Apple almost bought what I still think is the most powerful iPhone camera app out there—Halide—and that story is the entire reason this iPhone 18 Pro camera leak feels different. In this video I break down the “secret move” Apple made: instead of acquiring Lux (the company behind Halide), Apple quietly hired the designer behind it, Sebastian de With, straight into Apple’s design team. And if you’ve ever used Halide, you already know why this matters: full manual control, true RAW shooting, and pro-level tools that Apple’s default Camera app has avoided for years. I also connect that hire to what’s rumored for iPhone 18 Pro: a major camera upgrade that isn’t just hardware, but software too. Apple’s hardware is already insane—bigger sensors, ridiculous video, top-tier processing—but the software has been playing it safe. With Sebastian now inside Apple, I’m expecting manual controls, better built-in RAW workflows, smarter computational photography, and potentially real pro video tools without needing third-party apps. Add in the leak about a physical aperture coming to iPhone 18 Pro, and this becomes less about “better specs” and more about real control over light and depth—DSLR territory. My bet is we see the first real signs at WWDC 2026 with iOS 27.