iFixit found the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max’s new variable-aperture camera is so delicate that damage would likely require replacing the entire module, not repairing the mechanism itself.
Six overlapping aperture blades—each about as thin as a human hair—sit inside a tightly glued assembly with almost no tolerance for error, making disassembly and reassembly nearly impossible for most repair enthusiasts.
That adds a new failure point to iPhone camera repairs, which were already difficult; iFixit said the variable-aperture system could be costlier to replace than a standard camera module.
The warning sharpens concerns from iFixit’s broader teardown, which still gave the iPhone 18 Pro a 7/10 repairability score despite other issues such as fragile plastic display frames and integrated camera parts.
Samsung used a similar smartphone aperture system in the 2018 Galaxy S9 but later dropped it, suggesting the image-quality gains may not justify the added complexity.