iPhone 13 Camera is blurry

Perhaps you should; I see none of these issues with my 13 Pro Max, so if you don't want to have your camera checked:

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

you should get a refund while you can and choose a device that will make you happier.

I don't have a bias here; the important thing is to have a phone that takes photos the way you want them to look.

Here is a quick and easy reproductible test case I propose to everyone including those that keep replying "my phone is fine" to literally every comment here, denying the reality that affects us:

1. make your phone steady (tripod, rest on something etc - just make sure you can touch the screen without moving the phone). point towards a non-moving scene with lots of details such as newspaper or a colourful bed sheet with lots of drawings. a sitting person is also ok as long as manages to relax and not move the face/head and keep eye look in the same direction. Let it autofocus the same spot or make sure you repeat focusing the same exact spot.
2. connect the phone with cable to a Mac
3. reset all camera settings to defaults, so we exclude any difference in settings
4. open camera app
5. configure Assistive Touch to take a screenshot of the camera viewfinder (iphone-screenshot-without-button) then take a screenshot
6. take a regular picture
7. take a burst picture, then select and keep only one of them. I've had issues in the past on iphones with the exposure of the first 1-2 in the sequence, so choose one in the middle just in case.
8. import a photo using the mac

You will notice that:

1. the preview screenshot shows what the sensor sees. NO effect.
2. the image taken by the camera app SHOWS the smarthdr/deepfusion oilpainting/watercolor/cartoonface over processed effect
3. the burst image does NOT show the effect.
4. the image captured at the request of the Mac does NOT show the effect.
5. the burst, the screenshot and the Mac import shows a soft/blurry lens image (lack of details), but a natural image overall compared to the one taken by the Camera.

I am curious if ANYONE reproducing my simple above test case would obtain a camera image without the blamed effect !!!

My personal conclusion is this is not a mistake, and this is by forced choice: Apple *knew* the 13 models front camera hardware does lousy images (see the softness in **ALL** other images - the screenshot/viewfinder, the import from Mac, the burst), they observed something is wrong (my guess: camera components malfunction due to shortage of supply issues in Vietnam followed by a recall program, I wish/hope 🙏) and went to attempt to correct the resulting pixels in software. This is the only logical explanation I can think of. I had my camera replaced at Apple Authorised Service Provider for nothing: the replacement is identical.

Attaching my own results (100% lossless crops of relevant areas, these are NOT digital zooms) as well as link to full original files.

viewfinder

import from iPhone on mac

burst

camera

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

Because a relatively small subset of iPhone owners are unhappy with their cameras?

If even ten percent of iPhone owners were showing up at Apple Stores complaining about their cameras, believing them to be broken it would be much more noticeable both here as well as to Apple.

The "I have this question too" counts are essentially meaningless as anyone can click that.

In the end, however, the bottom line is you and others here don't like the camera's processing, most have no issue with it, but no one participating in this discussion can do anything about it other than:

1) Shoot in ProRAW

2) Use a third-party app to take photos

3) Leave feedback at: Feedback - Camera - Apple

Obviously it wasn't a test in bright enough daylight if the optical zoom was being used.

Simply being outdoors in daylight isn't enough.

If it was in bright daylight, have your phone examined, as my telephoto lens is used all the time, as shown in my last post.

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

No, you cannot force use of the optical 3x lens, the scene has to be bright enough for the camera to tell it would result in a better image than the digitally zoomed wide lens.

I have asked for Apple to denote whether 3x is optical or digital before, they haven't implemented it.

This has been the case since the iPhone X.

If you want to ask for such a feature, leave feedback here:

Feedback - Camera - Apple

I haven't seen widespread reports of Macro focusing issues either.

In the end, if you feel your phone is not working properly, take it in for analysis:

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

It sounds like you've already done that, so the next step would be to show the store personnel the difference between one of their demo iPhones and yours.

There is absolutely no issue here.

The camera did a great job of white balancing and went for white lights rather than an over all yellow cast, and you can adjust the white balance yourself by moving one slider In the photo editor of your choice.

But feel free to leave comments:

Feedback - Camera - Apple

No, it is not correct; I have too many photos to count taken with the telephoto lens.

Rather if the phone believes a better, less noisy image can be created using digital zoom on the wide lens rather than the optical telephoto lens, it will do so.

As long as the light is reasonable, the telephoto will be used, as can be verified by the EXIF data for the photo as can be viewed by tapping the "i" in a circle icon while viewing the photo in your photo library.

If your phone is truly never using it, it likely indicates an issue with your phone and you should have it examined:

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

Yes.

It's doing what it can to make a decent photo out of bad lighting conditions, especially in night mode.

Take photos in better light and you will get better results.

Use Night mode on your iPhone - Apple Support

Most people don’t feel the way you do, so be careful with the royal “we.”

You are also in no way addressing Apple here, we are all just fellow users and Apple Engineering does not read nor act on your comments here.

Should you want to make Apple Engineering aware of your feelings, you may do so at this link, where your comments are indeed read by those who can assign an issue to be examined or worked:

Feedback - Camera - Apple

What is being described is normal.

However, if you feel your phone's camera has an issue, feel free to have it checked:

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

If you don't have an Apple Store nearby, contact Apple Support directly:

Contact - Official Apple Support

You are judging the device by what the Camera app gives you and are ignoring that you can get results that are much closer to what you want through the use of the ProRAW format and/or third-party camera apps.

If you prefer, it’s like the way most DSLRs have settings that allow you to use them as a point and shoot if you like, but the results will not be up to a professional’s standards despite being excellent for most.

Then you've found a solution.

However, I can confirm that less processing is performed with ProRAW, and a third party app like Lightroom Mobile, Halide or Snapseed has direct access to the camera sensor.

You have to take special steps to either take a photo in ProRAW or to bypass processing in third-party apps, so you may need to double-check your settings; for example:

Capture photos with Lightroom for mobile (iOS)

Note that you will need to process the ProRAW or third-party DNG files using software, either on the iPhone or on a computer, to see their full image quality.

For anyone on this thread, if you think there is something wrong with your phone, have it examined at your local Apple Store:

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

or contact Apple Support directly:

Contact - Official Apple Support