Apple’s new variable-aperture camera was a big talking point during the iPhone 18 Pro launch. But if you do tear it apart, it surprisingly looks even better. iFixit has torn down the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, giving us our first close look at the tiny mechanical iris inside Apple’s new 48MP Fusion Main camera.
Six overlapping blades physically open and close to change how much light reaches the sensor, all packed into roughly the same camera footprint Apple used last year. While the engineering is a work of art, it is also about as close to unrepairable as iFixit is willing to call something.
Six tiny blades leave almost no room for error
Apple says its aperture uses six laser-cut blades and a rotor mechanism, offering four manual settings ranging from f/1.48 to f/4. A wider opening lets in more light and creates a shallower depth of field, while closing it down can keep more of a scene in focus. iFixit’s teardown reveals just how small that mechanism really is. The blades overlap to maintain an almost circular opening and are moved magnetically.
iFixit could even make the aperture open and close simply by holding a magnet nearby after removing supporting hardware. Tolerances are extremely tight, with adhesive throughout the assembly. So even a bent blade or misplaced particle could interfere with operation. In the video, taking the aperture mechanism apart and successfully reassembling it is about as close to impossible as a repair gets without specialist tooling and expertise.
Thankfully, Apple made the whole camera replaceable
Surprisingly, modularity is the saving grace. If the aperture fails, you aren’t expected to repair those microscopic blades. The entire main-camera assembly can be removed and replaced relatively easily. Though this might hurt your wallet. Apple hasn’t released iPhone 18 Pro camera-part pricing yet, but iFixit notes that the iPhone 17 Pro camera assembly costs $249 and expects the more complex variable-aperture module to cost more.
Despite this issue, the phones still score a provisional 7/10 for repairability. A screwed-in battery tray and modular cameras earn points, although iFixit found a more worrying issue elsewhere. The plastic display frame cracked or separated on three of the four phones it opened, making screen-first repairs potentially risky. So Apple’s mechanical camera isn’t really unrepairable; it’s just insanely hard. It’s not surprising that Samsung and Google rank above it in repairability either.
