Blurry pics on iPhone 14 Pro Max (iOS 16.0.2)

I recently upgraded to the 14 pro Max from my 12 pro Max for the sole feature of the camera upgrade for my business and I am so extremely disappointed. I sat with Apple's genius bar staff for a total of almost 5 hours in two days trying to figure it out. It seems all 14 models have this issue and there's no way to resolve it. I had 6+ employees helping me and they tried changing every setting in the world and nothing worked. They tried tester phones within the store, all had the same issue. Unfortunately, they're refusing to give me a 12pro Max back due to the trade in I did and would only receive $300 back. Looking to find somewhere to purchase a 12 pro max as second phone just so I can do my business properly and have better quality photos.

😂 This is the problem apparently-

Apple introduced Smart HDR on the iPhone in 2018, and this software feature is now in its fourth iteration with the iPhone 14 lineup. With Smart HDR 4, the device will snap multiple photos with different settings and then combine the “best” elements of each image into a single photo. There’s a lot of computational photography going on with this process, and though the intention is to make the images look good, it actually does the opposite.

you used to have the option turn the HDR feature off but later models don’t give that option and this would resolve the issue according to this blogger.

Hi, so glad i found this thread. This camera is TERRIBLE with every setting, videos are grainy, blurry with horrible focus. I’ve been upset for weeks that I want my 11 pro max back. I was on the phone with Apple and in the store for hours on end with no solution. It seems at this point they’re not addressing the issue as ‘they’ve never heard negative things about the camera’, which makes me think it won’t be fixed. I do a lot of video content as part of my job and I may have to buy a refurbished 12 pro max just for the camera and possibly buy out and sell this one. A disappointment and a loss of money.

Howeverrrr I do feel shooting with a third party app, I specifically use ProCamera because it shoots video, helps a lot in controlling the settings including the ISO (lessens the grain) and having manual focus mode, to stop the annoying auto focus.

We shouldn’t have to use these apps and adjust the settings just to shoot a photo or video — but I’m trying whatever I can to get something useable. The camera apps definitely help (halide, camera+) Not sure if this will be useful to anyone just wanted to put it out there!

Hey, so basically I tried to reset my iPhone's all settings ( General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset All Settings ) . After the reset, I think the quality has improved. Maybe it has or maybe it's just the placebo effect. Also I've noticed that the iPhone 13 series has a warmish tone as compared to iPhone 14 pro and pro max. Today I went to my nearest authorised reseller and did a couple of tests, It was the same, the picture quality and sharpness was the same. But what I really think is resetting helped it get better. Nevertheless I'm gonna live with this thing and I'll just try to get it off my mind because there is nothing I can do about it. I asked the apple representative there and he said there is absolutely no chance that the camera itself has a defect.

Hi...

Yes... I had this issue with selfies... but not pic's taken the regular way.... I wanted to let you know... it WAS the screen protector doing this for me but on a selfie! UGH... It's because where the black portion is above on the cell... that's where the camera is I believe... and so any screen protector will hinder that! So I tried to take that darn screen protector off and voila... it worked great.

Take your screen protector completely off and try it again... SOOO happy I figured this out for me...

Also I am using the liquid screen protector which does come with a warranty Was only about $40 bucks and worth it. You cannot tell it's there!

Hope this helps

Hi macro off then can’t get close enough so not useful.

Best settings so far Raw on: x1 selected with macro: in settings-camera formats: most compatible & apple proraw & view outside frame off & lens correction off: in setting -photo select keep originals.

Using those settings I’m getting a photo that I can zoom on the iPhone and on my pc beyond 200% without the loss of detail & pixelated image that I was getting. So tomorrow will try it out in the field taking some outside macro pics.

Sure, just download google photos and make sure you are synced up. When you take a photo, go into google photos and hit edit. You can now adjust blur and tap to focus where you’d like. All of the info was captured correctly by the camera but scuffed by the software. This is why Google photos can fix it. So I’m really hoping for a software fixed soon.

Hi these are the adjustments I made which resulted in great macro photos.

Best settings so far Raw on: x1 selected with macro: in settings-camera formats: most compatible & apple proraw & view outside frame off & lens correction off: in setting -photo select keep originals.

