I'm surprised that in no reviews of the iPhone 18 camera there is mention of the bad quality bokeh, it has heavy ring shapes that looks like what you'd get from a cheap catadioptric lens.
Edit: e.g. the tree in one of the images in the page: <a href="https://www.dxomark.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/PoleHDR_Deep_AppleiPhone18Pro_DxOMark_05-00.jpeg" rel="nofollow">https://www.dxomark.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/PoleHDR_D...
Only professionals and enthusiasts care about bokeh. And I say that as someone that shoots my 50mm 1.2 wide open.
Previously the blur on iPhone was all software, apparently. I've set mine to do wide open with no bokeh, and i'll put it in after.
But to be honest, the iPhone is the camera I have on me, so the limits are acceptable. Can I force focus it? No. Can I get the glow? No. But iPhone + zoom + crop is better in some ways than my 50mm 1.2 with bokeh.
I remeber photographers talking about X has "not very nice bokeh" probably since I met a first photographer when phones were monochrome and had no camera. No one beside photographer cared then, no one will care today.
To most people its just blur and they don't care that it is not just blur.
I'm not a photographer and I think the bokeh makes the picture look bad because the tree looks so weird that it's distracting. I'm not one who normally thinks about bokeh, but it's glaringly bad.
matja · · focus · HN ↗
Edit: e.g. the tree in one of the images in the page: <a href="https://www.dxomark.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/PoleHDR_Deep_AppleiPhone18Pro_DxOMark_05-00.jpeg" rel="nofollow">https://www.dxomark.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/PoleHDR_D...
mannyv · · focus · HN ↗
Previously the blur on iPhone was all software, apparently. I've set mine to do wide open with no bokeh, and i'll put it in after.
But to be honest, the iPhone is the camera I have on me, so the limits are acceptable. Can I force focus it? No. Can I get the glow? No. But iPhone + zoom + crop is better in some ways than my 50mm 1.2 with bokeh.
qmr · · focus · HN ↗
The average user may not understand the technical details of bokeh but they will certainly have an opinion on what is pleasing to the eye.
0x457 · · focus · HN ↗
To most people its just blur and they don't care that it is not just blur.
RankingMember · · focus · HN ↗