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iPhone 15 Pro Max Camera Blurry and Out of Focus

Hi All,


It seems im not having a very good experience with the new iPhone 15 Pro Max. Coming from a 14 Pro Max the pictures were great. nice and sharp, never had issues with "blur" or "grainy" photo's.


This new iPhone seems to be a downgrade in the photo's it can produce. I'm constantly getting very grainy photo's even with the slightest bit of zoom after the photo has been taken.


I have tried all resolution's etc (12mp, 24mp, 48mp HEIF & Pro Raw.) this has affected th 1x and 5x camera.


My 14 won me a few awards for photo's and consider myself fairly knowledgeable on iPhone Photography. The 15 just isn't putting out good quality images.


All photo's are stored "on device" so there is no iCloud trickery happening.


The below is an example of what I am talking about.



[Re-Titled by Moderator]

iPhone 15 Pro Max

Posted on Oct 2, 2023 8:01 PM

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Posted on Oct 11, 2023 5:06 PM

I am experiencing the same. The shot looks great until I capture the photo. Once captured, it turns grainy and looks nothing like it did in the initial shot. Ive tried turning all of the auto settings off to see if that helps and it hasn’t. Super disappointed! My 13 Pro took better photos.

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526 replies

Nov 1, 2023 10:26 AM in response to GolfCoachLM

GolfCoachLM wrote:

I hate this iPhone 15 pro max camera such poor quality when filming in slow motion. I have had a 3,4,7,9 and 11 and all were superior to this. I can’t believe that Apple have released such a poor product

Return it if you're in the 14 day return period. Sell it if you're not. Use the money to buy something you like better.

Nov 1, 2023 10:55 AM in response to shailesh239

If you are out of the 14 day return period and you are so unhappy with the camera then yes of course you should let them do it. It may be the fix. They offered to do it for free because it’s covered under warranty so that’s no surprise. It would be concerning if they charged you to do it if the issue wasn’t connected to damage

Nov 1, 2023 11:30 PM in response to Doesntmstter

I bought 3 iPhone Pro Max and 1 iPhone Pro. I did watch tons of review videos and camera comparison videos before buying it. I saw that everyone was ranking this phone at the top. I have been an Android user for quite a long time and it was very hard to convince me to buy an IPHONE but when I saw the camera results in camera comparison videos I was truly amazed and decided to give IPHONE a try this time. After buying it when I started using the camera then I the selfie camera is completely horrible on all of our phones and the rear camera has so much noise in there too. We used to take photos and videos from my friend's iPhone 14 Pro Max and it used to come out great and this 15 Pro Max is no way near to it. I’m still wondering why no one on YouTube still didn't mention this issue. There is not a single video out there on YouTube regarding the camera malfunction of an iPhone. I don’t know whether it's a software issue or a mechanical issue but so far I’m very disappointed and planning to return it.

Nov 2, 2023 2:56 PM in response to Doesntmstter

My 11 pro max is taking better quality photos. 15 max has clearly some camera quality issues. Focus is really bad! Swithching cameras by itself when doing close up photos ( please bear in mind that macro is off!). I’ve compared few other 15 max in Apple Store and they do the sam etching so it’s clearly not problem with individual devices. It’s so annoying! I regret it so much buying it! I use my mobile to take photos for my work and I’ve taken thousands of photos with my 11 max and no issues, while I only needed to take few with 15 max and can clearly see the difference. Not worth the money.

Nov 2, 2023 3:51 PM in response to NeedIT2work

As I said in previous comments, already tried with the support, no luck. The “Specialistic” department said that’s working as intended, and I sent them different photos and comparison between 15 pro max and 13, and the difference was really huge. They told me I could try in Apple Store but other people said that they tried different 15s in store and the issue was in every iPhone 15. This give me hopes for a fix…

Nov 2, 2023 4:30 PM in response to Doesntmstter

I've been a professional photographer for almost 40 years and have been really enjoying the iPhone 14 Pro Max for illustrated diaries, from which I've sold many prints. I bought the 15 hoping it would be 'even better', but sadly it's a total joke, a kid with crayons would create a sharper picture. This is a major fault and it seems widespread (been talking with a tech journalist who says this is very true).


I have now returned my absolutely rubbish iPhone 15 Pro Max, and gone back to my iPhone 14 Pro Max. I was within 14 days 'change of mind' period and easily within the 30 day 'faults return' period. I won't be buying another 15 unless they resolve the issues completely, and even then I will only ever buy in store where I can check the camera first.



Nov 2, 2023 8:21 PM in response to Doesntmstter

Same thing here on the 15 pro max no matter its macro or regular camera. All things are blurry, grainy, over exposed, over enhanced!!!!! Apple needs to come up with something to fix this long lasting issue!! With all the talks about how the camera is enhanced, THIS IS A JOKE that the pics are like this! My older ip6 and ip11 take much much better photos!!!

Nov 3, 2023 11:43 AM in response to Doesntmstter

Same here, so crazy! Just upgraded to 15 pro from 11 pro and the camera is ten times worse! And think, I upgraded for the camera 😥


Skin tones are way off with too much magenta and when using the autoedit function it goes oposite to way too much green and screws up the tint. And as you said no improvement in grain, if theres any difference its slightly worse than my 11. Very dissapointed apple, please fix this ASAP!!

Nov 4, 2023 9:59 AM in response to JGreloaded

JGreloaded wrote:

Having the same issues. Pictures are grainy. I want to get rid of this phone but fear being gaslit by apple who says there isn’t an issue with it.

Apple can't stop you from selling or giving away the phone.

Apple fix this or lose a customer

Apple is not reading here in this user-to-user forum for feedback or suggestions.

Nov 4, 2023 11:12 AM in response to JGreloaded

JGreloaded wrote:

Do you work there ?

This is a user-to-user forum. Apple's participation here is minimal. No, I'm not an Apple employee. However, I bought an iPhone recently, and, as I do with any significant purchase, I made sure to understand the return policy.


I should clarify that I am in the U.S. It's my understanding that the 14-day return policy is Apple's most common timeline, though there are a few countries where local law may require something different.

iPhone 15 Pro Max Camera Blurry and Out of Focus

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