iFixit teardown reveals hair-thin mechanical aperture in iPhone 18 Pro, but repairs look grim

iFixit’s teardown of Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max exposes a tiny, mechanically adjustable iris built into the main camera that underlines how far phone optics continue to advance — and how difficult they may be to repair.

The module uses a six-leaf, overlapping aperture whose blades are each roughly as thin as a human hair. iFixit photographed the blades side-by-side with a hair using an Evident DSX2000 microscope and demonstrated the aperture opening and closing by moving a magnet over the unpowered rear camera module, showing the iris operates magnetically.

Repairability concerns

While iFixit called the assembly “a feat of precision engineering,” it also warned the mechanism is effectively unrepairable in isolation. Fixing a damaged aperture would demand specialist tools and techniques, leaving most owners with the only practical option of replacing the entire camera assembly.

That replacement is reportedly straightforward to access, but parts availability is still pending. Apple has not yet released components for the new models; by comparison, the iPhone 17 Pro camera assembly cost $249, so the inclusion of this variable aperture likely pushes repair costs higher.

Early reviews of the iPhone 18 Pro noted the variable aperture produces only a generally marginal improvement in everyday photos, meaning many users might not see a large benefit despite the complexity inside the camera module.