English
The Apple iPhone 18 Pro camera performance is evaluated across photo, zoom, and video use cases using DXOMARK’s objective measurements and perceptual analyses to assess imaging performance across common shooting conditions. This article provides a structured summary of DXOMARK’s lab measurements and perceptual analyses to describe the device’s imaging performance.
Overview
Key camera specifications:
- Primary: 48 MP, f/1.48 – f/4.0, 24 mm (wide), variable aperture, sensor-shift OIS, Focus Pixels
- Ultra-wide: 48 MP, f/2.2, 13 mm (ultrawide), 120° field of view
- Tele: 48 MP, f/2.8, 100 mm (telephoto), 8x optical zoom, tetraprism design, sensor-shift OIS
With a score of 172 points, the Apple iPhone 18 Pro delivers excellent overall camera performance, combining a wide dynamic range, improved contrast and skin tones, effective stabilization, and a well-balanced texture-noise trade-off. Its variable aperture is a particular strength, significantly improving the camera’s ability to maintain sharpness in complex scenes and when multiple subjects are present. Autofocus performance is good overall, offering a good user experience. Flare is also generally better controlled than on the previous generation, with a good reduction of diffuse flare in most situations, although green spots can still appear and flare remains quite visible when the iris is closed.
In photo, the camera produces generally accurate exposure and benefits from a wide dynamic range. Exposure can, however, be slightly low in some backlit portrait scenes, while contrast rendering in these situations remains particularly natural, providing a convincing balance between highlights and shadows. Texture rendering preserves a good level of fine detail with fewer visible AI artifacts than on some competing devices.
The main limitations are long-range telephoto performance, which falls slightly behind some competing flagship devices, and the lack of blur effect on portrait mode in night
Video performance is excellent overall, with smooth and natural stabilization even during running motion, as well as a good texture-noise compromise. Outdoor scenes benefit from the camera’s strong dynamic range, while low-light video shows improved color rendering, particularly for skin tones. White balance remains the main image-quality limitation, with visible color casts appearing in some conditions.
Scoring
Sub-scores and attributes included in the calculations of the global score.
Apple iPhone 18 Pro
184
185
175
173
Use cases & Conditions
Use case scores indicate the product performance in specific situations. They are not included in the overall score calculations.
Portrait
Portrait photos of either one person or a group of people
Outdoor
Photos & videos shot in bright light conditions (≥1000 lux)
Indoor
Photos & videos shot in good lighting conditions (≥100lux)
Lowlight
Photos & videos shot in low lighting conditions (<100 lux)
Zoom
Photos and videos captured using zoom (more than 1x)
Pros
- Exposure is mostly accurate, and it is supported by a wide dynamic range, contrast is very natural even under challenging conditions
- Depth of field is automatically extended on group portraits thanks to variable aperture, which can be adjusted manually
- Stabilization is effective, even during running motion, with smooth and natural rendering enhanced by 60 fps capture
- Texture-noise trade-off is well balanced across most test conditions, combining high detail preservation with well-controlled noise
Cons
- Face exposure can be low in challenging backlit conditions
- Slight color casts and occasional white balance instabilities are noticeable
- Long-range telephoto performance is behind that of some flagship competitors
- Artifacts such as flare and aliasing are frequently visible
- A noticeable brightness difference between photo and video can be distracting in the preview
The Apple iPhone 18 Pro is one of the strongest-performing devices overall in low-light conditions, thanks to strong performance in both photo and video. Images are generally well exposed, with a wide dynamic range and pleasant color rendering. White balance has also been improved, maintaining the device’s characteristic warm signature while keeping it relatively natural in low-light scenes.
Texture rendering is another major strength at night. The camera preserves a high level of detail while maintaining a well-controlled texture-noise balance, with only moderate noise visible in textured areas as a result of preserving finer details. This allows low-light images to retain a good level of natural texture without relying excessively on artificial processing.
Low-light performance is therefore strong overall, with blur effect being one of the more noticeable limitations in demanding conditions. Fine details can also occasionally be lost in very low-light conditions, although the overall balance between detail and noise remains good. In video, low-light performance benefits from better colors and a slightly improved texture-noise balance, particularly for skin tones, although some white balance casts remain visible across conditions.
