iPhone 18 Pro could change Apple’s front camera design in a major way

A new report from The Information contains information that, if true, will represent a huge change in the iPhone’s iconic look. We’ve gone through the bezels, notches, and dynamic islands, but the iPhone’s front camera has always been located more or less in the center of the phone, often just to the side of the top earpiece.

According to the report by Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu, Apple will place Face ID sensors under the screen of the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max. This will reduce the entire front cutout to a simple hole for the camera, which Apple will then move to the upper left corner of the screen. It’s unclear what this will mean for the Dynamic Island software’s functionality. Will the iPhone 18 Pro just not have one? Will they appear in the center of the screen when necessary and disappear when not? Will they move to the corner, where the small circular cutout for the front camera will be?

The report states that otherwise the iPhone 18 Pro models will look a lot like the iPhone 17 Pro. So expect the same rear camera layout and wide “platter” on the back. The report also corroborates earlier rumors that at least one iPhone 18 Pro model will feature a mechanical aperture camera. This will allow Apple to use a larger sensor with better low-light performance, while closing the aperture in bright light to prevent the image from being overexposed.

Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max in September 2026, along with a new foldable iPhone and possibly a second-generation iPhone Air. However, the standard iPhone 18 is rumored to be released in spring 2027, a significant change from Apple’s usual release cadence.