Samsung

Samsung might bring back Galaxy S9’s variable aperture camera just to copy iPhone

Ben Schoon | Feb 9 2026 - 10:40 am PT

Back in 2018, Samsung’s big new camera feature on the Galaxy S9 was the ability to change the physical aperture of the camera on the fly, and now, it might be making a comeback, thanks to Apple.

The aperture of your camera lens helps determine how much light is captured by the actual sensor. While you typically want to capture as much light as you can, there are cases when you want to restrict that, such as bright and sunny conditions. Nearly every smartphone that’s ever been sold has had a fixed aperture, but Samsung toyed around with a variable aperture setup on 2018’s Galaxy S9+. In our review, we found it to be a slightly underused but nice addition in terms of flexibility with the camera.

Here’s what the hardware looked like in action:

Variable aperture died a year later on the Galaxy S10 series, and Samsung hasn’t looked back ever since. But, apparently, the feature is now back on the table for future Galaxy devices.

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ETNews reports that Samsung has “requested the development of variable aperture technology from multiple camera module partners,” with Samsung “strongly committed” to bringing the feature back ot future Galaxy smartphones. Why the sudden change of heart?

The iPhone, of course.

The report goes on to bring out that Apple has plans to bring variable aperture camera tech to the iPhone 18 series, with Samsung making this move for the sake of “camera competitiveness.” The feature might only appear in iPhone 18 Pro Max, though.

Apple has inspired a lot of Samsung’s direction in Galaxy flagships as of late, with Samsung having reportedly scrapped its original Galaxy S26 plans entirely for the sake of matching the iPhone’s price. It didn’t really work out.

Samsung killed Galaxy S26 upgrades to avoid a price hike – leaks say it didn’t work

As for variable aperture, it could be a fun revival, especially if Samsung finds new ways to use it. The report brings out that, over the year, the tech has improved in terms of both cost and the physical footprint it takes up inside of the phone, but we’ll have to wait and see how things shake out. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S26 series is seemingly devoid of a single noteworthy camera upgrade.