For the past few weeks, I’ve been putting all the iPhone 18 Pro (and 18 Pro Max) camera upgrades to work. While the variable aperture system has drawn a lot of attention – and rightly so, given the natural depth of field it provides – the bigger upgrade for me has been the introduction of new Pro Controls.
I can’t tell you how long I’ve been asking for this. Apple has historically been reluctant to give users full manual control, but in recent generations it has slowly rolled out incremental features that prove it actually listens. Still, it wasn’t until recently that I came across something that takes the feature to another level: the ability to completely customize the Pro Controls layout to suit your exact shooting style.
Whether you want to set the shutter speed front and center, or position the focus slider for precise fine-tuning, this custom interface completely transforms the experience. Here’s how to do it.
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How to customize the Pro Controls layout with the iPhone 18 Pro / Pro Max
1. Open the Camera app, access Pro controls
Customizing the Pro Controls layout to keep your favorite tools close at hand is surprisingly easy. start from open the camera appthen press and hold none of the control symbols on the side opposite the shutter button.
On a brand new iPhone 18 Pro or 18 Pro Max, you’ll usually see the default icons for Live Photos and the LED flash — just long press one.
2. Make your selection
You see one now Photo controls photo Overlay displays icons for each available manual setting. You can configure anywhere from two to eight controls at once. Once you’ve chosen what you need, simply drag and drop the icons into whatever order or layout works best for your shot. Click Done when you are done saving the layout.
All of your selections remain locked in the exact order you arranged them, making Pro Controls much more convenient as you’re no longer forced to constantly tap the six-dot icon to dig into settings. I like this level of customization because it gives me the flexibility to tweak key parameters on the fly, letting me refocus on framing and shooting instead of fumbling through menus.
Best of all, this layout customization leads seamlessly to video recording. While you’ll find familiar core adjustments like aperture, shutter speed, manual focus, and white balance, Apple also adds video-specific tools like Dual Capture, Action Mode, and Adaptive — the latter designed for time-lapse recording to dynamically slow down the frame rate when motion is detected.
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