The Apple iPhone 18 Pro delivers a very good portrait experience, producing well-rendered images with improved contrast and natural-looking skin tones. Exposure can be slightly low in some backlit portraits, but the wide dynamic range helps preserve scene information. More importantly, contrast rendering in these challenging situations is particularly natural, providing a convincing balance between highlights and shadows. The combination of controlled contrast and pleasant color rendering allows portraits to retain a natural photographic appearance
Bokeh mode provides good subject isolation, with accurate segmentation and a natural blur gradient. Background blur and spotlights are rendered naturally, contributing to an attractive overall portrait effect. However, some of the latest Vivo and Oppo devices provide sharper facial details and finer subject isolation, giving them an advantage in the most demanding portrait scenes.
The main limitations are found in fine subject separation and detail rendering. Segmentation can occasionally lack precision at a fine level, while the bokeh effect may fail to trigger in some situations. In the telephoto mode around 2x, facial details can also appear somewhat softer than on the best-performing competitors, although the overall rendering remains pleasant.
The Apple iPhone 18 Pro provides particularly strong zoom performance at close and medium distances, where image quality remains detailed and natural. Rendering is consistent at these ranges, with good preservation of fine textures and a balanced treatment of detail and noise.
Video zoom is a particular strength, with very smooth transitions between zoom levels. The camera provides excellent zoom smoothness in video, resulting in a natural and consistent experience when changing focal lengths during recording.
At longer distances, however, the camera does not maintain the same level of detail advantage seen at closer ranges. Long-range telephoto performance is slightly behind that of the strongest flagship competitors, with fine details becoming noticeably softer. This limits its ability to deliver the same level of detail when high-quality long-range zoom is required.
Test summary
About DXOMARK Camera tests: DXOMARK’s camera evaluations take place in laboratories and real-world situations using a wide variety of use-cases. The scores rely on objective tests for which the results are calculated directly using measurement software in our laboratory setups, and on perceptual tests where a sophisticated set of metrics allow a panel of image experts to compare aspects of image quality that require human judgment. Testing a smartphone involves a team of engineers and technicians for about a week. Photo and Video quality are scored separately and then combined into an overall score for comparison among the cameras in different devices. For more information about the DXOMARK Camera protocol, click here. More details on smartphone camera scores are available here. The following section gathers key elements of DXOMARK’s exhaustive tests and analyses. Full performance evaluations are available upon request. Please contact us on how to receive a full report.
Photo
Apple iPhone 18 Pro
180
For scoring and analysis, DXOMARK engineers capture and evaluate more than 3,800 test images in controlled lab environments as well as outdoor, indoor and low-light natural scenes, using the camera’s default settings. The photo protocol is designed to take into account the main use cases and is based on typical shooting scenarios, such as portraits, landscape and zoom photography. The evaluation is performed by visually inspecting images against a reference of natural scenes, and by running objective measurements on images of charts captured in the lab under different lighting conditions from 0.1 to 10,000+ lux and color temperatures from 2,300K to 6,500K.
The iPhone 18 Pro delivers a noticeable step forward in default photo quality, primarily through improvements in exposure, autofocus, and lens artifact management. Thanks to enhanced flare correction, images can exhibit stronger contrast and better subject separation in strong backlit, leading to more impactful rendering in most lighting conditions, although portrait backlit scenes can still appear slightly underexposed compared to flagship devices from Huawei and Google.
The device still produces natural and pleasing skin tones that also benefit from the improved contrast, while maintaining Apple’s characteristic warm white balance, which remains generally well controlled in low light. The introduction of the variable aperture is one of the most significant upgrades, offering better depth control and sharper group portraits, though it can occasionally cause autofocus instability.
Texture rendering follows Apple’s natural approach, with fine details, clean structures, and fewer AI-generated artifacts than many competitors. However, this comes with slightly higher visible noise and occasional detail loss in difficult low-light scenes. Bokeh rendering is slightly improved with more precise segmentation of finer details. The iPhone 18 Pro delivers consistent zoom results with strong detail and natural textures, avoiding excessive sharpening and AI artifacts, though longer zoom levels show some texture loss.
