Iphone 11 Pro Extreme lens flare

Thank you for that @rbrylawsky... As you can see I’m kinda new here...

nevertheless it doesn’t change my point of view. After a few searches on the web, I see that it is quite a common issue. I really hope Apple will address it.

(Thanks again for explaining)

The service centre didn’t accept my phone and she told me that it’s an expected behaviour. She showed me the same effect on all the iPhone 11s that they had there.

I don’t think there is anything else left to say about this issue (more of a characteristic now). Now that I’m looking through my gallery, I barely have any photo/video with flare. Now that I’m aware of this, I can try to avoid it in my photos by changing my position and for the videos, I usually take videos in daylight and outdoor, so I’m not gonna see any flares there.

I’m gonna leave this forum once and for all! I hope you do too!

Cheers ;)

They would if there was anything to fix.

However, given that for most they are working correctly, you’ll be waiting a long time for a fix for something that is normal.

You can either accept that, and purchase something else, or continue to clean complain here, though in that case nothing will actually change for you.

Spens your time and energy however you see fit.

I can do whatever I want and wherever I want. More people complain in discussion forums => more people will see and go complain to apple with this issues => more people go to apple => apple finally start doing something. Don't worry about me, I can wait, even if they fix issues through iPhone 12, it's worth it.

Apple will not do anything based on history, but they might try to make it better in the next iPhone. Really this isn’t Apples fault since Sony is the manufacture of the sensors, but no one takes that into account.

That’s what is misleading. Nothing is mentioned about post or editing these photos and certainly nothing is mentioned about flare. In fact one of the photographers (Aundre Larrow) from Apples contest page gives a tip regarding night mode photography on the iPhone in this article. Nothing regarding lense flare or adjusting your angle to avoid flare or ghosting is mentioned:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/2728053001

Totally agree, if nobody would complain, noone will know and Apple won't fix it (this or next time). So better be a bit annoying and not accept everything delivered as given. Apparently it's working because i got told that an internal memo made engineers look at it and the more people complain the higher the issues gets pushed up in importance (explained to me by two different Apple Support Supervisors).

Meanwhile my phone is in repair, I tried some software to see how to handle pics taken with night mode. It's fairly easy to make the flares go away with the right toolkit like Adobe Lightroom (paid version however). So what could be Apple's Solution for the hardware problem? 1) Hardware exchange with better build quality (very expensive to roll out) or 2) Software update (AI finding spots / flares in night pictures and removing them (roll out easy / development maybe not so much))...

I see this issue as fairly simple and straightforward to address: Replacement of the lens covers with some lens covers treated with the appropriate anti-reflective coatings.

Interestingly enough, this evening I have tested a Huawei P20 against the same identical light source, in the very same place, as I did with my iPhone 11 Pro. The verdict is interesting:

iPhone 11 Pro: Severe ghosting and whilst changing the angle it is possible to get the ghosting almost anywhere on the picture.

Huawei P20: I did not manage to obtain the ghosting image.

Upon close examination the Huawei lenses covers are anti-reflective coated. The two top lenses coating show a greenish hue when reflecting light on these whilst the lower lens anti-reflective coating shows a blueish / purple hue... Tomorrow I shall see which lens is what as it may mean that the type of anti-reflective coating is optimised for each lens aperture...

Also, the lenses from Huawei are branded Leica which is a highly reputable optical company. It means that the design of the camera optical system was either made or endorsed by Leica which is a guarantee of optical quality. Sony uses Zeiss. I believe that Apple should follow that example and get their optical system endorsed by one of the best optical company on the planet... even if the additional brand is not engraved / printed on the device.

Are the iPhone 11 Pro lenses covers coated with anti-reflective materials ?

No, unfortunately it cannot be a spectacular business opportunity in the iPhone aftermarket accessories for the simple reason that replacing the iPhone 11 Pro lens covers with aftermarket ones, no matter how suitable, high quality and problem solving these might be, their installation would simply void the warranty, AppleCare+, etc...

So as soon as the units are covered by any OEM warranty such a business model would not be viable at all.

It is funny as there seems to be many people complaining about these lenses covers but this time because they shatter all too easily. This would further call for some alternatives...

I thought about embarking on designing some cases which would cover these lens covers when not in use as there is only one type available and it does not look so great...

I may give my iPhone 11 Pro & AppleCare+ to a friend next year anyway. So the problem may disappear that way. This will depend on whether I feel like buying one of the iPhone 12 offerings if I like the design, the size or I may decide to wait a year for the 5G integration to be more mature...

I'll definitely wait to see what issues people are going to find. I have upgraded my phone every year and iPhone 11 should've been the most advanced and issueless iPhone since this is the last generation of 3 year cycle X model.

[Edited by Moderator]

The answer seems obvious: sell your iPhone and purchase a P20.

If a Jeep Wrangler doesn't corner how you want it to, you don't complain to Jeep that the Wrangler is defective, you buy something else.

I congratulate Huawei on seemingly managing something no other smart phone manufacturer, including Google and Samsung, have been able to pull off.

Tech reviewers would say it is. Marques Brownlee, Linus Tech Tips, even Talosive Tech who calls himself an Apple sheep has never complained or noticed it obscurely bad. I’ve used several iPhones before switching from Android, and the 11 is the first that enticed me to just that, and so far has been the best iPhone I’ve ever held in my hands.

It’s an amazing phone. The cameras are amazing, way more capable than a lot on the market. If flare that is normal in photography bothers you then go buy a mirrorless camera and see if that helps at all. The camera is amazing

Have seen your photos, have seen photos of other's and my camera is jut broken.

Apple has accepted my phone for repairs again. That means something...

So I can't say "The cameras are amazing, way more capable than a lot on the market".