How do I disable Deep Fusion or auto editing on iPhone 16 Pro without using RAW format?

Question

Level 1

11 points

How do I disable Deep Fusion or auto editing on iPhone 16 Pro without using RAW format?

i have iphone 16 pro for around a year now (i upgraded from 12 pro after approx. 4 years) and im so annoyed with this phone because it keeps auto editing my photos, the colors changed and they look sharpened. its awful. i tried editing the photos, but they just cant look natural. the only way for me to take natural looking photos is to use the RAW format but its taking away so much storage. i have a lot of photos sized around 80-90mb per each photo. i dont know what to do with my camera anymore to counter this issue. i kinda want to upgrade my phone because this problem is bugging me so bad but im afraid all newer models have the same problem.

do the iphone 17 series allow you to disable deep fusion or auto editing? or does anyone have an iphone 16 pro camera tips? please let me know im desperate to solve this problem. thank you

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: is there any ways to disable deep fusion or auto editing in iphone 16 pro without having to use RAW format? do all latest iphone models have this feature?

iPhone 16 Pro

Posted on Nov 26, 2025 5:16 AM

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Answer 1

léonie

Level 10

200,525 points

Dec 9, 2025 3:10 AM in response to lunedejours

The iPhone SE and iPhone 12 have been the last iPhone models, where we could disable "Smart HDR", see: Adjust HDR camera settings on iPhone - Apple Support (EG)

You could try to use a third-party Camera.app, that will give you more control when taking photos.

I kept my iPhone 11 Pro Max as long as possible, before I upgraded to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, where I am now having the same problem as you and have to take RAW photos when I want to avoid HDR. But I prefer the RAW format anyway, because it will give better results when I am developing the photo.

I am archiving the RAW originals on a computer and are only keeping the developed HEIC versions in my iCloud Photos Library and on my iPhone, once I have finished with editing the photo. So the larger size does not matter much.

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Answer 2

Dec 9, 2025 2:33 AM in response to lunedejours

Switch from 24 MP to 12 MP “Legacy Pipeline”

This is the biggest improvement for most users.

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