Main
Apple iPhone 18 Pro
184
Exposure
Apple iPhone 18 Pro
134
Exposure is one of the key attributes for technically good pictures. The main attribute evaluated is the brightness level of the main subject through various use cases such as landscape, portrait, or still life. Other factors evaluated are the global contrast and the ability to render the dynamic range of the scene (ability to render visible details in both bright and dark areas). When the camera provides Photo HDR format, the images are analyzed with a visualization on an HDR reference monitor, under reference conditions specified in the ISO-22028-5 standard. Repeatability is also important because it demonstrates the camera's ability to provide the same rendering when shooting several images of the same scene.
How does the Apple iPhone 18 Pro perform in Photo Exposure :
- Improved contrast through better device tuning in conditions affected by flare artifacts
- Brightness remains low in some backlit portrait situations compared with the Huawei Pura 80 Ultra and Google Pixel 11 Pro XL
- Dynamic range is extended, with bright elements preserved in most situations, although it is slightly less extended in some challenging scenarios
Color
Apple iPhone 18 Pro
139
Color is one of the key attributes for technically good pictures. The image quality attributes analyzed are skin-tone rendering, white balance, color shading, and repeatability. For color and skin tone rendering, we penalize unnatural colors according to results gathered in various studies and consumer insights while respecting the manufacturer's choice of color signature.
How does the Apple iPhone 18 Pro perform in Photo Color:
- Improved skin tone rendering delivering vivid colors, especially in backlit conditions
- Warm white balance in indoor conditions but remains well managed in low light
Sharpness & Timing
Apple iPhone 18 Pro
135
Autofocus tests concentrate on focus accuracy, focus repeatability, shooting time delay, and depth of field. Shooting delay is the difference between the time the user presses the capture button and the time the image is actually taken. It includes focusing speed and the capability of the device to capture images at the right time, what is called 'zero shutter lag' capability. Even if a shallow depth of field can be pleasant for a single subject portrait or close-up shot, it can also be a problem in some specific conditions such as group portraits; Both situations are tested. Focus accuracy is also evaluated in all the real-life images taken, from infinity to close-up objects and in low light to outdoor conditions.
How does the Apple iPhone 18 Pro perform in Photo Autofocus:
- The variable aperture enables sharp faces in group portraits across all image planes
- Some autofocus instabilities are introduced by the automated aperture adaptation
Texture
Apple iPhone 18 Pro
133
Texture tests analyze the level of details and the texture of subjects in the images taken in the lab as well as in real-life scenarios. For natural shots, particular attention is paid to the level of details in the bright and dark areas of the image. Objective measurements are performed on chart images taken in various lighting conditions from 0.1 to 10,000+ lux and different kinds of dynamic range conditions. The charts used are the proprietary DXOMARK chart (DMC), and the Dead Leaves chart. We also have an AI based metric for the level of details on our realistic mannequins Eugene and Diana.
How does the Apple iPhone 18 Pro perform in Photo Texture:
- Slightly different trade-off, with more fine details and cleaner rendering
- Better preservation of fine details in scenes with motion, with less motion blur in some scenarios
- No visible AI artifacts compared with some competitors
- Loss of detail in low-light conditions
Noise
Apple iPhone 18 Pro
130
Noise tests analyze various attributes of noise such as intensity, chromaticity, grain, structure on real-life images as well as images of charts taken in the lab. For natural images, particular attention is paid to the noise on faces, landscapes, but also on dark areas and high dynamic range conditions. Noise on moving objects is also evaluated on natural images. Objective measurements are performed on images of charts taken in various conditions from 0.1 to 10000 lux and different kinds of dynamic range conditions. The chart used is the Dead Leaves chart and the standardized measurement such as Visual Noise derived from ISO 15739.
