The iPhone 16 is not yet upon us, but that hasn’t stopped rumors flying about what the iPhone 17 could be packing when it arrives in 2025. The latest report suggests that Apple’s future phone could boast an almighty upgrade to its camera tech that would specifically benefit Apple’s already impressive Portrait mode.
That idea comes from The Information (via MacRumors), with a new report claiming that Apple is planning a camera with a mechanical aperture for at least one device in the iPhone 17 roster. That would be a major departure from the lens system used in every iPhone so far.
With the new mechanical system, you’d be able to adjust the size of your iPhone’s aperture, thereby tweaking how much light reaches the sensor when you take a picture. This in turn can affect an image’s depth of field – that is, which parts of the image are in focus and which are blurred – which is what helps give Portrait mode shots their unique quality.
This would presumably give you far more control over how your Portrait mode shots look, and it might also result in more natural-looking images. Right now, Portrait mode uses software to create its depth of field effects, but with a mechanical aperture these effects would be created optically, as they are by camera lenses, perhaps giving more true-to-life results, and potentially eliminating issues where the iPhone struggles to separate the subject from the background.
Mechanical mastery
If this rumor comes to fruition, Apple wouldn't be the first company to experiment with putting mechanical apertures in mobile cameras. Some the best Android phones have included the feature in the past, including those made by Samsung, although the Korean company has since dropped the feature.
While Samsung didn't offer an official reason for the change, it might have come down to manufacturing complexities or advances in its own software capabilities. But if The Information’s report is accurate, it suggests that Apple feels a mechanical aperture is still worth pursuing, despite potential issues.
The feature could well be limited to the flagship iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max models, given its complexity and likely high cost, and if Apple is indeed looking at this we’ll likely hear more about it before the iPhone 17 range launches in 2025.
