What happened to my iPhone 11 Pro camera? iOS 13.4 seems compressed pictures harder?

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Level 1

26 points

What happened to my iPhone 11 Pro camera? iOS 13.4 seems compressed pictures harder?

I updated to iOS 13.4 the other day and yesterday I went for an evening walk and took this beautiful sunset. But look at the sky? It's so compressed that the sky looks really blocky.

I haven't seen this before with older iPhones or with my iPhone 11 Pro and I have taken a lot of similar photos before. The Smart HDR kicked in but the sky shouldn't be like that, I have never seen this before. I thought my lens was dirty but it wasn't.

Maybe Apple compress pictures more now in iOS 13.4?

Btw this photo was taken with HEIC and is untouched, but I also tried with JPG, the picture still come out the same.

What's your opinion?

Here's the original photo untouched https://www.dropbox.com/s/7n3e8fiomvx097u/IMG_0891.HEIC?dl=0

iPhone 11 Pro, iOS 13

Posted on Mar 27, 2020 3:27 PM

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Answer 1

brenden dv

Community Specialist

Mar 29, 2020 12:43 PM in response to macki

Hi macki.

Shooting directly into a bright light source as is the case in the image you posted can result in a number of types of anomalies caused by the way light reflects within the lens itself. Professional photographers have been dealing with this since time immemorial and there exists a plethora of accessories for minimizing it. In general. the phenomenon is referred to as "lens flare." In its most recognized form, it will look like a bright "flare" of light on one side of a photo as discussed here:

If you see a flare, haze, or spot near the edge of your photo or video - Apple Support

However it can take several forms. In this case, you have two sources of bright light (the sun that you are shooting directly at as well as the light reflecting off the water in the foreground) that may be causing this.

If you really want to delve into it, there are several apps available in the App Store that offer deeper control over camera functions to make the iPhone operate more like a DSLR.

Cheers.

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Answer 2

Joseph_S.

Community Specialist

Mar 29, 2020 9:54 AM in response to macki

Hello macki and welcome to Apple Support Communities.

I see you have some concern about photo compression in iOS 13.4.

There has been no announced change to anything relating to compression or quality of photos in iOS 13.4 You can find all of the info about changes to each version of iOS 13 here:

About iOS 13 Updates - Apple Support

Cheers.

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Answer 3

macki Author

Level 1

26 points

Mar 29, 2020 1:03 PM in response to brenden dv

Hi brenden dv,

I know photography so all that you are saying I'm fully aware. I have two DSLR...

But it's actual not that I was referring to. I know that you all miss understood me. I mean the compression artifact, the noticeable distortion of the sky.

I have had several iPhones - 3GS, 4, 4S, 5S, 6S, 8, X and 11 Pro. I have never seen this type of noticeable distortion before until iOS 13.4. I have take several similar pictures also and have never had this type of high compression of a photo from the main camera.

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Answer 4

macki Author

Level 1

26 points

Mar 29, 2020 10:22 AM in response to Joseph_S.

Hi Joseph_S.,

Thanks! I know that but sometimes Apple do stuff behind the scenes....

Anyway, I still think the picture shouldn't come out like this. Have you seen the sky on the picture?

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What happened to my iPhone 11 Pro camera? iOS 13.4 seems compressed pictures harder?

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