Skipped the iPhone 17 Pro? Here's What is Rumored for iPhone 18 Pro

[MacRumors]

While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are still a year away, there are already a few rumors about the devices that offer an early look ahead.

Below, we have recapped some of the early iPhone 18 Pro rumors so far. This story was published previously, and it has been updated to reflect the latest rumors.

Many early rumors prove to be true, but nothing is confirmed yet, and Apple's plans can change.

Smaller Dynamic Island

The standard iPhone 18, iPhone 18 Pro, and iPhone 18 Pro Max will be equipped with a slightly smaller Dynamic Island, but the devices will not feature under-screen Face ID, according to the Weibo account Instant Digital.

There were conflicting rumors about whether the iPhone 17 Pro models would have a smaller Dynamic Island, but its size did not change. Now, the rumor is back on the table for the iPhone 18 series, and there is a decent chance it will be true this time around, as it would be a stepping stone towards the rumored 20th-anniversary all-glass iPhone.

Under-screen Face ID, however, is no longer expected until the iPhone 19 Pro models or later.

Instant Digital has around 1.5 million followers on Weibo, a popular Chinese social media platform. The account has accurately leaked information about future Apple products in the past, such as the iPhone 17 Pro models featuring a vapor chamber cooling system, the Yellow finish for the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus, and the Apple Watch Ultra 2's Titanium Milanese Loop. However, the account does not have a perfect track record, and some of the other iPhone 17 rumors it shared in recent months did not materialize.

'Translucent' MagSafe Area

Overall, the iPhone 18 Pro models will feature a similar design as the iPhone 17 Pro models, according to Digital Chat Station, a previously-accurate leaker with more than three million followers on Chinese social media platform Weibo.

The leaker said the devices will have the same rear camera system design as the iPhone 17 Pro models, with a "plateau" housing three lenses in a triangular arrangement. They also expect the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max to have the same 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch display sizes used since the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Notably, the leaker claimed that the Ceramic Shield area on the back of the iPhone 18 Pro models will feature a "slightly transparent design," without elaborating.

Perhaps this just means the Ceramic Shield cutout on the back of the iPhone 18 Pro models will have a more frosted appearance than it does on the iPhone 17 Pro models, but we will have to wait for additional rumors to surface for clarification.

Variable Aperture

The main 48-megapixel Fusion camera on both iPhone 18 Pro models will offer variable aperture, according to supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

With variable aperture, users would be able to control the amount of light that passes through the camera's lens and reaches the sensor. The main cameras on all of the iPhone 14 Pro through iPhone 17 Pro models have a fixed aperture of ƒ/1.78, and the lens is always fully open and shooting with this widest aperture. With the iPhone 18 Pro models, users would be able to manually change the aperture, according to this rumor.

A variable aperture on iPhone 18 Pro models should provide users with greater control over depth of field, which refers to how sharp a subject appears in the foreground compared to the background. However, given that iPhones have smaller image sensors due to size constraints, it is unclear exactly how meaningful this improvement would be.

None of the iPhone 17 Pro cameras offer variable aperture.

Other Rumors

• A20 Pro chip fabricated with TSMC's latest 2nm process, for more significant year-over-year performance improvements
• Apple's custom-designed C2 modem, with mmWave 5G support in the United States
• A redesigned Camera Control button, with a focus on pressure-sensitive controls, rather than swipe gestures

Read our iPhone 18 roundup for more information.

Article Link: Skipped the iPhone 17 Pro? Here's What is Rumored for iPhone 18 Pro

 

[cocky jeremy]

Just give us the largest camera sensor possible and I'm good.

 

[FoxyKaye]

I'm really hoping to get three years out of my 16 Pro and make it to the finish line of the fully-disappeared Dynamic Island.

 

[jz0309]

Boring, better to wait for the 19Pro, that’ll be so much better

 

[N0ughtsAndCr0sses]

Too soon, MR, too soon. 😋🤌🏻

 

[JoshuaBru]

Can someone explain to me the benefits of a variable aperture? It sounds like it would benefit pro type users who dial in settings and know what they’re doing
when shooting. But for the everyday point and shoot how’s this going to improve photos?

 

[StuBeck]

Is this just a repost of last weeks article?

 

[sully54]

I’d like them to go back to a fully glass back. This is the worst design in the iPhone’s history.

 

[Finalcountdown]

The smaller dynamic island is interesting. I assume it will be smaller when not in use, but will expand as needed when displaying information? Honestly, the dynamic island is really useful, so I’d prefer not to mess it up lol.

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

You have got to be kidding me?

