iPhone 13 Camera is blurry

So I went to Target yesterday and happened to see they had iPhone 13s on display. I saw that they only had the 13 Pro Max, but I tested its camera anyway. I didn’t save the photos from it, BUT. the camera on it was MUCH better than the one on my phone. The weird post processing was still there, but the quality and clarity of the photos were so MUCH better even before I took the photos. I have a feeling this might be a hardware issue due to the fact that Apple is having the cameras assembled separately, instead of preassembled together. It might be a phone to phone basis. I am gonna try to head to an Apple store today and compare with the floor models.

nuama wrote:

you do realise LR can take RAW shots on iPhones, to prove it's not the native camera JPEG conversion at fault? it's something at lower level that gives Camera app an overprocessed image.

If it works it's not an Adobe-supported configuration:

Adobe Help: Tethered camera support | Lightroom Classic

I would need to know more about how the photos were taken.

1x lens? 3x zoom? We're light conditions such that the 3x lens was used rather than digital zoom?

This is one reason its great Apple gives us the ability to shoot in RAW now.

Your previous post stated:

MarcelDav wrote:

BUT owning an iPhone13 pro that I have to return for this problem.

That is present tense, not past tense, regarding the return status of your device.

Further it reinforces the fact that Apple examined your device and found no hardware issue, indicating it was performing as designed.

I am not stopping anyone from talking but rather stating I do not see issues when following a particular workflow.

In particular, I do not see the overprocessing you describe when shooting and working with ProRAW mode photos rather than those processed on the phone itself.

Regardless, a return was the right decision for your use case, so I wish you well and hope you enjoy whatever alternative device you purchase.

I don't think that's not what people are saying here. It's the software processing that's causing the issues. Since you consider DXOMark as experts. Here is what they have to say on the same article you shared regarding the front facing camera.

Which is consistent with what others have been saying here. I noticed that the selfie camera is performing just fine when outdoors 90% of the time.

The noise isn’t because of the processing, it’s sensor noise from trying to make a usable photo out of poor lighting conditions.

You keep citing the search results many of which are articles written to try and convince people there is an issue, and your number is hits, not actual people with an issue.

Please don’t use Reddit as an example of anything, there are more than 3,000 users there that would upvote a thread stating Tim Cook is an alien from the planet Xyyxzyfus.

Am I seriously saying people should shoot in RAW? Why yes, if they want best results; shooting in RAW will give it to you. Likewise, shooting using the Lightroom app will also deliver results that may be preferable.

However for the vast majority of the millions of new iPhone 13 owners, the default processing will be fine, assuming they don’t, as most to, edit and hit the magic wand to auto-process further.

MacRumors is even worse.

You say you have never had issues like this yet we saw the same complaints when the iPhone 11 and 12 were released.

Ultimately it’s personal preference again. Leave feedback and perhaps Apple will turn down the processing in a future release; given how popular Instagram and Snapchat filters are I suspect there are those who want Apple to do more processing by default.

Feedback - Camera - Apple

Ultimately we can debate here, but none of us have the power to do anything aside from leaving feedback above.

I’m just happy to have RAW mode available as it allows me to process as I choose.

Finally, your earlier comment:

"iPhone 13 has significantly more noise AND "loss of detail" because of the (again) aggressive AI post-processing.

is a victim of English syntax; it could be read as meaning the noise and loss of detail was due to post-processing, or as the photos are noisy… and the loss of detail is because of post-processing.

jbolus wrote:

> MacRumors is even worse.

How so? Please enlighten me. Please don't dismiss people who are just sharing their issues. People probably just want to confirm if others are having the same issue before contacting Apple. I thought it was just me at first, but after doing some testing with my old phones and reading what others have shared. It became clear it's an issue.

MacRumors is, as the name implies, a site for and foremost for rumors.

It's also the home of lots of people who love to complain about the least little thing and who actively love to complain about Apple and their products. You'll rarely find positive comments there.

So far, people have been objective on this thread. With the exception of 3 individuals. It has nothing to do with subjective "personal preference"... Like you keep insisting...

Not objective, complaining about "bad" cameras and that normal people shouldn't have to shoot with Lightroom or in RAW mode, when those options are explicitly available to you if you don't like the default processing.

