iPhone 16 Pro Max Night Photos with Flares and White Points

The purple haze you suggest are the lights reflecting off my deck which is stained a light gray. The photo is actually true to color in this regard. I don't think you understand that much about taking photos at night. Most people don't yet they expect the small cameras in an iPhone to defeat the physics and limitations of cell phone cameras. The fact you can actually take a decent photograph at night with an iPhone is a remarkable achievement. Expecting perfection from a handheld shot, when there are lights involved is as I said, unrealistic. Unless you take the time to notice the flares and angle the camera differently to reduce or eliminate them you will surely capture them in your photos. Until you understand this, there really is nothing anyone here can do to help you make your night time photos better.

A final comment: Once you capture the flares, why don't you use the Cleanup Tool in the photos app, which was made available with Apple Intelligence? You could remove the flares.