How does the Apple iPhone 18 Pro perform in Photo Noise:
- Slightly more noise is visible than on the Apple iPhone 17 Pro, particularly in textured areas
Artifacts
Apple iPhone 18 Pro
82
The artifacts evaluation looks at flare, lens shading, chromatic aberrations, geometrical distortion, edges ringing, halos, ghosting, quantization, unexpected color hue shifts, among others type of possible unnatural effects on photos. The more severe and the more frequent the artifact, the higher the point deduction on the score. The main artifacts observed and corresponding point loss are listed below.
How does the Apple iPhone 18 Pro perform in Photo Artifacts:
- Introduction of flare correction, with improved contrast preservation in some challenging backlit conditions
- Some flare can still be visible when the light source is outside the field of view
- Most other artifacts are generally well controlled
Bokeh
Apple iPhone 18 Pro
185
Bokeh is tested in one dedicated mode, usually portrait or aperture mode, and analyzed by visually inspecting all the images captured in the lab and in natural conditions. The goal is to reproduce portrait photography comparable to one taken with a DLSR and a wide aperture. The main image quality attributes paid attention to are depth estimation, artifacts, blur gradient, and the shape of the bokeh blur spotlights. Portrait image quality attributes (exposure, color, texture) are also taken into account.
How does the Apple iPhone 18 Pro perform in Photo Bokeh:
- Good segmentation and subject isolation in all conditions
- Natural background blur and bokeh spotlights
- Good detail rendering on faces
- The bokeh effect occasionally failed to trigger in very low-light conditions
- Fine-detail segmentation is slightly less precise than on some top competitors, such as the Huawei Pura 80 Ultra
Tele
Apple iPhone 18 Pro
173
All image quality attributes are evaluated at focal lengths from approximately 40 mm to 300 mm, with particular attention paid to texture and detail. The score is derived from a number of objective measurements in the lab and perceptual analysis of real-life images.
How does the Apple iPhone 18 Pro in Photo Telephoto :
- The level of detail is reduced at intermediate zoom factors between the available zoom steps
- At long-range zoom levels, fine details are lost compared with some competitors such as the Huawei Pura 80 Ultra and Google Pixel 11 Pro XL
UltraWide
Apple iPhone 18 Pro
175
These tests analyze the performance of the ultra-wide camera at several focal lengths from 12 mm to 20 mm. All image quality attributes are evaluated, with particular attention paid to such artifacts as chromatic aberrations, lens softness, and distortion. Pictures below are an extract of tested scenes.
How does the Apple iPhone 18 Pro perform in Photo Ultrawide:
- Accurate target exposure with a wide dynamic range and generally natural color rendering
- Good detail preservation with a well-balanced texture/noise trade-off, resulting in clean images across most lighting conditions
DXOMARK engineers capture and evaluate almost 3 hours of video in controlled lab environments and in natural low-light, indoor and outdoor scenes, using the camera’s default settings. The evaluation consists of visually inspecting natural videos taken in various conditions and running objective measurements on videos of charts recorded in the lab under different conditions from 0.1 to 10000+ lux and color temperatures from 2,300K to 6,500K.
The iPhone 18 Pro delivers a highly polished video experience, combining accurate exposure, reliable autofocus, and industry-leading stabilization to produce consistently attractive footage across a wide range of conditions. Target exposure is generally very accurate and supported by a broad dynamic range, allowing the device to maintain natural rendering in both indoor and outdoor scenes, although highlight clipping can still occur in very high-contrast situations.
Autofocus performance is one of the strongest aspects of the system, providing fast, stable, and precise subject tracking with reliable focus transitions that contribute to a professional-looking result. The stabilization system is particularly impressive, remaining effective even during running sequences and benefiting from 60 fps capture to deliver smooth and natural motion rendering. Texture and noise are also well balanced, with strong detail preservation and controlled noise levels across most lighting conditions, ensuring footage retains a natural and realistic appearance. Video zoom quality offers stable transitions between focal lengths, in terms of field of view stability, exposure and white balance.
