The MacRumors Show
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PodcastThe MacRumors Show
Publisher/creatorThe MacRumors Show
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Photographer and videographer Tyler Stalman joins us on this week's episode of The MacRumors Show to examine whether the iPhone 18 Pro's camera is a compelling reason to upgrade, how its new features affect everyday shooting, and what photographers gain or give up with the iPhone Duo.
The iPhone 18 Pro's Main camera combines a new 48-megapixel sensor, a faster variable-aperture lens, and updated image processing. The variable aperture offers settings of ƒ/1.48, ƒ/1.8, ƒ/2.8, and ƒ/4.0. The iPhone 17 Pro has a fixed ƒ/1.78 aperture, so the new lens's widest setting admits about 45% more light on aperture values alone, or just over half an exposure stop. Apple claims around 50% better low-light performance for the complete Main camera system.
At ƒ/2.8 or ƒ/4.0, people standing at different distances in a group shot can remain sharper, provided there is enough light to compensate for the smaller opening. A narrower aperture can also let video use a slower shutter speed in bright conditions, producing more natural motion blur. At ƒ/1.48, the camera has more light for indoor photos and potentially shorter Night mode exposures. The wider opening should also reduce the need for Night mode at all in some situations. The camera defaults to ƒ/1.8, close to the 17 Pro's fixed aperture, but the new sensor and processing still affect photos taken at that setting.
The Pro Controls add manual aperture, shutter speed, and white balance adjustments, plus a live histogram directly in the native Camera app. Users can pin their most-used settings to the top of the viewfinder, which is a major practical improvement for professionals. For example, shutter speed offers control over frozen action or intentional motion blur, while white balance can help stop greenery being made too blue by automatic settings or maintain a consistent look between video clips.
Photographic Styles 3 goes further with the ability to adjust tone and color while preserving skin tones, and new controls add Soft Skin, Glow, and Film textures, with grain that can be paired with any of them. The Film setting aims to reproduce more of an analog photograph's character, including its grain and the glow around bright highlights. The strength of the effects can be adjusted, and the style can be changed after capture. Tyler has tested the iPhone 18 Pro's film look against a film SLR loaded with Kodak Portra 400.
Apple Reference Image signs data from the iPhone 18 Pro's new Main camera sensor at capture, creating a secure digital negative that can be compared with an editable photo. Meanwhile, iOS 27's Photos tools can change perspective with Reframe, generate scenery beyond a picture's original edges with Extend, or remove larger objects with Clean Up. Reference Image leaves room for creative editing while giving photographers a way to show what the sensor captured, provided they enabled the mode before taking the shot.
Meanwhile, the iPhone Duo's camera system has a 48-megapixel Main camera with a fixed ƒ/1.6 aperture and the same 48-megapixel Ultra Wide camera as the iPhone 18 Pro. Its Main camera shares a 26mm focal length, ƒ/1.6 aperture, and Hybrid Focus Pixels with the iPhone 17e, leading some to question why Apple's most expensive iPhone appears to have camera hardware similar to an entry-level model. That being said, the Duo has sensor-shift optical image stabilization, which the 17e lacks, and Apple has not disclosed enough sensor details to establish that the two phones use identical hardware.
Compared with the iPhone 18 Pro, the iPhone Duo also lacks a dedicated Telephoto lens, variable aperture, manual Pro Controls, Reference Image, and professional formats including ProRAW and ProRes. The iPhone Duo's folding design makes a different case for its camera. Smart Take can capture a group photo when everyone is posing, Kid Cue plays animations on the outer display to draw a child's attention, and Duo Preview lets subjects see a live view of a photo being taken of them with the rear camera. The phone can also stand partly open for hands-free shots.
Looking to the future, Apple is rumored to be working on a custom image sensor that could arrive as soon as next yearwith the 20th-anniversary iPhone.
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Episode summary
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Welcome back to The MacRumors Show. Tyler Stalman is with us from France, traveling with the iPhone 18 Pro. Let’s get straight into whether the camera is really the whole story this year.
France is beautiful, so I’m happy—it still feels like summer. And no, the camera isn’t the only upgrade. The larger vapor chamber is a quiet, meaningful change: cooling affects photo and video constantly, and the jump from 17 Pro feels substantial after how hot the 16 Pro could get.
Apple made variable aperture the headline while the vapor chamber barely got attention. Is this a transformative camera year, or just the most visible new hardware to sell?
I let keynote framing fade away. The more consequential change is the faster main lens, roughly half a stop brighter. Variable aperture makes sense because bigger sensors and faster glass can get soft wide open; now the phone can stop down when more of the scene needs to be sharp.
For somebody who doesn’t live in camera settings, when is aperture control useful?
Auto mode is the win. You shouldn’t have to learn aperture for a good photo. I’ll override it for a starburst from stage lights—at a Céline Dion show in Paris, the new blades made a fun sparkle—but mostly it chooses well. Aperture is about regulating light, not just blur.
For annual upgraders, that still sounds subtle. Do they know what they’re getting from a 17 Pro to an 18 Pro?
I’d call it an S-year: solid movement toward where Apple is going, but your first side-by-side won’t scream. Older-phone owners have better reasons: Siri, the faster chip, and new AI tools. Main-camera gains show indoors—less noise, better color, more natural blur, and less need for Night mode in restaurants or bars.
The pro controls are great, though the options shelf is crowded. White balance is what I’ve wanted forever. In a green forest, I can preserve warmth and green; indoors, I can keep tungsten warmth instead of that clinical white. For commercial work, we’ll still use Blackmagic Camera to lock every variable down, but Apple’s app is a better travel and normal-life default for more people.
I enjoyed the new photographic styles in New York, especially at night. Apple starts aggressive, but pulling them back gave me great grain and texture. Is that heresy?
No. Apple did film texture surprisingly well: halation and grain feel convincing, though I want a grain slider and the color and sharpening aren’t truly film-like. Reframe, Extend, and object removal work well, but Extend can invent part of a scene. I’m glad Apple can mark sensor-level, minimally processed captures as evidence; ordinary people should be able to find and use that verification more easily.
And the iPhone Duo: fatal camera compromise, or something that won’t matter?
I need proper testing, but both can be true: it won’t match the Pro, and it may be ideal for some creators. Opening it lets the subject see themselves, which may matter more than exact specs—the ultimate Instagram-husband tool. I’d miss telephoto for travel and distance, but people usually know whether they rely on it.
If my wife can see the screen, fix what she wants, and we avoid an argument, I do not care which module is in there. Get the Duo, enjoy yourself—just don’t beat me to the preorder.
I want larger sensors across every lens and much faster ultra-wide and telephoto optics. Maybe the answer is a true Ultra that’s thick as a brick. I’d be into that. Thanks for having me—subscribe to Full Step Creator if creative tech and using it well is your thing.
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