The real story of the iPhone 18 Pro's camera

This week's iPhone 18 Pro discourse made aperture a priority, but today on Vergecast we zoom out to talk about the state of smart phone photography at large. Executive editor Jake Kastrenakes, guest host David Imel and senior reviewer Allison Johnson get into manual controls, "buckets of photons," and Apple and Google's strategies on how to prove a picture you took is real. Then, senior AI reporter Hayden Field returns to The Vergecast, just a few new revelations of misaligned behavior since her last appearance. She breaks down who's calling for a slowdown, who's full steam ahead, and the prisoner's dilemma facing the industry. And in the lightning round, we cover robotaxis calling the cops, the Boox Palma 3 e-reader, and the latest crop of intentionally low-quality digital cameras.

Further reading:

• Version History: Oregon trail (youtu.be/vtAbRViuHog?si=VKa7tNau1wKZqn47)

• iPhone 18 Pro review: it's all about the manual controls (youtube.com/watch?v=4EE7D3XgaYw)

• The variable aperture isn’t the cool part of the iPhone 18 Pro’s camera (theverge.com/tech/993155/variable-aperture-iph…)

• Apple’s new iPhone camera mode promises to prove your photo isn’t AI (theverge.com/tech/992766/apple-iphone-18-pro-r…)

• Inside the suddenly explosive world of AI safety (theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/996563…)

• Your robotaxi might be a narc (theverge.com/transportation/996863/robotaxi-wa…)

• Waymo pulls over, calls cops on riders with a ghost gun (theverge.com/transportation/994405/waymo-pulls…)

• The Boox Palma 3 gets stylus support and a sleek redesign (theverge.com/tech/995826/boox-palma-3-e-ink-re…)

• Camp Snap’s 110D gives slim retro film cameras a digital upgrade (theverge.com/tech/996453/camp-snap-110d-digita…)

• Fujifilm’s Instax Pal 2 is a tiny digital camera that may not disappoint (theverge.com/tech/995399/fujifilm-instax-pal-2…)

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0:00 Welcome and lineup
00:30 Version History returns
02:08 Oregon Trail livestream plug
02:36 Apple camera geekout
02:59 Apple's new CEO Emmy moment
05:23 iPhone 18 Pro upgrades
08:33 Pro controls usability
11:46 RAW vs ProRAW explained
14:35 Signal to noise deep dive
21:35 Photographic styles debate
25:25 Reference Image authenticity
32:40 What we want next
41:40 AI safety drama begins
42:36 AI Safety Freakout
46:10 Liability And Regulation
51:34 China Race Narrative
54:43 Pace The Frontier Plan
55:54 Auditors Inside Labs
01:00:22 Prisoners Dilemma Problem
01:04:38 Accountability Dead End
01:08:45 Waymo Calls The Cops
01:14:56 The E Reader Race
01:19:56 Tiny Retro Cameras
01:26:32 Wrap Up And Goodbye

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