However, some limitations remain: flare artifacts and aliasing can be frequently visible in challenging scenes, slight color casts and occasional white balance instabilities can affect color consistency, and highlight clipping may reduce detail retention in bright areas of high-dynamic-range scenes. Overall, the iPhone 18 Pro stands out as one of the most balanced video cameras on the market, combining accurate exposure, dependable autofocus, excellent stabilization, natural texture rendering, and highly consistent zoom performance into a refined and trustworthy imaging experience.
Exposure
Apple iPhone 18 Pro
133
Exposure tests evaluate the brightness level of the main subject, the global contrast and the ability to render the dynamic range of the scene (ability to render visible details in both bright and dark areas). When the camera provides Video HDR format, the videos are analyzed with a visualization on an HDR reference monitor, under reference conditions specified in the metadata. Stability and temporal adaption of the exposure are also analyzed.
How does the Apple iPhone 18 Pro perform in Video Exposure :
- Target exposure is consistently accurate, even in challenging scenes, supported by a wide dynamic range
- Highlight clipping can still occur in high-contrast scenes
Image-quality color analysis looks at color rendering, skin-tone rendering, white balance, color shading, stability of the white balance and its adaption when light is changing.
How does the Apple iPhone 18 Pro perform in Video Color:
- Color rendering is natural in most conditions
- Slight color casts and occasional white balance instabilities are noticeable
Sharpness & Timing
Apple iPhone 18 Pro
124
For video, autofocus tests concentrate on focus accuracy, focus stability and analysis of convergence regarding speed and smoothness.
How does the Apple iPhone 18 Pro perform in Video Autofocus:
- Autofocus is fast and reliable and delivers accurate subject capture
Texture tests analyze the level of details and texture of the real-life videos as well as the videos of charts recorded in the lab. Natural videos recordings are visually evaluated, with particular attention paid to the level of details in the bright and areas as well as in the dark. Objective measurements are performed of images of charts taken in various conditions from 0.1 to 10000 lux. The charts used are the DXOMARK chart (DMC) and Dead Leaves chart.
How does the Apple iPhone 18 Pro perform in Video Texture:
- High details preservation in most tested conditions
Noise tests analyze various attributes of noise such as intensity, chromaticity, grain, structure, temporal aspects on real-life video recording as well as videos of charts taken in the lab. Natural videos are visually evaluated, with particular attention paid to the noise in the dark areas and high dynamic range conditions. Objective measurements are performed on the videos of charts recorded in various conditions from 0.1 to 10000 lux. The chart used is the DXOMARK visual noise chart.
How does the Apple iPhone 18 Pro perform in Video Noise:
- Noise is well controlled in most tested conditions
Stabilization evaluation tests the ability of the device to stabilize footage thanks to software or hardware technologies such as OIS, EIS, or any others means. The evaluation looks at residual motion, smoothness, jello artifacts and residual motion blur on walk and run use cases in various lighting conditions. The video below is an extract from one of the tested scenes.
How does the Apple iPhone 18 Pro perform in Video Stabilization :
- Stabilization is effective, even during running motion
- Videos are smooth and naturally rendered, further enhanced by 60 fps capture
Artifacts
Apple iPhone 18 Pro
90
Artifacts are evaluated with MTF and ringing measurements on the SFR chart in the lab as well as frame-rate measurements using the LED Universal Timer. Natural videos are visually evaluated by paying particular attention to artifacts such as aliasing, quantization, blocking, and hue shift, among others. The more severe and the more frequent the artifact, the higher the point deduction from the score. The main artifacts and corresponding point loss are listed below.
How does the Apple iPhone 18 Pro perform in Video Artifacts:
- Frequently visible artifacts like flare and aliasing
All image quality attributes are evaluated at focal lengths from approximately 12 mm to 300 mm, with particular attention paid to texture and smoothness of the zooming effect. The score is derived from a number of objective measurements in the lab and perceptual analysis of real-life video recordings.
How does the Apple iPhone 18 Pro perform in Video Ultrawide:
- Slight loss of details in different shooting conditions but performances on par with competition
Tele
Apple iPhone 18 Pro
140
How does the Apple iPhone 18 Pro perform in Video Telephoto:
- Zooming across ranges is smooth and stable in video
- Some details are lost at long range in zoom even when the device is stable