Variable aperture
The second new feature should be especially welcome for photographers, since a variable aperture would bring a creative tool from traditional cameras to the next 48MP iPhone camera. It would allow better control over light intake but also depth of field, and effects like starbursts are easy to achieve with a variable aperture. This feature has been available on Android flagship phones for quite some time, although some manufacturers such as Honor and Xiaomi have recently opted against it, while Huawei currently continues to use variable apertures across its flagship lineup.
Apple A20 Pro
For the first time in years, the Apple A20 Pro is expected to be significantly more efficient thanks to a new 2nm process. This time Apple is not expected to be first, as the Samsung Exynos 2600 could be the first 2nm chipset and debut with the Galaxy S26 generation in late February. Qualcomm is also expected to introduce the 2nm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 this fall, which will be manufactured by TSMC in Taiwan.
Apple N2
The fourth update is also an Apple chipset. The successor to the Apple N1, which powers the WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 6 connectivity in the iPhone 17 and iPhone Air. It’s unknown which upgrades the Apple N2 will get.
Apple C2 modem
Finally, a second version of Apple’s in-house 5G modem is also expected to debut and could potentially beat Qualcomm’s modems in terms of performance. The first Apple C1 modem in the iPhone 16e was more efficient than competing modems but still lagged behind in speed. The C1X in the iPhone Air was an intermediate step, which was already twice as fast as the C1 according to Apple.