How to Fix iPhone 16 Pro Max Camera Focus Issue

EDIT :

I had the opportunity to make one more test today with the Vivo X200 Pro Mini.

I confirm it does not have the problem when shooting an A4 flat paper.

But... Shooting a keyboard : the problem is there on this shooting case, and twice worse.

Seems you did not understood the whole point.

The test on a flat paper puts the problem in evidence, and this case is a problem on these days where companies ask you to send them a copy of documents through your phone.

Aside on that, that test puts in evidence that when not in a "perfect" sheet-of-paper case, the pictures of people and objects you take in the problematic distance are not sharp as they should be, and sure people will like them as they do not have enough experience and/or comparison of the shot taken with a good quality phone.

And the problem is not on the corners as you say, but starts near the center, and is awfull in the corners.

I started to notice the problem on abasic object shot, where I noticed near the center a visible loss of quality compared to my old iPhones. And proceeded to reproductible tests with a flat paper.

Last, as far as I know, the Vivo X200 Pro Mini has same "dimensional" specs, and has half of the problem. And not the flat-paper one. So possibly not a full 100% hardware problem.

Mi foto sale de baja calidad la tomo en retrato o en foto normal y me sigue el mismo procesado de imagen horrible, la foto sale granulada, de baja calidad, sin enfoque, de verdad necesito que me ayuden porque gaste dinero en un teléfono que no puede ni hacer fotos de buena calidad

For me the issue discussed here was the reason to remain with my beloved iPhone 14 Pro Max. The biggest disappointment: Apple seems not to care, at least I don’t see any official comments on the issue here. Maybe I should have read every comment on the 21 pages here? And how about recalling defective iPhones if it’s true that not every iPhone is affected?

Take a look at this screenshot:

Now roughly the same scene in comparison. IPhone 16 Pro Max:

iPhone 14 Pro Max:

Sad to admit that, but Apple as we knew it seems to be dying.

The AI in your iPhone 14 picture is not very "advanced." The flower in focus is ultra-sharp (good) but the blurred background is uniformly blurred, which looks artificial and is not a naturally looking depth-of-field. I think the iPhone 16 has improved this greatly, but it can be challenging to focus correctly. I don't think it's fair to use a blurry picture of a flower as "proof" that the iPhone 16 camera has a focusing issue. You need to learn how to use the camera.

The Apple Notes app has a built in document scanner feature that works great for flat copy work.

iPhone > Notes > new document > Paper Clip (attachments) > Scan Documents. It’s not as full featured as ones you may download or pay for, but it has the essentials.

This is good to know about edge-to-edge sharpness. I've had problems before with "macro mode" software interfering with sharpness. This looks like it's a lens issue, but it could be software too, as seen by "macro mode" and edge detect blurring, simulating shallow depth of field in photography, in portrait mode.

My question was actually quite different. My phone doesn't focus at all using the main camera, so the entire frame is blurry, so blurry that nothing is discernible. It has recently been doing it occasionally on the 5x lens as well. The 0.5x ultra wide lens is the only one that works. It worked when I first got it, so I'm assuming it's a software issue. I wish I could turn off "golden hour" mode too; it just adds orange to the photo taken near sunset time, even when you are taking a photo of something else. It's worse than the phone adding yellow during normal daylight time.

Anyway, thanks for your responses, you've shown me something else I had not looked into. It is just a phone, despite what apple and the internet claim; great photos can happen on anything, but great quality comes from a camera; maybe a pocketable camera is best, like the GRiii, ( i think about it a lot). There seems to be a new ios update, hoping that will fix this focusing issue. Thanks!

Any solutions for this issue yet. I recently purchased 16 Pro expecting a good photo quality. Videos are sharper and clearer than photos. My old iPhone 13 is taking better landscape pictures than 16 pro.. :( :( help

Im going through the same thing!

I’m having the exact same issue. My iPhone 12 Pro Max literally took better pictures. Super annoying.

I returned mine and bought another one. Same issue… not very happy

I am facing the same issue with iphone 16pro lens may be it is a software problem because it is happening in every lens in iphone 16pro and pro max .

I've had an iPhone 16 Pro for a month or so. Everything with the 5x camera, photo, macro and video is soft focus. This is very disappointing.

I'm using 16 and having exactly same issue

I wosh i could but the size is more than 5 MB. Can ypu suggest any app to reduce the image size?