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Apple gave the iPhone 18 Pro a main camera with a physical iris of six moving blades, which opens and closes like the aperture on a standalone camera. DXOMARK has now scored how well that works in practice. The Apple iPhone 18 Pro earned an overall camera score of 172, which puts it second in both the global ranking and the ultra-premium list for phones priced above $800.
Only the Huawei Pura 80 Ultra ranks higher, with 175 points. The phone took the top spot last August and still holds it, three points ahead of Apple’s new model.
How the scores break down
The iPhone 18 Pro has a four-point gain over the Apple iPhone 17 Pro, which scored 168 and has since dropped to fifth place. The 18 Pro also scores 176 for video, the highest video number DXOMARK lists for any phone.
DXOMARK also rates specific use cases. You get the best result in low light, at 150 points, the highest score on the list. It scores 157 for portraits, behind the 169 from the Huawei Pura 80 Ultra, and 138 for zoom, where the Vivo X300 Ultra leads with 161.
What DXOMARK liked and didn’t like
In dim scenes, DXOMARK found good detail, accurate exposure, and controlled noise. In normal conditions, exposure stays accurate, contrast looks natural, and the dynamic range is wide enough to hold detail in tricky lighting.
This is also the first iPhone with a variable aperture. The main camera opens as wide as f/1.48 and closes down to f/4.0. DXOMARK says that helps keep more people in focus in group portraits, and it gives you manual control when you want it. The feature is new to iPhone but not to phones. The Huawei Pura 80 Ultra already has a variable aperture on its main camera, and Apple’s plans for one showed up in leaks as early as October 2025.
You also get smooth, natural-looking video stabilization, even when you record while running, and shooting at 60 fps improves how motion looks.
However, DXOMARK also lists 18 Pro’s four weaknesses. You may see slight color casts and occasional white balance shifts that affect color consistency. The phone trails some rival flagships in long-range zoom, and flare shows up in some shooting conditions. The brightness also changes between the photo and video previews at times.
On the hardware side, the Apple iPhone 18 Pro has three 48MP rear cameras: a main camera, an ultrawide camera, and a telephoto camera. DXOMARK’s page currently lists the scores and a short pros-and-cons summary, and the full written test wasn’t available when this was written.
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