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iPhone 12 Pro Max Camera Freezing/Black

Hello all. My iPhone 12 Pro Max’s camera freezes. For example I point it to the tv then after a few it just freezes. Like the image is frozen. So I swipe up to exit the camera app & then force close it. And I go back then it’s just black. I can still click on stuff but can’t take pics or videos. However if I scroll through Panorama, Slow Mo & Time Lapse I do see images & selfie cam works ok.

I have contacted Apple Chat & they ran a diagnostic & told me the hardware on my phone is good on their end. I’m on iOS 14.2.1 so my software is up to date. I’ve soft reset the phone multiple times. I even did an iTunes restore using a PC which was recommended by a local Apple Store but no dice. Is anyone else experiencing this issue? What’s the fix??

iPhone 12 Pro Max, iOS 14

Posted on Nov 23, 2020 7:07 PM

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92 replies

Nov 25, 2020 11:24 PM in response to Alvflo

Just got the IPhone 12 Max Pro and the Camera keeps freezing with a black screen and only corrects with a phone reboot. This was a known problem in the IPhone 11 as well. I noticed it gets pretty warm running brokerage software and charging with OEM cord. I really miss Steve Jobs he made sure the roll outs were flawless. What’s up Apple?

Dec 14, 2020 2:41 PM in response to Alvflo

Hello all. Today I updated my iPhone 12 Pro Max to iOS 14.3 hoping it would fix my camera problem. It did not. So I chatted with Apple Support for the 3rd time & asked them to diagnose the phone & this time they had told me that the ultrawide has failed...

so I’m doing an Apple Express Replacement for $29. Yayyyy...

Nov 26, 2020 11:14 AM in response to Alvflo

Now i am 100% sure IT IS A SOFTWARE PROBLEM. At work i am using my old Iphone Xs. Today while painting a boat (i am working in marina) i was listening some music on my Airpods. I decided to take some pictures of progress in painting so i did, when taking photos i observed that camera works very laggy and i thought „on wait, same symptoms as on my new 12) so i decided to switch to video mode (that usually kills my camera app in 12) and guess what? MY CAMERA CRASHED, screen went black displaying only swipe bar at the bottom. My phone glitched so much that even my bluetooth went off, music stopped playing and i had do reconnect my Airpods. I have never had any problems with my Xs in past 2 years. I am sure that this is something with ios 14.

Mar 22, 2021 6:56 PM in response to Alvflo

I notice this too it is SO annoying. I have noticed this issue with my previous phone the iPhone 11 Pro Max. The phones will randomly stop loading videos despite me watching them all day. I have to click on the video to start it instead of it automatically playing like with the for you page on tik tok for example. My camera also does not load. I get the black screen I have to completely restart the phone. Apple has just been a pain the butt these last couple of years. Nothing seems to work correctly even turning the phone back on is an issue as when pressing the power button it have to hold and release it about three long times and within that time the apple logo flashes quickly and disappears. I decided to research this because I honestly knew I couldn’t be alone

Nov 27, 2020 2:20 PM in response to gerry019

I’m not sure what the fix is. I’m hoping it’s a software issue because Apple Support told me there’s no hardware issue on their end when they do diagnostic. So if I do the volume up & volume down & hold power button till restart I am able to get photo 1x & 2x but no ultrawide. But if I just do the regular volume up/down + power button then slide to power off & when the device restarts I get the ultrawide option for a few seconds then the camera just goes to black. Very frustrating.

Dec 4, 2020 4:06 PM in response to Alvflo

I have the same problem with my camera going black, freezing up. I have been in an important moment and missed the shot several times! The only fix for the camera is rebooting the iphone. Another thing that I have never noticed before is while talking on the phone.. I sometimes take a picture to send to whomever I’m speaking to.. it will not let me take a picture while I’m on the phone.. which is something I have never had a problem with. I hope someone is listening to us!

Dec 4, 2020 4:14 PM in response to stacyfromtexarkana

So everyone here has an iphone 12 Pro Max I assume? Has anyone gone to an apple store to swap out a new phone? I've reached out to apple support multiple times to get a diagnostic & they've told me nothing wrong with my phone. And whenever I restart it I can get all 3 lenses to work with all photo video pano slow mo time lapse for a few minutes or so then it freezes & just black screen. I am hoping it's a ios bug & it'll be resolve come ios 14.3

Dec 6, 2020 8:01 AM in response to cubanovsky

I have a brand new iPhone 12 pro max that did the same. Called apple yesterday. Spent the WHOLE day on the phone. Hardware OK. Soft reset - no help. Hard reset to back up and erase all data on phone. Fortunately did not send the old phone back (past experience -lost $210!). Restore - now works, but lost a ton of data. What a mess for a new release.

Dec 13, 2020 10:09 AM in response to Alvflo

I have the same issue but with the 12 pro (not Max). It’s a couple of times a week and a soft reset usually fixes it. It is the most disruptive glitch I’ve experienced because it seems to freeze up the whole phone. Also it becomes warm pretty quickly when this is going on. I hope it is an iOS issue and is prioritized for fixing because it really takes away from the experience of using an otherwise great camera.

Dec 13, 2020 10:27 AM in response to birdini

OK. I spent two valuable days out of my weekend last week. They reset. Then we hard reset and lost a lot of my data. Fortunately, I had not sent back my old iPhone. Now I am down $210. This week - guess what? Black screen - freeze - blurr. By the way, our cheap Samsung - GREAT!!!. I was going to call again today, but really cannot afford to lose another day

Dec 13, 2020 10:51 AM in response to gerond288

Problem still persists on my end. Now the 0.5 ultrawide doesn’t even show anymore regardless of soft reset or hard reset or whatever. Portrait mode is not working. The 0.5 option is not available on the photo. Video. It is available on pano time lapse & slo mo but not accessible. I really hope 14.3 fixes these issues. Oh and also, I’m not receiving most of my notifications from texts to FB messenger lol

Get an iPhone they said. It just works they said. #2020

iPhone 12 Pro Max Camera Freezing/Black

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