Happy Diwali 2026: Apple's Tim Cook shares festive photo shot on iPhone 18 Pro Max; here's who captured it

Apple Executive Chairman Tim Cook extended Diwali greetings to people celebrating the festival across the world, sharing a festive photograph 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 everyone celebrating around the world! May the light of this festival brighten your year ahead. Shot on iPhone 18 Pro Max by Gursimran Basra."

The photograph, credited to Gursimran Basra, features a festive setting with a glowing diya, capturing the spirit of the festival of lights.

Cook's post also put the spotlight on the iPhone 18 Pro Max's camera capabilities, with the Apple executive chairman once again using a photograph taken by an iPhone user to mark an important occasion.

Tim Cook's tradition of sharing iPhone photographs during festivals

Cook has regularly marked Indian festivals, particularly Diwali and Holi, by sharing photographs taken by iPhone users and photographers.

The practice has also offered a platform to Indian photographers whose work has been featured on the Apple executive's social media account.

In 2025, Cook shared a Diwali photograph taken by Mumbai-based photographer Apeksha Maker on the iPhone 17 Pro Max. The picture showed a woman lighting diyas amid marigold decorations.

In 2024, he used a photograph by Delhi-based photographer Rohit Vohra, captured on the iPhone 16 Pro Max, to extend his Diwali greetings.

Gursimran Basra has also featured in Cook's earlier festival greetings. In 2021, the Apple executive shared two of Basra's photographs, taken on the iPhone 13 Pro Max, to wish people a happy Diwali. Cook has also shared photographs by Basra and other iPhone photographers for Holi celebrations.

The recurring practice combines festival greetings with Apple's longstanding emphasis on its smartphone photography capabilities, showcasing images captured by users rather than relying exclusively on professionally produced promotional material.

iPhone 18 Pro Max camera capabilities

Based on Apple's published information, the iPhone 18 Pro Max features Apple's 48MP Pro Fusion camera system, comprising three rear cameras: a 48MP Fusion Main camera, a 48MP Fusion Ultra Wide camera and a 48MP Fusion Telephoto camera.

One of the key upgrades 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 greater control over the amount of light entering the camera, helping them adjust exposure according to lighting conditions. This can be particularly useful when photographing illuminated subjects such as diyas against darker backgrounds.

Other key camera features include:

- Telephoto photography: The 48MP telephoto camera offers 4x optical zoom, with an 8x optical-quality zoom option. The phone supports up to 40x digital zoom.

- Ultra Wide photography: The 48MP Ultra Wide camera has a 120-degree field of view, allowing users to capture wider scenes and group photographs.

- Night Mode: Designed to improve photographs captured 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 photographs, allowing users to capture fine details of objects.

- Pro controls: Users can manually adjust aperture, shutter speed and white balance, and access a histogram.

- Photographic Styles: Photographic Styles 3 offers additional options to customise the appearance of photographs.

The smartphone also supports ProRAW, Smart HDR 5, Deep Fusion and Apple's Photonic Engine for image processing.

Video recording capabilities

The iPhone 18 Pro Max also offers advanced video recording features, including 4K Dolby Vision recording at up to 120 frames per second using the main camera.

It 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, spatial 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 60fps.

iPhone 18 Pro Max: Other specifications

The smartphone is powered by Apple's A20 Pro chip, featuring 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 vapour chamber cooling system designed to improve sustained performance.

In terms of display, the iPhone 18 Pro Max features a larger 6.9-inch display. Both support ProMotion technology with adaptive refresh rates of up to 120Hz, Always-On display and Dynamic Island.

Battery life is another major differentiator. Apple claims video playback of 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 at up to 25W, alongside USB-C connectivity.

The device also supports Apple Intelligence and the next-generation Siri AI experience.