Objective is saying "great camera, but there's too much processing for my taste."

The people have spoken:

Multiple threads in which people have been complaining about the processing and in most of them I've replied with the same answers I've given here.

Also note that the number of people making comments there is absolutely minuscule as a percentage of iPhone 13 users.

When something is an issue for even 1% of users, the forums are absolutely overloaded with comments, those of us who have been here a long time (I've been here over twenty years now) have seen it before.

That's not to dismiss your concerns or to try to assert that I am correct, it's simply a data point.

> Leave feedback and perhaps Apple will turn down the processing in a future release; given how popular Instagram and Snapchat filters are I suspect there are those who want Apple to do more processing.

I already submitted feedback before I even starting replying on this forum. I will also be taking my Phone to the Apple Store...

That's great.

If there's a defect, your phone will be diagnosed and repaired/replaced.

If there's not, you'll just have to wait to see if someday the default processing parameters change… or shoot in Lightroom or in RAW mode as has already been suggested several times.

Then return your phone if you can or sell it and buy a different device.

Thats why Apple has a 14 day return policy, so you can try it and decide if you like it; not every device will suit everyone's needs.

As a an example, I've purchased and returned both AirPods Pro and the third generation AirPods because neither works with my ears, they just fall out.

The camera is far from junk, it's in fact one of the best ever offered on a smartphone, it just doesn't meet your needs.

• Minimum focus distance is a hardware issue.

• Processing may be changed in a future software release.

• "Grain" is what happens when you try to take a digital photo in poor light.

1500 people out of about 40 million new owners isn't all that huge.

The Instagram app does not necessarily use the same processing the Camera app does, but we need not go into that; it's sufficient to say there are multiple settings to tweak multiple parameters of photo capture that the Instagram app may change to suit its needs.

In particular, as some other camera apps do, the Instagram app may take photos in RAW mode as that would make its custom filter application generate better images; without knowing its internals no one could say.

Still, if it bothers you, do leave feedback, as Apple reads and reacts to it.

Feedback - Camera - Apple

You're welcome. I'm sorry you're not happy with the clarity of your pictures. My 13 Pro Max takes stunningly in focus photos. You might want to schedule an appointment at your Apple Store Genius Bar for evaluation if you're not getting photos out of your cameras like these (all taken in the last few days):

You should return it if you can if you're that unhappy with it.

The camera is subjective; the 13 Pro Max is anything but slow, it's actually the fastest iPhone ever released.

If there is a software update that changes the behavior later to your liking, you can always purchase one then but life is too short to use a device you're going to be upset about.

nuama wrote:

The 13 series model have increased the pixel size on the sensor in order to get more light in low light. This means less real world information captured by the sensor = less sharp image.

That is not true.

If you had larger pixels on the same size sensor, that would reduce the resolution of the sensor, but the iPhone 13 has larger pixels on a larger sensor. The resolution remains 12 MP, as it was on the iPhone 11.

To quote one third party review:

"The iPhone 13's 1/1.9" wide (main) sensor captures 47% more light than the 1/2.55" sensor in the iPhone 12, thanks to the extra 11.3 mm^2 of surface area on the chip."

https://www.dpreview.com/articles/6780391159/all-apple-iphone-13-and-13-pro-camera-upgrades-explained

If larger pixels captured "less information" then the iPhone 6 with its 1.5 μm pixels would be a world-beater and a Nikon D850 DSLR with its 4.35 μm pixels would be garbage.

All those taken with f1.5 will be more blurred.

The brighter lens of 13 Pro and Max at full open has obviously degraded resolution (all prior generations had modest aperture and won't be degraded so much).

You can force the Camera app to switch to f2.2 or f2.8 by increasing the EV one or two step (swiping up when AF/AE locked indicator appears). Or you can use 3rd party app to manually dial in proper triangle.

I don't have to do anything; if you think there's something wrong, it's your onus to prove that supposition.

All I stated is your original, non-processed photos are demonstrably blurry themselves, and images on my screen are razor sharp even before I take the photo.

Anyone who believes their phone hardware is defective should make a Genius Bar appointment to have it examined:

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple