Front camera on new iPad Pro super grainy

Hi folks, I just got a new iPad Pro and the front camera produces really grainy photos. There’s no protective film over the camera and it’s clean (just unboxed it today). I’ve attached a picture as an example. Any idea what’s going on here?

Posted on Jun 22, 2021 12:12 PM

Reply
33 replies

Feb 23, 2022 4:57 AM in response to vansh118

Ok so I know what’s causing this issue, this year when apple added the ultra wide centre stage camera they removed the normal camera. So usually it’s a wide main camera + an ultra wide camera like the rear module of the iPad Pro. But for the front camera they ditched the normal wide camera so on selfies the shots are cropped in from the ultra wide sensor which is a recipe for grainy shots. If you switch to the ultra wide mode on the selfie camera, the shots aren’t grainy. Sadly, this can’t be fixed by software cuz it’s a hardware issue.

Sep 10, 2021 2:27 PM in response to Taligreen

Hello!


I am no expert on apple tech here but the iPad Pro 2021 has an ultra wide camera instead of a regular one so what happens is that the iPad crops into the image and therefore makes the image quality quite horrendous I also have this experience with the iPad Pro and I am quite disappointed. If you are hoping for a software update to fix it, that will not happen as it software updates can only change image processing not picture quality. If you want to get better pictures I would suggest using your phone or try editing the photo in an app


hope I helped you!

Apr 10, 2022 11:44 AM in response to BigEzy

To summarise there is only one front facing lens and that it has a ludicrously pointless 120˙ FOV. It is not tack sharp wide open and still extremely poor quality, grainy and pixelated. Cropped in to be a practical focal length it is simply a joke. I use my iPhone 6 for conference calls because every time I use the M1 iPad Pro people comment how utterly ***** my webcam is. It is a massive fk up that Apple did not also include a traditional focal length lens given how much people do simple portrait framed conference calls via Facetime/Zoom etc. This is what the typical user needs! There may be a handful of amateur chefs that find the tracking action of Centre Stage useful but it is crappy gimmick that has made the M1 iPad very very unlikeable! I wish I could have returned mine but I'd left it too long before discovering this very significant flaw.

Apr 10, 2022 11:56 AM in response to Taligreen

To be honest, the photos which is not a great photo compositionally, isn't bad considering it was taken in low light and you're using the Selfie Cam, which is mainly for Selfie photos and for Video Chat apps. The front camera works best in well lit settings. And you've placed your hand pretty close to the camera for the photo you took. What mode did you use when you took this photo? Photo? Portrait?

Jun 23, 2021 10:37 AM in response to Taligreen

Hello Taligreen,


Congratulations on your new iPad Pro! It's our understanding that photos taken with the camera don't appear as expected. You've come to the right place! The remaining steps in the following resource may help:

If the camera or flash on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch isn't working


Let us know the results. Please include any other troubleshooting steps that you may have tried.


Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.


Jun 23, 2021 1:35 PM in response to Taligreen

Taligreen,


Thank you for following up. We want to make sure that you're able to enjoy your new iPad with all features working as expected. We recommend having the iPad evaluated at an Apple Authorized Service Provider to see if there are any hardware issues. Find locations here: Find Locations


Depending on how long ago the iPad was purchased, you may also want to contact the point of sale for a possible exchange or refund.


Cheers!

Nov 20, 2021 6:42 PM in response to Zatoichi_San

Hello!


While I am no apple tech specialist but as a person who loves tech and knows how it works here is why the image quality is quite bad as I to own the 2021 iPad Pro.


The device has a ultra wide camera to enable the Center Stage feature instead of a regular camera while I do think they 100% could of fit a regular camera by watching a tear down video of it. The camera crops in so it makes the image quality low. I don’t think it’s really that big of a deal as when using the Center stage feature it sort of fixes itself unless you go right in front of the camera which is not it’s intended use.

Feb 11, 2022 2:10 PM in response to Taligreen

I bought ipad pro 11 2021. After reading and searching I thought it was a software issue, but later on found that the Apple concentrated so much on one feature called center stage that they missed the basics of camera and its image quality. With every year we are seeing improvements in video and image quality. But using this ultra wide camera and not thinking of image restrictions we see how half baked product was thrown in market. I felt I was back in 2011 with that ipad front camera quality. I have returned the product. I hope Apple designers are reading this

Feb 23, 2022 1:43 AM in response to Taligreen

It’s a product design issue. Bought the M1 12.9 iPad and the camera is woefully bad whether cropped or using Centre Stage. As I am not an online Chef Centre Stage is a feature that I never use. I have face to face professional meetings with clients who always comment about my grainy image quality. I’ve tried setting up professional lighting to see if that helps but it doesn’t and there is no control over Exposure/ISO etc. It’s just a very very inadequate sensor for a supposedly professional device and I am extremely disappointed with the product.

Dec 16, 2021 1:37 PM in response to Kimkjaer

As said before above the ultra wide camera for selfies crops into the image so that makes it grainy. However the ultra wide enables Center stage where the camera can follow your face during FaceTime, Discord. Zoom, etc. If you do your research you can see that the image quality for iPads is not exactly great never has never will. Plus the M1 inside this was from my knowledge not meant to software edit photos like the A series chips found in the iPhones and older gen iPads.

Jun 23, 2021 12:00 PM in response to JovonaP.

Hi JonovaP, thanks for the links. I checked them and they don’t seem to match my issue. The camera takes pictures and the flash goes off, the issue is that the picture looks like it has a water painting filter on it or something. I’ve tried different modes but they all produce the same result, except video, which looks better. I also tried restarting the iPad, standing close to the window in case it was a light issue, and the Photobooth app, but that didn’t help either. It looks OK on the screen before I take the picture. Any other ideas of what it could be?

Here’s another picture that might show the problem better. Look at the hair and the curtain, for example.

Aug 10, 2021 4:25 PM in response to Taligreen

Hi guys, my iPad pro M1 12.9 also has the same issue, it's grainy even in daylight. I haven't check it with apple store yet, but I believed this issue happen to some people who purchased iPad pro 2021. And the annoying thing is that the specs for iPad pro similar to my iPhone 12pro max. Even my 12 pro max phone cath a very crisp picture compare to iPad pro, why apple why?

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Front camera on new iPad Pro super grainy

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.