iPhone 18 Pro Max Camera Samples Gallery

The main camera. It has a new 48MP sensor and a variable aperture with four settings: f/1.48, f/1.8, f/2.8, and f/4. That’s a first for iPhone. Apple also added Pro controls to the Camera app, texture and grain controls in Photographic Styles, and an authenticity feature called Apple Reference Image. The ultra wide, 4x telephoto, and 18MP front camera are the same hardware as the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

By default, the phone picks the aperture for you. It opens up to f/1.48 when the light drops and narrows toward f/4 when it needs more depth of field, like a group shot where you want the back row sharp. You can also choose any of the four settings yourself with Pro controls. In practice you get a little more light at night, since f/1.48 is about half a stop brighter than the f/1.78 lens on the 17 Pro Max, and more of the scene in focus when you stop down.

Not like a full-frame camera with a fast lens. The sensor is still small, so in full-frame terms the four apertures work out to roughly f/5 through f/14 for depth of field. Wide open at f/1.48, you do get a bit more natural background blur than older iPhones when your subject is close. For real separation, you’re still using Portrait mode or a dedicated camera.

No. The telephoto is the same 48MP camera from the 17 Pro Max: 4x at 100mm, an 8x optical-quality crop at 200mm, and digital zoom up to 40x. The ultra wide didn’t change either. If more reach is what you’re after, this isn’t the upgrade that gives it to you.

Pro controls put manual settings right in Apple’s Camera app: aperture, shutter speed, white balance, and a histogram so you can check exposure while you shoot. They work for both photos and video. Third-party camera apps have offered manual shutter and white balance for years, but having it in the built-in app, with real aperture control, is new. Slowing the shutter down for motion blur is now something you can do without leaving the stock camera.

It’s an opt-in feature for proving a photo is real. When you shoot in the new Reference mode, the main camera’s sensor signs the data it captures, and Apple’s Private Cloud Compute turns that into a reference image that can’t be altered. It sits next to your photo in the Photos app, like a digital negative, so you can compare the two and see whether anything was edited. It only works with the main camera, and it isn’t available in every region at launch.

Cinematic mode now goes up to 4K at 60 fps, and you can apply Cinematic effects after the fact to video shot at up to 60 fps. Time-lapse records in 4K Dolby Vision, Audio Mix can now isolate music, and Pro controls work while you record. Last year’s pro features are all still here: 4K 120 fps Dolby Vision, ProRes RAW, Apple Log 2, and Genlock. The variable aperture helps a little. Stopping down to f/4 lets you run a slower shutter in shade or overcast light, but in full sun you’ll still need an ND filter to shoot 24 fps at 1/50. Apple also rebuilt the vapor chamber with three times the surface area and says sustained performance is up to 40% better, which is the number to watch if you record long takes.

Apple rates it at up to 45 hours of video playback and up to 30 hours of typical use. Those numbers are for the eSIM-only model, which is what’s sold in the U.S. The 17 Pro Max was rated at 39 hours, so that’s six more hours on paper, and Apple calls it the biggest battery life jump ever on an iPhone. Charging is faster too. With a compatible 60W adapter, it gets to 50% in about 15 minutes, and five minutes plugged in gets you around seven hours of video playback.

It starts at $1,299 for 256GB, with 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB options. That’s $100 more than the 17 Pro Max’s starting price. It comes in black, silver, glacier, and burgundy.

For most people, I’d hold off. The ultra wide, telephoto, front camera, and screen are the same, and outside of a smaller Dynamic Island, the design barely changed. What you’re paying for is the variable aperture, Pro controls, Reference Image, the A20 Pro chip, better cooling, and more battery. It’s also a little heavier at 8.78 oz, up from 8.22 oz. If you shoot a lot in low light, want manual control in the stock camera, or your battery doesn’t make it through the day, the upgrade makes sense. Some of the new iOS 27 editing tools, like Extend, also work on the 17 Pro Max. You can compare for yourself with my iPhone 17 Pro Max gallery.

That’s a much easier yes. Coming from a 16 Pro Max, you get a 48MP telephoto with a sensor over 50% larger than the one you have now, the 8x optical-quality zoom, the 18MP Center Stage front camera, and video features like ProRes RAW, Apple Log 2, and Genlock, on top of everything new this year. You do go from 5x to 4x, but 4x closes the gap between the main and telephoto cameras, and 8x covers you when you need more reach. From a 15 Pro Max, you also pick up the 48MP ultra wide and the Camera Control button. The battery jump is bigger too. Apple rated the 16 Pro Max at 33 hours of video playback and the 15 Pro Max at 29.