😀

 

[jz0309]

You have got to be kidding me?

😀

Nah, time to return our 17PMs my friend

 

[jonnysods]

Boring, better to wait for the 19Pro, that’ll be so much better

As if, the 19 will be nothing compared to the 21, when it comes out it's going to best iPhone ever!

 

[MacLoveMacHate]

Can someone explain to me the benefits of a variable aperture? It sounds like it would benefit pro type users who dial in settings and know what they’re doing
when shooting. But for the everyday point and shoot how’s this going to improve photos?

Sounds like a “we can so we will“ addition. With such tiny components, this should only make a noticeable difference on full size cameras. I'm all for new camera tech, but this one feels questionable

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

As if, the 19 will be nothing compared to the 21, when it comes out it's going to best iPhone ever!

Erm … 25, if you please!

😉

 

[winxmac]

Can someone explain to me the benefits of a variable aperture? It sounds like it would benefit pro type users who dial in settings and know what they’re doing
when shooting. But for the everyday point and shoot how’s this going to improve photos?

 

[JohnLuke]

I’d like them to go back to a fully glass back. This is the worst design in the iPhone’s history.

And the stainless steel frame

 

[alexandr]

I'm really hoping to get three years out of my 16 Pro and make it to the finish line of the fully-disappeared Dynamic Island.

100% with you. It's quite frustrating that both 17 and 18 are in some ways stalling for the 20th anniversary model, but at this point it seems pretty apparent.

 

[mrbyu]

Can someone explain to me the benefits of a variable aperture? It sounds like it would benefit pro type users who dial in settings and know what they’re doing
when shooting. But for the everyday point and shoot how’s this going to improve photos?

I mean, you said it yourself. This is a very useful feature for those who know exactly what they’re doing, hence the name "Pro." Or are you actually curious about the use cases of a variable aperture? Without going into much detail, it lets you take well-exposed photos with a fixed shutter speed. (Normally the iPhone automatically adjusts the shutter speed to achieve proper exposure, which may or may not suit your artistic intent.) It gives you creative control, basically. For example, you can deliberately blur motion or freeze action. Or with a wide aperture, the depth of field (DOF) becomes shallower, which lets you take photos with true optical bokeh in the background. That's something the current iPhone can only do via a software trick in portrait mode, and while it's quite smart, it's nowhere near as nice as the real thing.

 

[jonnysods]

Erm … 25, if you please!

😉

By the time iPhone 25 comes out, the camera bump is going to be the entirety of the device, its growing like a tumor!

 

[robertmorris2]

really wants to make you not want to buy an iphone ever....just wait , just wait, just w a i t....j u s t wa it.....

 

[trusso]

Skipped? As if there wasn’t a whole year left to buy this phone?

 

[hmbtnguy]

Can someone explain to me the benefits of a variable aperture? It sounds like it would benefit pro type users who dial in settings and know what they’re doing
when shooting. But for the everyday point and shoot how’s this going to improve photos?

The real benefit is for video.

Right now, the only automatic way to compensate for the fixed aperture in a bright outdoors scene is to crank the shutter speed since the ISO is already at the lowest setting. This causes the "home video" look as you generally want your shutter speed to be 1/(2x framerate) or 180 degree shutter angle for cinematic and natural looking motion blur. It's why outdoor iPhone videos currently look choppy since every individual frame is capturing something that looks like a picture frozen in time.

This would be a huge boon for creatives as the only way to currently lock shutter speed is with the use of external ND filters. You would probably still need them for extreme cases, but a variable aperture can help greatly reduce this need.

When it comes to photos on the iPhone, a variable aperture won't change much considering how small the sensor is and the lack of bokeh/shallow depth of field.

tl;dr: Variable aperture on the iPhone would mainly only be useful for video and not photography.

 

[Kay_Ess]

I just hope it won’t be **** ugly.

 

[Elusi]

Tbh the way they headed with the Pro this year means for me it's not about "skipping" a year. I think I'm just done with the "Pro". It offers almost nothing but excess bulk to me and my use-cases now.

Luckily that's not a bad thing. It means I can get by with a cheaper series of iphones.

 

[Tilli85]

Variable aperture does not make really sense. On bigger (normal) cameras, there are a couple of reasons to not shoot with smallest f-number (i. e. wide open):

• Increased depth of field (the sensor on the iPhone is so small that pretty much everything is in focus except your subject is very close)
• Forced slower shutter speed (it does not really make sense to to have long exposures on bright conditions on the iPhone, especially since it has a pretty good software long exposures feature with Live Photo)
• Sun stars (not really applicable here as well)