iFixit's iPhone 18 Pro teardown reveals a variable aperture that's hard to repair

First proper teardown for the iPhone 18 Pro. iFixit has published its traditional teardown of the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, and the inside confirms the year's headline upgrade: the variable aperture camera, a first on iPhone.

A 6-blade aperture, and fragile

The mechanism relies on six tiny blades driven by electromagnets, similar to optical image stabilization. But iFixit flags a real concern: if the aperture gets stuck, you'd likely need to replace the entire main camera assembly. During the teardown, one blade actually flew out of the lens stack.

Cooling and battery

The iPhone 18 Pro packs a larger vapor chamber for heat dissipation and a bigger battery: from 4,056 mAh (with SIM tray) to 4,288 mAh (eSIM-only). The Pro Max climbs from 5,391 to 5,567 mAh.

The weak point: the display

The plastic display frame tore on 3 of the 4 phones iFixit opened, which makes screen-first repairs riskier. The result: a provisional repairability score of 7/10.

Sources

• iFixit — iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max Teardown
• 9to5Mac — iFixit tears down iPhone 18 Pro