iPhone 14 pro max camera not focusing

I found a fix! I too was immensely frustrated with the camera going out of focus or jumping to macro mode when I’m zooming in to something far away. I realized it was the camera lens protector I had installed since I got the phone. Removed it and it works just fine now. Haven’t had the issue since. I’m thinking it has something do with the LiDAR being affected. Give it a try. Hope it helps!

I have the iPhone 14 pro with the same issue. I’ve done the same. I’ve spent multiple hours speaking to different people from Apple support in regards to this issue. I thought maybe there was an issue with the camera due to dropping the phone, as I don’t recall having this problem the first few months when I purchased the phone.. I had them send me a new iPhone and immediately tested the camera, but unfortunately it had the same problem as my previous iPhone. Could it be a software update that caused this issue?

I recently spoke with a senior advisor in the tech department and screen-shared with her so she could see the focusing issue, in real time. She acknowledged that there was certainly something going on with the camera, however there was nothing that could be done as she said this was how the new iPhone cameras worked.. Ultimately I was told to try to continue playing with my camera settings and “get used” to how the camera now worked.. Frustrating to pay so much for a device with issues that can’t seem to be resolved. I can’t simply snap a QUICK photo as the phone won’t focus..

Adjust the camera’s focus and exposure

Before you take a photo, the iPhone camera automatically sets the focus and exposure, and face detection balances the exposure across many faces. If you want to manually adjust the focus and exposure, do the following:

1. Tap the screen to show the automatic focus area and exposure setting.
2. Tap where you want to move the focus area.
3. Next to the focus area, drag  up or down to adjust the exposure.
4. To lock your manual focus and exposure settings for upcoming shots, touch and hold the focus area until you see AE/AF Lock; tap the screen to unlock settings.

I had this problem for months. Accidentally fell upon a fix. When I get close and it won’t focus no matter how many times I tap to focus, there’s a flower with a cross through it. When I tapped the flower, it immediately focused. Hope this helps!

if you have it still under factory warranty, send it in as I did. They replaced the lens and the issue seems to be solved.

Try tapping the flower when it won’t focus. Hope this helps!!

I had this same issue for months. Try tapping the flower when it won’t focus. Hope this helps!!

I've had this issue since the phone launched. I was initially annoyed that this issue made it past the testing phase but figured it was just an advent of a new camera system that required more user testing before getting figured out and a firmware update would fix it. Here we are a year and half out from launch and there's been zero fix or even acknowledgement of the problem. The camera system has really bad focus issues and a lot of time it can't decide which lens it wants to use for a perfectly normal focal length shot, forcing me to recompose the shot. Hardly the professional's tool it's advertised as.

The only fix that worked for me was to send it in and get the whole lens unit replaced. They did it on basic 1 year warranty. If you have an issue like this, send it in and let them deal with it.

Hi—I just down-traded mine to a 13, for all of the reasons you said. I went to a concert—5th row—and I have no pics to show for it. I know. Enjoy the show. I had no intentions of filming or taking photos throughout, but I became so determined to get one, I started focusing on the camera instead of the show. I had done all the research ahead of time on how to shoot a concert. When I got back to my room, I started bawling. Dramatic? Maybe, but I can’t imagine three years with the phone. I don’t want to get into the blazing hot aspect, and the fact that it dies after five hours of use when I sleep. I could listen to my sound app for seven solid hours on my XR and lose maybe 30% over night. (I’ve been reading about people turning on low power mode permanently. Really?)

So my 13 comes this week. I was willing to add a line, just so I could just put the 14 pro max in a drawer until it’s paid off. Desperation. So I wish I could give you advice. I, too, went to the Apple Store twice—I have Apple Care+. I would love to know the answer. Maybe someone can get some use out of the phone.

I do the same. Like the original poster, this isn’t about not knowing how to use the camera. It’s about exactly what he said. It goes in and out of focus—flipping back and forth by the second before you even get a chance to take the pic. I feel like I have to continuously tap the focus and take pics one after the other, hoping one is good. The other issue is what happened at the concert. You can be focusing at an object on the stage. If a person’s head slightly grazes the field of vision, even in the corner of the frame, the lens immediately focuses on it. So you’ll get a clear pic of a man’s bald head but not the stage.

I would recommend scheduling an appointment at your Apple Store Genius Bar to have the cameras in your phone evaluated. I have absolutely NO issues with focus on my iPhone 14 Pro Max. If you are sure you're using the correct camera (there are three cameras on a 14 Pro Max) for the scene and it's not focusing correctly, you could have a hardware issue.

OK. From what I can see, you're using your fingers to zoom while the video is recording, correct? And I'm guessing if you don't use manual zoom, the video stays in focus, correct? What camera are you using when you take such a video? Or did you switch to a different camera by tapping a different camera while you were recording the video?

It does appear the camera isn't sure what to focus on, when you zoom in too closely. This could be a limitation of using zoom while recording.