How to Fix iPhone 16 Pro Max Camera Focus Issue

Such an annoying issue. Pretty much all of my pictures over Christmas of family are half blurred. I have pictures of me holding my daughter, I’m in focus and she is blurred.

its crazy. Using the regular camera all with iOS 18.2 and an iPhone 16 pro max.

Alos, I do watch photography and it’s impossible to get the lens to focus. Tried everything - turning on or off marco.

I see this issue even when taking pictures of people.

I will see one persons face in focus and the other persons out of focus.

Took many pictures of the family over christmas. In the vast majority of pics where you have more that one person in the picture, someones face will be blurred/out of focus.

Im not sure why there are people on this thread that are in denial about the issue. We may not all be photography experts, which is exactly why we use the iphone. We want point and shoot photography where we dont see parts of the image, or peoples faces, blurred.

Same problem here. It's easy to test it with a take a photo to an A4 text document with main camera (disable macro mode because it is using the wide camera).

Is it some batches of camera lens problem or affected to whole series of 16 pro max? I think Apple should recall or replace the camera module sooner or later instead of fixing the camera algorithm could be fixed.

So basically we need Apple to add the 4th lens to the iPhones from the iPhone 13 Pro to take proper sharp photos of menus / pamphlets / brochures at 1x zoom! Otherwise we are stuck at taking the photo with the 2x zoom (at 12MP) for perfectly sharp photos, but you will have to be standing up to take the photo of a menu on the table instead of sitting down 😅😅😅 “looks weirds though 😒”

How was the Macro Control set in Settings app? The way macro works is different than prior iOS versions. Different lenses behave differently. The macro lens (13mm .5X) focuses closer than non-macro lenses.

>>Control automatic macro switching

You can control when Camera automatically switches to the Ultra Wide camera for capturing macro photos and videos.

1. Open Camera on your iPhone.
2. Get close to your subject.
3. When you get within macro distance of your subject,  appears on the screen.
4. Tap  to turn off automatic macro switching.
5. Tip: If the photo or video becomes blurry, you can back up or tap .5x to switch to the Ultra Wide camera.
6. Tap  to turn automatic macro switching back on.

To turn off the manual Macro Control when taking photos and videos, go to Settings  > Camera, then turn off Macro Control.

If you want to maintain your Macro Control setting between camera sessions, go to Settings  > Camera > Preserve Settings, then turn on Macro Control.

Take macro photos and videos with your iPhone camera - Apple Support

I just bought today a new IPhone 15 plus for £900, and I can not believe that the camera is useless. All pictures are blurred, focus is all messed up. I did hear it from others, but kind of did not believe it. Well now I have it in my hands, now I am experiencing it and the waste of £900. This is a joke. I was not mean to listen and buy just because the brand. Iphone is not anymore a good brand that what you buy is worth the money. It became something that is not that good, is just a brand selling low quality technology. Turning it back for sure, and making sure to share my experience to everyone.

Hey y’all! I think I figured it out. I had to tap and HOLD my finger on where I’m trying to get the camera to focus (specifically my nails freshly painted) and it clicked into place for me! You might have to tap, hold, and drag as well. Hope this helps!!

Yes I see your point, but I’m not the one missing the point when 99.9% of the people in here are complaining about the same issue as I am complaining which is that everyday “text on A4” at 1x zoom being blurry and smudgy out to the edges 🤷🏻.

No one is saying the lens is bad for taking photos of subjects. So really whilst I know what you’re saying, but this very thread is the point that the iP16 pro/max takes bad photos up close at 1x zoom of “TEXT” on a sheet of paper

Exactly the same issue with my 16 Pro. Support recommended to update to latest iOS (18.3.1). Makes no difference. I am a teacher and use the iPhone a lot to photograph printed text for smartboard use. But even my iPad Air 4 produces sharper Images than my new iPhone (13 pro was much better).

This appears to be a hardware issue. How does Apple handle this?

I can reproduce the focus issue at will because I understand the complaint

---with my iPhone 16 Pro Max locked down on a heavy tripod and using a remote bluetooth shutter release and the surface of the camera's image sensor in parallel with the detail (depth of field) I want in focus---

maybe my iPhone 16 Pro Max is defective, too -- maybe I don't know how to use the camera, either (tap focus, and zoom in to 100 percent to evaluate pixel sharpness)

but plenty of examples already posted on this thread illustrate what I am seeing here, too -- and some obvious user errors and unclarities in posts

u-tubers not talking about the issue are most likely involved with sponsors or agendas (if they are real camera operators or just editorializing their bias or weak expertise, or just not interested in the issue)

I am a firm believer in SEEING IS BELIEVING...

+++++

someone made the comment new posters aren't reading this thread before they post -- who can blame them -- this thread has become unreadable for most people except that they can see they are not the only ones, and at least one poster said they were told Apple is aware of the complaint

at that point I would just mark this "me too" and move on -- unless you want to have lengthy conversations and spend more time testing/ troubleshooting steps for Advisors who may or may not be keen or able to put your results in the hands of someone who can actually do something about it

Thank you. What distance were you? You said normal distance. What is that exactly? To a landscape photographer, it’s probably 20+ meters, to a street photographer maybe 10 meters, to a portrait photographer maybe 5 meters or less, to a still life photographer maybe 1 to 2 meters, but to a closeup or macro photographer what is normal?

Did you bother reading my post of May 4th where I explained iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max don’t focus as close as previous models? I also explained how if macro switching is enabled, the switch to 13mm .5X lens happens further from the subject.

Apple changed the specs, it’s just different from prior models. You said it should be simple to use under normal conditions. I’d say, macro photography is not normal for the millions that make up the vast majority of iPhone users. Normal iPhone users take pictures of friends, their trips, scenery, sunsets, the times of their lives. Normal to the vast majority is not being 10 centimeters from their subjects.

I really appreciate your effort, but it is not that complicated:

A4 is 21 x 29,7 cm. I opened the 1x camera und photographed the whole page like a thousand times before at about 25 cm distance.

I understand that the minimum focus distance has changed due to a larger sensor. But honestly I don’t care. I expect that my iPhone takes sharp photos by either switching to the 0.5x ultra wide angle camera for macro sooner or getting proper focus with the 1x.

So far I don’t understand how AI (as opposed to Deep Fusion and computational photography in general) specifically affects iPhone photography.

But AI (understood as Apple Intelligence) will have a lot of other functions though that will probably make the 16 Pro be regarded as a milestone in iPhone history.

But for me this model will always be remembered as the first iPhone that delivers worse photos than its predecessors (at least in an area that really matters to me and some other folks around here).

jeremyfromcobham

>>The camera is broken and you need Apple to replace it. I've just got back from one of their stores and they agreed the camera is the problem.....

if your iPhone camera is broken it will be replaced or repaired under the original warranty or AppleCare

if it is just an engineering issue (bad design) that's going to hit Apple's reputation

jeremyfromcobham

>>Apple wont admit it but the camera is the issue!!

I think you just stated an Apple Genius (I presume what you meant) just acknowledged the problem during your Apple Store appointment -- those people don't make those statements lightly -- document that in your CASE NUMBER and call back in a few days to confirm the conversation has been clearly noted

meantime, be sure to mark this thread ME TOO -- those numbers matter (I think)

I absolutely agree!! I despise the poor quality of the iPhone 16 Pro’s camera and wish I’d never gotten rid of my 12 Pro Max, which took astounding photos that make the 16 Pro Max’s camera look like the piece of garbage that it most certainly is. This has totally upended my faith in Apple after decades of loyalty.