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Apple Unveils iPhone 18 Pro’s Camera Upgrades and iPhone Duo’s Unique Features
Confirmed
In Short: Apple has introduced significant camera enhancements for the iPhone 18 Pro, focusing on small but impactful improvements.
The iPhone 18 Pro’s camera update emphasizes subtle yet substantial enhancements, particularly through Siri mode, which integrates visual intelligence features directly into the Camera app. This mode allows users to capture and act on what their iPhone sees, making photography more interactive and responsive. According to reports, Apple has also made each Camera app mode fully customizable in iOS 27, giving users more control over their shooting experience.
For the iPhone Duo, a new foldable model, Apple has introduced unique Camera app features. Kid Cue, for instance, uses little Peanuts animations to encourage children to look at the camera, while Duo Preview shows a live preview of the shot on both displays, allowing subjects to make adjustments. Smart Take uses AI to determine when everyone, including the iPhone owner, is ready for a group shot, eliminating the need for timers or awkward positioning. These features are designed to enhance usability and convenience, especially in group settings.
The iPhone Duo’s dual-display design also enables new functionalities, such as Duo FaceTime, where the outer display can be used for FaceTime calls while the inner display is used for the camera. This feature allows multiple people to participate in a FaceTime call without crowding around the device. Additionally, the iPhone Duo can be used in various orientations, including a half-folded position, which can be particularly useful for selfies or group shots.
Apple’s iPhone 17 lineup, while not as groundbreaking as the Duo, still offers significant improvements. The iPhone 17 features sharper cameras, a larger and smoother display, and a quicker chip with more storage than previous models. According to reports, the Fusion Main camera system on the iPhone 18 Pro is incredibly fast, with an exposure time of 1/1092 and an ISO of 32 in broad daylight, making selfies crisper and larger. However, the iPhone Duo’s camera system, despite being unique, is not as straightforward to compare with other iPhone models due to its dual-camera setup.
Despite these advancements, some users may still prefer the iPhone 16, which is now $100 less expensive. The iPhone 16 retains a simple design and offers solid battery life, good cameras, and support for Apple Intelligence. However, the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max bring a more comprehensive set of manual camera controls, including aperture control, which is a significant step forward for keen photographers.
What's confirmed
- Siri mode essentially brings the visual intelligence features previously tied to Camera Control directly into the iPhone’s full Camera app.
- You can use Siri mode to capture and take action on anything your iPhone sees.
- Apple has made the controls in each Camera app mode fully customizable in iOS 27.
What's still developing
- You can prop up the iPhone Duo in a half-folded orientation, get in frame, and then wait for the group shot to be taken.
- Apple's iPhone 17 lineup is its best yet, but, as it often does, the company is selling last year's model for a slightly lower price.
- The iPhone 17 sets a new standard, but is it worth saving some money and picking up the iPhone 16 instead?
- That means selfies captured with this camera should be a little more crisp and a little bigger for your editing software versus iPhone Duo.
- Tue Sep 15 2026, 09:22 AM EDT · 10 minute read iPhone Duo has a unique dual camera system that isn't as compromised as you'd think Like iPhone Air, iPhone Duo is a series of compromises that enable the thinnest iPhone to date, but that doesn't mean the camera system is bad.
- The iPhone Duo is Apple's first foldable and has four cameras, but unlike the iPhone 18 Pro, they're not the one's you'd expect.
- There are two rear cameras, an inner under-display FaceTime camera, and a front-facing selfie camera.
- However, nailing down exactly what we can expect from the cameras prior to hands-on testing isn't a science.