The real story of the iPhone 18 Pro's camera
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What is the main focus of today’s VergeCast episode?
Hello and welcome to the VergeCast, the flagship podcast of F-Stops. I'm Jay Castranakis, Executive Editor of The Verge, here with our friend David Amel, VergeCast guest host. What's up, gamers? I'm back. And we've got a lot coming up today. We're gonna geek out about smartphone cameras with Allison Johnson. Hayden Field will join us to talk about the AI safety meltdown this week, and we've got another installment of the Lightning. Round. But first, I've got some stuff to talk about. We have a new season of Virgin History. The theme for this run of episodes is back to school. I c I love it. I'm like so hyped. The first episode is about the Oregon Trail. So awesome. Yes. I love that. I'm on an episode about, I don't know who came up with these ideas.
I'm on the episode about overhead projectors, which when they told me that, I was like, of course, of course. We have to do overhead projectors. They bought an overhead projector. It's like I can't tell you guys how how beautiful it is. Yeah. It it's I miss them. David, you're on an episode about one laptop per child, which w uh also like a beautiful piece of hardware. Yeah.
I I was surprised how much I loved that computer and how many of the ideas from that computer I wish were in modern laptops. It's it's a very weird piece of tech history. Yeah. Okay, we have
a trailer. Check it out. What if I told you that for the last several decades, schools across the United States have required students to have a game console in class? You might have heard of it. It's called the T I 84 Plus.
How does the iPhone 18 Pro’s variable aperture actually work?
Minesweeper, Tetris, Snake, Pong.
Drug wars was the game. It also does math. This season on Version History, we're going back to school.
Peak dysentery. Yeah, peak dysentery.
I like that idea. A two-in-one laptop. You can just flip to any page in the book. This was the only technology available. So grab your trapper keeper, throw on the Jan Sport, open up a bottle of Frutopia, and check out Version History on YouTube or wherever you get podcasts.
That was awesome. TI 84 Plus hitting this weekend. That's that's a good one. That's great. Also, if you're listening to this early, some Verge staffers are going to be live streaming a playthrough of the Oregon Trail today, Friday, at 1 30 p.m. Eastern on our YouTube page. Check it out. It'll be really fun. We'll find out who's going to make it to the Oregon, who lives, who dies, whether the emulator crashes. It's gonna be fun. You can follow version history at version history podcast on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. All right. Now it's time to talk about Apple. Senior reviewer Allison Johnson is here. Allison, welcome.
Hello. Thanks for having me.
I'm so excited. This is gonna be an all-out camera geek out. The iPhone 18 Pro reviews hit earlier this week. Before we get into that. There's something Perhaps more important that I want to talk about. Earlier this week, on Monday, the Emmys. Apple CEO John Turnus is walking down the red carpet.
What are the new manual controls and Pro RAW features on the iPhone 18 Pro?
He's looking sharp. He's in a tuxedo. He has an iPhone duo in his breast pocket. Mm-hmm. A reporter asks him a question, she wants to see it. Let's roll the clip.
I would love to see it. Yeah, yeah, I'll see. There we go. Oh
my god. I love it. They have my address, so you gonna you're not gonna bother me?
Okay, here's my question. Turnus versus Cook, what what's the swag comparison?
This is so different. Yeah. It's so weird to see the Apple CEO like dressed up and at a big event like this. Sometimes Tim Cook would show up for like a half second and just smile and wave and then he'd leave. It's very uncommon to see them actually engaging with people, showing things off, looking all cool. There are multiple photos of him at the Emmys, like looking like a movie star, taking photos with people, ironically with the iPhone 18 Pro, because the inner camera on the fold is not good. Um funny enough, as well, uh, he turns the iPhone eighteen pro sideways, even though it has the center stage camera, to take the selfies.
That's right. He doesn't need to do that. Well but
you know. We'll give him a pass for that. 'Cause it still
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main focus of today’s VergeCast episode?
0:02–1:32
2
How does the iPhone 18 Pro’s variable aperture actually work?
1:32–3:07
3
What are the new manual controls and Pro RAW features on the iPhone 18 Pro?
3:07–5:01
4
How does Apple’s new “reference image” mode prove a photo’s authenticity?
5:01–7:11
5
What does the latest AI‑safety drama mean for the industry?
7:11–10:41
6
Are the recent calls to “pace the frontier” a genuine safety effort or a prison‑ers‑dilemma?
10:41–14:34
7
Why did Waymo call the police on passengers with a ghost gun?
14:34–18:32
8
What are the coolest new low‑quality digital cameras highlighted in the lightning round?
18:32–1:28:25