iPhone 14 pro camera keeps losing focus

In my case the problem turned out to be a cage that was obstructing the lidar sensor. That sensor has a wide angle of view. My post on that issue: The opening for the lidar sensor is not wide enough on the SmallRig 3562 cage. Lidar is used in focussing on the iPhone 13 Pro and I believe the 14 Pro. The result is that on certain moves the image can intermittently go way out of focus and stay that way for several seconds. This was confirmed on 3/24/23 by a tech at SmallRig. The problem is more pronounced on some video Apps than others. REC Pro Video Recorder is especially prone to this problem. I have not seen the problem on the Apple App. I milled the opening out to approximately 10 mm diameter and the problem has not returned. It's important to take down the little ears where the lidar window joins the larger one. SmallRig is a great company and I trust they will rectify this.

It took me a minute or so to figure out what you meant with "lens protector" :)

My iphone is n a case which does not fit around the three lenses on the camera and it obscures half of one lens and small part of another - when I removed the phone from case the video focus is no issue at all.

This fixed the video focus issue for me!!

Thank you

I do have a lens protector on. I removed the lens protector and when I did, the focusing issue went away.

This is the fix. If you have a plastic protector over the 3 lenses, take it off.

I’ve been wondering if the lenses were having trouble focusing through the cheap plastic. Just took it off and moving the phone around to take a video and it’s focusing easier and looks way better. It’s crazy this is a problem. I’ve been angry for months about it.

The new question is how do we protect the exposed lenses now?

Same focus loop problem here. iPhone 14 Pro, iOS 16.1.2. The last thing that temporarily fixed it was a hard reboot. It went back to glitching after just a week. I just updated to iOS 16.2, and the issue appears fixed again… but the upgrade involves a reboot, so no guarantees. I’ll follow up in two weeks.

Question: Are you using your iPhone in a cage? I am having a similar focus problem in videos with an iPhone 13 Pro but only when it's in a cage with a metal lens board. If I remove the lens board or take the cage off the focus problem goes away. It is specific in my case to the REC Pro Video App in my case. I have not seen the problem with the Apple App.

1000% agree. I travel full-time + only use my iPhone to document EVERYTHING! This camera situation is the WORST. The amount of videos I need to reshoot is embarrassing. And, it's the worst when it does it right in the middle of a shot that can't be replicated. I have no idea what to do. I don't want to lug around a traditional camera or DSLR.

This hasn't only happened with the iPhone 14 Pro either. My iPhone 13 Pro did it as well. But, the 14 is ever WORSE! And, I've toggled macro control on and off. I've also reduced the quality + frame speed rate. Nothing! I was in Tel Aviv videoing these guys playing volleyball soccer/futbol, and it's embarrassing how many times it completely blurred out in the middle of recording a video.

I've contemplated the Android route as well, but that totally sucks....when I only have Apple products.

APPLE HELP!!!!! This is unacceptable!

Similar problem, camera continually loses focus while shooting video. One single video of 30 seconds can go in and out of focus 3 times during that time. All tips online to fix this did not work. Please help!

Iphone 14Pro, iOS 16.1.2

The iphone14 pro is almost useless to video with. The camera loses focus every 10-30 secs especially when zooming in and out. This is absolutely terrible and Apple needs to fix this asap or buy back my phone.

I picked up a 256 on Saturday 7th and by yesterday (10th jan) I took it back for a refund. The lack of ability to keep focus on video was the main issue I didn’t trust. These things are supposedly excellent for videoing. Shame. I liked a lot of how it worked but it seemed unfinished. Also the camera lenses stick out too far for my liking. Just asking to be broken in normal use.

back to the 2020 SE until a better option comes along (yes - it was that poor!)

its a crap camera. I upgraded cuz my xr finally took a dump on me. however i now wish i went with a different cheaper phone and bought a dmr camera. I do digital scope photography for a hobby and the 14 sucks. the xr with spotting scope i can see bullet holes on a target at 100 yards. with the 14 pro the target is fuzzy. So apple why would I even try to go take pictures of elk, grizzlies or other wildlife with the 14 pro if it can’t even handle a 100 yards ?

It’s not a user error, I subconsciously tap to focus in all my videos and pictures and with the newer phone it loses focus. It’s almost as if the phone doesn’t know what to focus on.

You said that "My iPhone 12 Pro...." then you say "This is my first new Apple...." with these two statements I presume your iPhone 12 Pro was a second-hand one.

For your iPhone 14 Pro... Purchase Apple Products from the Apple Online Store, Apple Retail Stores, and many Apple-authorized resellers and wireless service providers.

Same problem just started happening this week - camera works in portrait mode, albeit "move further back" but works. In normal mode it keeps trying to focus over and over again and cannot so it's stuck in a loop.

This is very very bad as almost everyone uses their iPhone for photos.

If this is not addressed by Apple, I will return mine under Apple Care+