The iPhone 18 Pro has taken the top position in DXOMARK’s video ranking with a score of 176, while placing second in the lab’s overall smartphone camera chart at 172 points. The result leaves Apple’s new Pro model three points behind the 175-point HUAWEI Pura 80 Ultra, which remains the overall leader.
Apple’s strongest results came from its main camera and video performance. DXOMARK gave the handset 189 points for main-camera video, citing effective stabilization even while running, good detail retention and controlled noise. The phone’s 171 photo score was also close to the top of the ranking, but its ultrawide and telephoto results reduced its overall total.
| DXOMARK category | iPhone 18 Pro | Current category leader |
|---|---|---|
| Overall camera | 172 | 175 — HUAWEI Pura 80 Ultra |
| Photo | 171 | 180 — HUAWEI Pura 80 Ultra |
| Main camera photo | 181 | 184 — HUAWEI Pura 80 Ultra |
| Bokeh | 175 | 185 — OPPO Find X9 Ultra |
| Ultrawide photo | 152 | 175 — vivo X300 Ultra |
| Telephoto photo | 143 | 173 — OPPO Find X9 Ultra |
| Video | 176 | 176 — iPhone 18 Pro |
| Main camera video | 189 | 189 — iPhone 18 Pro |
| Telephoto video | 127 | 140 — vivo X200 Ultra |
A key change is the 48MP Fusion Main camera’s physical variable aperture, a first for an iPhone. It offers four settings — f/1.48, f/1.8, f/2.8 and f/4.0 — rather than relying solely on computational processing to balance exposure and depth of field. The wider f/1.48 setting can admit more light in dim scenes, while f/4.0 can increase depth of field for subjects positioned at different distances, including group shots.
The aperture system also has implications for video. A narrower aperture can reduce incoming light in bright conditions, potentially allowing more controlled exposure transitions, while the widest setting can help brighten darker scenes without pushing sensor sensitivity as aggressively. Apple has also added Pro controls for aperture, shutter speed and white balance, alongside a histogram.
The iPhone 18 Pro camera array uses three 48MP sensors, but DXOMARK’s testing shows that their capabilities are not evenly matched.
- Fusion Main camera: 24mm-equivalent focal length, a variable f/1.48–f/4.0 aperture and a 2x crop option equivalent to 48mm.
- Ultrawide camera: 13mm-equivalent focal length with an f/2.2 aperture.
- Tetraprism telephoto camera: 100mm-equivalent focal length, 4x optical zoom and an f/2.8 aperture. Apple also offers an 8x, 200mm-equivalent “optical-quality” mode, rather than a second native optical zoom.
Long-range zoom is the more significant weakness in the scorecard: the telephoto camera reached 143 points for photos and 127 points for video, with DXOMARK noting that long-distance zoom trails some rivals. The ultrawide’s 152 photo points also fall well short of the 175-point category-leading vivo X300 Ultra. The lab additionally reported occasional color casts, white-balance shifts, flare and brightness differences between photo and video previews.
The result makes the iPhone 18 Pro Apple’s strongest DXOMARK video performer to date, but the three-point overall gap to the Pura 80 Ultra underlines where its next camera gains will need to come from: more consistent performance beyond the main lens.
Affiliate link: Check availability on Amazon.de
