Photographer Austin Mann Tests iPhone 18 Pro Camera [VIDEO]

Taking the new iPhone 18 Pro out to the remote Dunton River Camp in southwest Colorado, travel photographer Austin Mann put the new camera setup through a week of dark skies, close-up details, and harsh daylight.

The most talked-about hardware upgrade this year is the main camera’s new variable aperture. Opening up to a wider f/1.48, the lens lets in 50% more light compared to previous generations fixed at f/1.8.

Under the pitch-black new moon sky in Colorado, Mann captured sharp astrophotography of the Milky Way paired with a tractor lit only by a flashlight. Because the extra light gathering is handled purely by physical optics rather than heavier software processing, detail in dark scenes remains clean.

When closing down the aperture to f/1.8, f/2.8, or f/4.0, the physical blades create natural starburst patterns around direct light sources like the sun or night lights without relying on fake, rendered filter effects. Despite the shiny new hardware control, Mann notes that most users should simply leave the aperture set to Auto.

The phone intelligently switches to f/1.48 inside dark restaurants or opens wide for shallow background blur, while automatically closing down to higher f-stops outdoors to keep landscape scenes in focus. While the variable aperture steals headlines, the real shocker inside the iOS Camera app is a set of manual tools Apple barely mentioned on stage.

• Manual Focus & Focus Peaking: Photographers can now decouple focus from exposure control entirely. By setting focus manually using built-in focus peaking, you can tap elsewhere on the screen to set exposure independently. This removes one of the biggest reasons creatives turned to third-party camera applications.
• Focus Tracking: Double-tapping any object locks on with a tracking box. Whether capturing moving subjects or attempting close-up macro shots where wind shakes a flower out of the focal plane, focus tracking holds the subject tack-sharp.
• Manual Shutter Dragging: Dropping the shutter down to a 1/15th of a second creates natural motion blur in rushing water or sports without relying on fake Long Exposure software algorithms

Watch the full breakdown in Austin Mann’s iPhone 18 Pro review below and let us know what you think.