Happy Diwali 2026: Apple’s Tim Cook Shares Festive iPhone 18 Pro Max Photo; here’s who caught it | Today’s news
Apple Executive Chairman Tim Cook greeted Diwali people celebrating the festival around the world and shared a festive photo captured using the company’s latest flagship smartphone, the iPhone 18 Pro Max.
In a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Cook wrote: “Happy Diwali to all those celebrating around the world! May the light of this festival light up your year ahead. Shot on iPhone 18 Pro Max by Gursimran Basra.”
The photo, attributed to Gursimran Basra, shows a festive setting with a glowing diya, capturing the spirit of the festival of lights.
Cook’s post also focused attention on the iPhone 18 Pro Max’s camera capabilities, with Apple’s executive chairman once again using a photo taken by an iPhone user for the high-profile occasion.
Tim Cook’s tradition of sharing iPhone photos during festivals
Cook regularly marked Indian festivals, especially Diwali and Holi, by sharing photos taken by iPhone users and photographers.
The practice also offered a platform to Indian photographers whose work was featured on the Apple executive’s social media account.
In 2025, Cook shared a Diwali photo taken by Mumbai-based photographer Apeksha Maker on an iPhone 17 Pro Max. The picture showed a woman lighting diyas amid marigold decorations.
In 2024, he used Delhi-based photographer Rohit Vohra’s photo, captured on iPhone 16 Pro Max, to extend his Diwali greetings.
Gursimran Basra has also appeared in Cook’s earlier festival greetings. In 2021, an Apple executive shared two photos of Basra taken on the iPhone 13 Pro Max to wish people a happy Diwali. Cook also shared photos of Basra and other iPhone photographers for Holi celebrations.
This recurring practice combines festival greetings with Apple’s long-standing emphasis on smartphone photography, showcasing user-taken images rather than relying solely on professionally produced promotional materials.
iPhone 18 Pro Max Camera Options
Based on information released by Apple, the iPhone 18 Pro Max is equipped with a 48MP Apple Pro Fusion camera system, which consists of three rear cameras: a 48MP Fusion main camera, a 48MP Fusion Ultra Wide camera and a 48MP Fusion Telephoto lens.
One of the key improvements is the variable aperture on the main camera, which offers four settings: f/1.48, f/1.8, f/2.8 and f/4.0.
Variable aperture gives photographers more control over the amount of light entering the camera and helps them adjust exposure according to lighting conditions. This can be especially useful when photographing illuminated objects such as diyas against a darker background.
Other key camera features include:
– Telephoto lens: 48MP telephoto lens offers 4x optical zoom with 8x optical zoom option. The phone supports up to 40x digital zoom.
– Ultra wide-angle photography: The 48MP ultra-wide-angle camera has a 120-degree field of view, allowing users to capture wider scenes and group photos.
– Night Mode: Designed to enhance photos taken in low light conditions.
– Portrait photography: Next-generation portraits with focus and depth control along with six portrait lighting effects.
– Macro photography: Supports 48MP macro photography, allowing users to capture the fine details of objects.
– Professional controls: Users can manually adjust aperture, shutter speed and white balance and access the histogram.
– Photo Styles: Photo Styles 3 offers additional options for customizing the appearance of photos.
The smartphone also supports ProRAW, Smart HDR 5, Deep Fusion and Apple Photonic Engine for image processing.
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Video recording options
iPhone 18 Pro Max also offers advanced video recording features, including 4K Dolby Vision recording at up to 120 frames per second with the main camera.
Supports ProRes recording at up to 4K 120fps with external recording, ProRes RAW, Apple Log 2 and Genlock support.
Other features include Cinematic mode, Action mode, 3D video recording, Macro video recording, and Dual Capture, which allows users to record using the front and rear cameras simultaneously.
On the front, the device has an 18MP Center Stage camera with autofocus, improved low-light video capabilities, and 4K Dolby Vision recording at up to 60 frames per second.
iPhone 18 Pro Max: More specifications
The smartphone is powered by the Apple A20 Pro chip, which includes a six-core CPU, a seven-core GPU with neural accelerators and a dual 16-core Neural Engine.
The device also features a next-generation vapor chamber cooling system designed to improve sustained performance.
As for the display, the iPhone 18 Pro Max has a larger 6.9-inch display. Both support ProMotion technology with an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120 Hz, Always-On display and Dynamic Island.
Battery life is another major difference. Apple claims video playback lasts up to 34 hours on the iPhone 18 Pro and up to 43 hours on the iPhone 18 Pro Max.
The model supports MagSafe and Qi2 wireless charging with a power of up to 25 W along with a USB-C connection.
The device also supports Apple Intelligence and the new generation of Siri AI.
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