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Much of this week’s talk about Apple’s new releases centers on the brand’s first foldable—the iPhone Duo. But as a practical individual, I imagine a lot more consumers will be looking at the iPhone 18 Pro series and pondering whether there’s enough new hardware to justify the price hikes.

While there are some key tweaks to processing power and new camera software tools, the iPhone’s latest innovation is a return to variable-aperture technology, ranging from f/1.48 to f/4, that Android rivals trialed and abandoned years ago. If this is seriously the best Apple can do to catch up with China’s best camera phones, I can’t see serious photographers like myself rushing to switch to the iPhone 18 Pro or Pro Max.