What Changed
A new report from ETNews, citing industry sources, claims Samsung will not integrate variable aperture into its Galaxy S27 cameras. This contradicts previous speculation for both the S27 and the iPhone 18 series. Samsung Electro-Mechanics and MCnex were reportedly involved in the development before the plans were scrapped.
The Korean smartphone giant abandoned the feature for two main reasons:
- Higher manufacturing costs associated with the variable aperture mechanism
- Thicker camera bodies that would result from integrating the hardware
An electronics components industry official also suggested that camera performance is no longer a top priority for most consumers, which may have made the added cost harder to justify internally.
A Feature Samsung Already Tried Once
Variable aperture technology allows for physical adjustment of the lens opening, controlling how much light reaches the sensor. It offers more nuanced photographic control than software based solutions can replicate. Samsung actually pioneered this on mobile with the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S10, then quietly dropped it from every launch since.
Interest in bringing the feature back was reignited after reports surfaced suggesting the iPhone 18 series would adopt variable aperture for the first time. Samsung reportedly explored reintroducing it for the S27 in response, before ultimately walking that plan back.
What This Means for the iPhone 18
If Apple does move forward with variable aperture on the iPhone 18, Samsung’s decision to skip it hands Apple a genuine talking point on camera innovation, at least for one product cycle. Samsung is clearly betting that most buyers will not notice or care about the absence, prioritizing cost efficiency over a feature it considers niche.
Whether that bet pays off is the real question. How this choice affects Galaxy S27 sales remains to be seen, and if the reports hold up, iPhone 18 users could be testing variable aperture for themselves within the next few months.
Hashlytics Take
Samsung dropping a feature it already built once, then reportedly tried to revive under competitive pressure, only to cut it again, says more about internal indecision than actual consumer demand. The real story here is not variable aperture itself. It is that Samsung appears to be reacting to Apple’s roadmap rather than setting its own, and that reactive posture is a riskier long term position than whatever a few extra millimeters of camera thickness would have cost them.
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