Samsung Planning to Follow iPhone 18 Pro's Variable Aperture Camera

Monday February 9, 2026 7:43 am PST by Hartley Charlton

Samsung is planning to follow Apple in adding a variable aperture to its smartphone cameras, Korea's ET News reports.

samsung galaxy s25 purple
A variable aperture allows the camera to adjust the amount of light that reaches the sensor. This means that in dark environments, the aperture can be opened to receive more light, while in light environments, it can be closed to prevent over-exposure. It also should provide users with greater control over depth of field, which refers to how sharp a subject appears in the foreground compared to the background.

The iPhone 18 Pro and ‌iPhone 18‌ Pro Max are now widely expected to feature an upgraded main camera with a variable aperture. In December 2024, Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo was first to say that that the main rear camera on both ‌iPhone 18‌ Pro models will offer variable aperture. A more recent report from October 2025 said Apple was moving ahead with plans to bring the technology to next-generation iPhones and was discussing components with suppliers.

Apple has never used a variable aperture on an iPhone camera before. The main cameras on all of the ‌iPhone‌ 14 Pro through iPhone 17 Pro models have a fixed aperture of ƒ/1.78, and the lens is always fully open and shooting with this aperture. Samsung Electronics previously brought a variable aperture camera to its Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S10 models in 2018 and 2019, but due to increased thickness and high price, it dropped the feature in 2020.

In light of Apple's plans, Samsung has reportedly asked multiple camera module partners to develop variable apertures and provide samples. The feature is in early development and final installation has not yet been confirmed, but there is said to be a "strong will" to introduce it.

Samsung apparently sees adding a variable aperture as "necessary to increase camera competitiveness," replacing software correction with physical hardware. The company hopes that in investing in variable aperture camera technology, thickness can be reduced and costs will reduce over time. Apple's first variable aperture camera is expected to arrive in the ‌iPhone 18‌ Pro models in the fall.

Tags: ETNews, Samsung

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Top Rated Comments

840quadra

5 hours ago at 07:50 am

Both to follow decades of small pocket digital cameras.

Happy for this to happen, but nobody really has lead here as I believe some of the Chinese phones already have this feature, as well as (may be wrong) some older legacy Android phones from manufacturers not on the scene as much today.

EDIT

SAMSUNG was already first!

https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/how-samsung-galaxy-s9-variable-aperture-camera-works-mwc-2018/

Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)

macfacts

5 hours ago at 08:06 am

Is it necessary to state the obvious?

apple isn't getting a patent on this variable aperture, meaning they aren't the first to use it.

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

sw1tcher

4 hours ago at 08:30 am

Samsung is planning to follow Apple in adding a variable aperture to its smartphone cameras, Korea's ET News ('https://www.etnews.com/20260209000238') reports.

EDIT

SAMSUNG was already first!

https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/how-samsung-galaxy-s9-variable-aperture-camera-works-mwc-2018/

You note that Samsung had a variable aperature camera on one of their smartphones a long time ago (8 years ago), but the article still states that "Samsung is planning to follow Apple in adding a variable aperature to its smartphone cameras."

Article and title should be corrected to state that Samsung is following Samsung since they were technically first. If anything, Apple is the one who's following Samsung.

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

840quadra

4 hours ago at 09:00 am

Of course they are. Of course. No ideas from Samesung.

Samsung already had this in 2018.

To be fair, the invention is actually from the 1800s as CNET explains

https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/how-samsung-galaxy-s9-variable-aperture-camera-works-mwc-2018/

Samsung had a dual aperture, so while it had two settings I wouldn’t call it “variable”. DPReview tested it and stated it had “dubious real-world benefit” with little change between them besides light sensitivity.

If you saw the blades operating you’d see it was just two halves that popped in front of the lens as opposed to the usual blades in a regular camera lens.

We don’t know what Apple might do, but I sure hope it’s not a gimmick like the Samsung version.

You are not wrong, however Regardless of our opinion, it changed with blades ( even if only locked to 2 F-stops), the fact of overall usefulness is irrelevant.

I am not saying it was a great system, only that it had been done previously.

Personally and professionally I shoot with mirrorless or portable cameras with low noise and 1" sensors. The capability of phones is quite good and I do actually get production keepers from them, but prefer the better optics, larger sensors and customization of specific gear.

I honestly don’t understand taking a really small lens & & CMOS and shrinking the lens even further, the loss of light… it makes no sense to me when Apple is already able to do everything in software. I guess if you want to take a picture of the sun mid day, that’ll help. ?

Provides the ability to take longer exposure in brighter situations.

There are photographic styles that prefer that situation. Personally I prefer in some situations as shots look less artificial due to the longer exposure providing more data to the sensor.

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)