4 min readCupertinoUpdated: Sep 10, 2026 10:14 AM IST
The iPhone Duo took all the attention at the Apple Event on Wednesday, September 9. But the event featured other iPhones, two new AirPods, a new Apple Watch Series 12 and even an Apple Watch Ultra 4, though they all got drowned out by the noise of the largest iPhone screen ever. However, I pulled out three new features that impressed me the most.
1. Variable aperture on the iPhone 18 Pro
Apple is calling the 48MP Fusion Main camera on the iPhone 18 Pro models the “most advanced camera Apple has ever made.” This is because the camera has a variable aperture with six laser-cut blades smoothly transitioning to ensure the best depth of field and lighting. Working with the new sensor the iPhone 18 Pro cameras can now offer better low-light photography, crisper details across faces in group photos and shots with more colour even in questionable lighting conditions.
The variable aperture has six laser-cut blades smoothly transitioning to ensure the best depth of field and lighting. (Image: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
The iPhone Pro series has taken mobile videography to a whole new level over the past few years, and the variable aperture capability will endear the phone even more to professional photographers. Now they also get the ability to apply cinematic effects to videos captured at up to 60 fps.
Time-lapse mode now comes with 4K and Dolby Vision HDR, while Audio Mix algorithms can now isolate music. Along with this Pro controls are now a customisable experience in the Camera app with new settings for lens aperture, shutter speed, and white balance, along with a histogram to check exposure levels.
2. Audio Intelligence on Apple Watch
The Apple Watch is always on your wrist, which opens up many opportunities with a powerful chip like the S11. Apple Watch Series 12 uses on-device intelligence to alert users who are deaf or hard of hearing when a siren, alarm or other important sound goes off.
The Apple Watch Series 12 uses the S11 chip and on-device intelligence to alert deaf or hard-of-hearing users. (Image: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
There is also Live Rewind that helps them recall what was said in a conversation 15 seconds back as a text snippet. Users can then ask Siri about the content of the text or save it to the Siri app to revisit later. With Siri Recap, they can get high-level summaries of conversations to remember it later.
3. StandBy on the iPhone Duo
You wouldn’t want an expensive commercial aircraft to be grounded even for an hour without good reason. Similarly, you would want a device like the iPhone Duo to pay its keep even when not in use. This is exactly what StandBy does in this new form factor.
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New calendar and weather faces join the existing clock and modular faces. (Screenshot: YouTube/Apple)
When you set the phone down it can be used as a photo frame, hub for widgets, clock, and more on either of its screens. New calendar and weather faces join the existing clock and modular faces, with deeper customisations also available to make good use of the phone’s downtime.
