Apple finally included a telephoto lens in its iPhone 15 Pro Max last year, with the upgrade extended to the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. This is just one of the many examples of how the Cupertino firm adopts various standards much later than the competition, likely because it wants to offer the best configuration to customers. One other technology that the company is said to bring for the iPhone 18 that rivals like Samsung introduced years ago is variable aperture for the main camera, and according to one analyst, another supplier will provide these parts.
Sunny Optical is said to be Apple’s primary supplier for the variable aperture lens found in the iPhone 18’s main camera
Samsung, Apple’s biggest rival in the smartphone, launched its variable aperture technology for the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus in 2018, but the optical upgrade did not give it a major edge in the competition, which could be the reason why the Korean abandoned this lens for future models. According to Ming-Chi Kuo, in his latest Medium blog post, Apple will bring variable aperture technology to the iPhone 18 in 2026, with Sunny Optical being the primary supplier thanks to its vast experience designing and manufacturing the same parts for Android smartphones.
“One major upgrade for the 2026 high-end iPhone 18 is the wide-camera lens upgrading to a variable aperture camera, significantly enhancing the user photography experience. My latest industry survey indicates Sunny Optical will be the primary shutter supplier (with Luxshare as secondary) and the second…
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