I’ve gone back and checked some photos I took with my old iPhone 6S and the ISO’s are all low at 25;50 etc. similar shots with the iPhone 14 pro are 400:800 etc. Take a look at the 2 shots which have similar lighting levels but widely different ISO’s despite similar shutter speeds. Does anyone have Camera+ app which allows you to adjust the ISO

Hi, i´ve been watching some youtube videos on how to properly use the camera and trying to take better pictures and i think it´s working. I guess the 14 Pro is not an out-of-the-box ready camera experience since it has to be tweaked in some ways to get better results. I´m not saying you guys didn´t try this but for my experience it´s working. The thing i cannot get rid of it´s the over post-processing that kinda ruins the photo, but if we lower the exposure for example it really helps in getting better quality ones, even helps with the blurryness. Maybe this camera has to be treated like a pro one in some level. I still think that for a smartphone this is too much effort at least to take normal day to day pictures. It should have profiles to take common pictures to look great so we don´t have to tweak it every time we take one.

Try this. Watch a bunch of tutorials in Youtube, they are quite a few ones but luckily very short. You might learn something and maybe it´ll help.

If Apple don´t release a fix, maybe this is the fix. Idk.

I hope it helps!

It's not just a blurry issue, the camera cancels out the shadows on faces.

Apple is fully aware of the issue, they've failed consistently on blind camera tests according to YouTuber Marques Brownlee. See his side by sides attached.

The good news is it is a software issue so Apple might be able to fix it in upgrades. I will be ****** tho if they only fix it in iPhone 15 and I am stuck with this 14pro. I still have a week to return it so am considering a used lesser model until apple fixes the problem.

I tried to get a refund without success, as it's not a hardware issue and it's outside the return period. They checked the phone, did a diagnostics..... wasted a day.

They said Apple is aware of this issue, aware of this community discussion, and working to fix this issue with software updates, but don't know how long it will take!

I said, what happens if software updates cant fix this issue, are we supposed to put up with it, and shouldn't they have tested the camera before selling the product? Quality control? Consumer rights?

Y’all here’s what I’ve done in case this helps anyone: I’ve been to apple twice. Showed them clear examples of how poor/blurry the photo quality is (unusable photos). They agreed it is not producing quality photos. They ran hardware tests and replaced my camera. This did not fix the problem. They did a reset of all settings, this did not fix the problem. They said to submit feedback to apple (I have) and they would expect apple to fix this issue with a software update. So for anyone experiencing this hope this saves you some time!! Basically there’s no fix currently. And I’m stuck with a phone that can’t produce a clear picture. I use my camera for work so this is effecting my business.

My specific issue is that the camera preview shows a clear shot, focus is correct, subject is still, etc. the bad photo comes after the processing. So definitely software and hopefully they will fix it. Keep reporting the issue!

Apple can 100% fix this with an update. Whether or not they choose to is what’s driving me crazy. NEVER before with older iPhone models did I have to retake photos just to get a semi ok one. Now it’s just pure luck if the software decides to not butcher my image. It’s literally driving me insane. Sometimes I magically get a pretty good photo then it’s back to adjusting them all into a MESS of blur, grain, noise, oversharpening and pixelation. Just unreal. Objects look like they were overlayed into the photo in a way??? Terrible.

I was on apple support call with supposedly their senior engineering team and he told me apple has lots of reports and knows the issue. But no idea of when or if they’ll fix.

i’m still reporting and sending examples. If you call apple support (@ everyone in this forum) you can ask for a link attached to your report to send in examples of what’s happening. Can help speed a fix if they decide to.

It’s actually unlikely that it’s hardware. The lenses and camera system on this phone are better. That’s a fact. What’s producing such bad results is the processing. So, leans towards software.

in addition my phone passed all hardware checks and a new camera didn’t fix the issue. Photo preview always shows clear and looks natural and sharp. It’s only after the photo is taken that the ruining of the image is apparent. Again, evidence of a software issue.

Apple’s “senior” engineer confirmed that it’s most likely software based. And that apple knows about the issues and a fix “could” be released but apple hasn’t formally addressed it so I feel kinda hopeless and really regret being stuck with this phone.

if they did fix it I know it would be a great camera. Because it physically is. The processing, etc. is the bulk of the issue.