iPhone 15 pro picture quality issue

It's not.

Most often when using a third-party app, the photo is being translated from HDR mode to SDR mode, and that often causes a loss in color and clarity.

Until more third parties can support HDR, there's nothing that can be done.

It's happening to me too with the iPhone 15 pro max. I'm devastated and am being "gaslit" by many of the Apple store tech people. Horrible experience. They do not have skilled technicians on staff who know about the intricacies if this "pro genuine camera." I've determined that the HDR settings are lost when sharing to another digital platform and also with screenshots or any attempt to screen record or screen share. The dull (non HDR) image we are left with is like a darken filter has been applied to the photo. I've even had many Apple technicians tell me straight to my face that taking a screenshot and having it be darkened is normal and not a glitch. I proceed to tell them this is not the case with any other apple product that I've used for 10 or more years and they say "well, it is now with the 15 Pro Max." This is 100% incorrect information. The screenshots should not darken. I can conclude that many of these technicians are too young and not trained on how to use these phones. Apple is falsely marketing these phones as cameras and have zero tech support available to get the cameras to work properly. DO NOT get one mailed to you. Only get one at the store and do not leave the store until it's clear the HDR camera setting works consistently, with screenshots, and uploads. I'm at a loss with what to do with my non functioning, brand new iPhone 15 Pro Max. No joke. It's felt like mental abuse to be dismissed over and over with these Apple employees on the issue.

They aren't answering your question correctly. The same thing happens to me and it's absolutely an Apple error. A glitch with the software. It happens when sharing between Apple devices as well as with screenshots, screen sharing and screen recording. One is not able to screen record the issue because the moment you hit "record" the HDR disappears and all that is recored are the darkened dull images. It's a glitch and it's not being acknowledge yet by the Apple tech Support. I have been trying for the last 3 weeks.

Depending upon which phones are involved, using something like AirDrop may also reduce the quality of the image (or video), especially when using AirDrop to share from a newer phone to an older model.

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She have the same issue, and we weren’t using a third party app, the sharing process was through iPhones! What’s the issue there?

Solution found..✋ while sharing photos on whatsapp you need to select HD option on top right corner its available.. simple.. thanks🤩

Most often this is because those apps will accept high resolution, HDR photos but will resample them to lower resolution, SDR format.

That isn't an Apple vs. non-Apple issue, it's a design choice made by those sites.

For example, Facebook will automatically downsample any posted image with a resolution of more than 2048 pixels on the long side whether you post from an iPhone, an Android or upload a photo from your computer.

It has nothing to do with your phone.

Third party sites accept the photo from your phone or your computer, then reprocess them at a lower resolution for their web site.

You can't control it or fix it.

Why is the photo quality from the iPhone 16 pro max, both colour and contrast, inferior to pro max in earlier models. Looks ok in viewfinder when taking photo, but not useable without editing.

I've tested this on the display floor models of the iPhone 15 Pro Max at 3 different locations. T-Mobile, Best Buy and the Kansas City Apple store over the last few weeks. Two out of the three worked as they should. The one in the Kansas City Apple store had the same HDR (High Dynamic Range) being lost with screenshots and uploads to other digital platforms as well as other Apple platforms. The problem/glitch appears to be random.

It's not an Apple "error," its the inevitable result of mapping from HDR to SDR.

If other digital platforms don't support HDR (notably Facebook) it has to be mapped to SDR.