iPhone 15 Pro Max Camera Blurry and Out of Focus

The ironic thing about the "you're holding it wrong" explanation was that Steve was correct.

Tests with Android phones showed that when you held them in the same way, their reception was also impacted.

Nevertheless, all I have done is present the modern reality of what photography has become in the smart phone world. I haven't said you're wrong, I haven't said your technique was bad or that your opinion was wrong, I've just stated what the marketplace is demanding and shown that is what Apple is providing. "No processing required" uploads to social media is by far what most people want.

If you don't like it, I in all sincerity hope you write a detailed criticism to Apple at the link below:

Feedback - Camera - Apple

Apple does read what is sent to that address, as opposed to complaints left here, which are only monitored for compliance with the Apple Support Community rules.

You can detail what you want from a camera, but none of that changes the fact that every review I am aware of has complimented the iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max cameras as being the best ever introduced on a smartphone available in the United States.

You certainly may have frightened people away from purchasing an iPhone 15, but any other phone they purchase will process their photos as much, if not more. Certainly the premium offerings from both Google and Samsung do.

As I stated, for those who don't like the processing, ProRAW and RAW modes are available.

If you don't want to have to use third-party apps to reduce the processing, leave feedback at the URL above; as merely fellow Apple users, complaints left here are neither read by Apple Engineering nor acted upon but those left at the feedback URL above are read.

Whether they are acted upon is up to Apple's corporate priorities.

You have described how the iPhone 15 and all smart phones take photos - it's also how the Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy take photos, and is called "computational photography."

How-To Geek: What Is Computational Photography?

It also has absolutely nothing to do with the "High Efficiency" setting.

Using HEIF or HEVC media on Apple devices - Apple Support

I get that you want to just point and shoot, but the better the camera the more you need to take some user action to get the results you want.

The iPhone 15's photos are in no way inferior, in fact they are much, much better than anything possible with the iPhone 13 or anything earlier.

This is a more typical iPhone 15 PM photo:

It's trivial to tap somewhere on the screen to get more accurate focus and contrast in the latter case.

bumbklaatt wrote:

Of course, you don't have to use the automatic function with the yellow frames and then you are responsible for the focus yourself, there is no question about that. But if the frame is displayed, I expect the focus to be perfect.

Which isn't true even for a $5000 mirrorless.

It's showing you the faces it detects, but especially in lower light they can't all be in focus, it's an optical impossibility.

If you want the yellow box to only show you the face in perfect focus, let Apple know:

Feedback - Camera - Apple

No one here not explicitly identified as an Apple employee is.

Rather the information regarding computational photography was from a general information web site and developer information I have posted was delivered to developers at WWDC (2021) and via Apple's Developer site.

If there's ever a disparity between what a developer says and what Apple implemented, it's always easiest to check what Apple actually told developers when the feature was introduced.

If Apple made an error, they will work to correct it; if a feature is as it was designed, they obviously will not.

If an item would violate the laws of optics or physics to implement, they obviously can't, and that's the reason for increasing minimum focus distances as the image sensors in cameras grow larger.

(Note that the minimum focus distance for the 1x lens of the iPhone 15 Pro Max is approximately the same as that for the main lens on the Samsung Galaxy S23, and both the Galaxy and the Google Pixel 8 Pro also rely on their macro lenses to focus closer than that.)

Apple allows the return of devices purchased from them for 14 days after purchase for whatever reason.

Other retailers have other policies.

Note devices purchased during the holidays have a different policy:

Holiday Return Policy

Eligible products at the Apple Store Online that are received between November 3, 2023 and December 25, 2023, may be returned through January 8, 2024. Please note that all other terms and conditions provided in the Apple Store Online Sales and Refunds Policy are still applicable with respect to such products purchased. iPhone purchases that are carrier-financed with T-Mobile are not eligible and are subject to standard return policy. All purchases made after December 25, 2023 are subject to the Standard Return Policy.

We tried. It's either the 14-day free return or Apple simply says it's working as intended. Some staff will say it's a software issue, thus you have to wait for a fix. However, there is no fix coming anytime soon.

In general, Apple wants you to file your own case for the issue, and you should.

Sounds like something to be resolved in a firmware update. Curious to know if you compared any other camera apps to the native camera app - like Fjorden for example?

See if they will let you exchange it for a 14. I was told I had 30 days for exchange not refund. It’s worth a try at least calling to ask

I think all you who are writing here needs to contact Apple. I have.

It looks like this photo was taken with Night Mode, which merges several photos taken in random succession to create a single photo.

It didn't necessarily lose quality, rather additional processing is done after you take the photo unless you are shooting using a third-party app in RAW mode.

If your purchase is within 14 days, please do get a refund. Otherwise, they will advise you to wait for a fix, that may not even happen.