manufactured using a 2-nanometer process.

According to Apple, the chip has 50 percent more memory bandwidth than the A19 Pro and combines a six-core CPU with a seven-core GPU that delivers up to 40 percent faster graphics performance compared with its predecessor.

The A20 Pro also incorporates a Dual 16-core Neural Engine with 32 total cores, which Apple said provides twice the AI processing power of the A19 Pro for tasks including on-device AI and computational photography.

Apple paired the chip with a next-generation vapor chamber that has three times more surface area than the thermal system used in the iPhone 17 Pro. The company said the combination enables up to a 40 percent improvement in sustained performance.

The iPhone 18 Pro lineup also comes with Apple’s N1 wireless networking chip, supporting Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Thread. A new C2 cellular modem system is designed to improve cellular reliability and uploads while consuming 15 percent less energy than C1X.

On the software side, the devices ship with iOS 27 and support Siri AI, Apple’s new version of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence.

Siri AI is designed to use personal context from messages, emails, photos and other content, while onscreen awareness allows it to take actions based on information displayed on the device.

The redesigned Dynamic Island can meanwhile display as many as three Live Activities simultaneously.

Apple is also promising longer battery life. The company said eSIM-only versions can provide up to 36 hours of video playback on the iPhone 18 Pro and up to 45 hours on the iPhone 18 Pro Max.

The iPhone 18 Pro can reach up to 50 percent charge in around 15 minutes using wired charging, according to Apple.

Both models will be offered in black, silver, glacier and a new burgundy finish, with storage options ranging from 256GB to 2TB.

The iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199 in the United States, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max starts at $1,299.

Pre-orders are scheduled to begin on Sept. 12 in more than 65 countries and regions, with availability starting Sept. 18. Apple said another 20 countries and regions will receive the devices beginning Sept. 25.