iPhone 15 Pro Max Camera Blurry and Out of Focus

I left the comment before and now I solved the problem.

I called to Apple Support, was talking with them, but they could do nothing. Then my good friend, who is working in Apple Support 😉 advised me to recover my iPhone with complete erasure of data. Yes, it’s a big deal, but I did it. Then started iPhone 15PM without using Apple ID and without my data and BINGO! The camera just amazing! Then I erased again and set up it like my iPhone with my iCloud transfer data.

You can reset it through Mac directly. I did it with 3utools.

As my friend said it could be a software error when you transfered your data first time. Sometimes it happens with new iOS and new phones.

FIXED!!!

OK everyone just wanted to give you an update on my Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max RAW image issues. I spent a good amount of time on a tech-support, shooting various levels of images while they were linked directly to my phone and also desktop. We went through multiple shooting scenarios and they agreed there was definitely an issue. The tech-support for Apple set me up with an appointment at our local Apple dealer. Met with them yesterday they ran a basic diagnostics that showed that the camera group was Not functioning correctly. They changed out the camber group and I’ve been testing the camera since. As of now, the issue with raw imagery seems to be fixed. The quality of the coming through at high resolution are fantastic. So if you are like me, and you may have been one of the early preorders and first deliveries for the iPhone 15 Pro Max then you may have a phone with a bad camera set. go online to tech-support. Give them access to your phone while you were shooting something and let them clearly see there is an issue. They will run through various photo set up scenarios and formatting. They will also try to run diagnostics and come up empty. At that point, they will set you up with an appointment with an Apple retailer to look at the phone in more depth. by the way, PS,,, with the early phones having screen issues scratching very quickly and easily. I also had them change the screen while they were already in the phone. They did this at no additional charge. Thank you Apple.

I went to the Apple Store and I think I have it figured out! In your camera settings, formats, you will automatically have High Efficiency selected under camera capture. Apparently it is using many different cameras at once and putting all of the images together to “get the best image” but it sucks. So check Most Compatible instead. It seems to be a lot clearer with that selection. Try it and tell me if you think it helps! We did a side by side comparison in the Apple Store using both settings and the latter came out better!

That's because there is nothing systemically wrong here for Apple to fix.

If you feel your device is behaving improperly, make an appointment to have it examined:

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

or contact Apple Support directly:

Contact - Official Apple Support

If you feel images are too heavily processed, try shooting in ProRAW or use a third party program like Adobe Lightroom or Halide to shoot in true RAW mode.

• Take Apple ProRAW photos with your iPhone camera - Apple Support
• About Apple ProRAW - Apple Support

If you would like Apple to provide controls to turn down the amount of processing they do, tell them here:

Feedback - Camera - Apple

Remember all cameras do their best in strong light and never use digital zoom unless you are completely aware of its limitations.

For best results, look at your photo in Photos and tap the "i"nformation button and make sure it is being taken with the lens you prefer and at a resolution of 12 MP or higher.

If you're trying to take photos of something close with the 1x lens, you need to be a minimum of 200mm (about 8") away from the object due to the larger imaging sensor used in the 14 Pro/Pro Max and 15 Pro/Pro Max; if you're closer you need to use macro mode:

Take macro photos and videos with your iPhone camera - Apple Support

My experience so far

bought iPhone 15 pro max in January. Restored from iCloud back up. Took pics and noticed instantly that main camera photos are out of focus in good lighting. Selfie camera worse than a 200 dollar phone. Did full reset and started as new same story.

finally took it to Apple… Genius Bar folks acted as if this is first time they heard that complaint. They took a picture and said it doesn’t look bad. I picked up their demo camera and took same shot from both phones. Demo photo was vibrant n clear mine sucked from same angle. They admitted the difference and agreed to change the phone. New phone opened there only and set up as new quickly to take pics. Pictures taken from new phone way better than one I exchanged… but still not as bright as the demo phone though still much better than before and if this was the initial device wouldn’t have complained to be honest.

still it bugged me how demo was taking still better pics. They called another expert from inside who came and played with some white balance in advance settings of the phone which are on the phone and I saw for the first time….

after his tweaks main camera became almost similar to demo but selfie still remained lower to demo photo

he said demo phones have demo software which runs the display at highest brightness nits non stop which makes the picture look better. He said that can’t be achieved by user software. Kinda made sense

now the new device is taking much better pics than before but I’m still surprised Apple would make demos look better

this can be grounds for misleading advertisement. But this is thorough information

also they said cameras are made by two different vendors hence the difference in camera from first phone

sayadil wrote:

This does not address the issue.

some phones have camera hardware issues. You can improve that by getting the phones exchanged from Apple Store. Even if ur over the 14 day policy you can show them the grainy camera pictures and ask them to change it under warranty.

Like anything made by humans, some iPhones do have issues, which is why I keep repeating that if you feel yours has an issue, get it checked and Apple will make a determination.

This problem specifically reminds me of something that happens with one of my SLR lenses, and it might be for the same reason. 

I have this same issue with my iPhone 15 Pro, but only with the combination of two conditions:

• Using Apple’s native camera app while the phone is on a tripod 

I don’t have this issue at all when hand-holding it, with or without night mode. I also don’t have the issue when using the ProCamera app and a tripod. 

One of my SLR camera lenses has optical image stabilization, but that feature is specifically supposed to be deactivated when using it on a tripod, because otherwise, the photos will look like… well... my iPhone 15 Pro photos when I’m using the default camera app and a tripod. 

…which is to say, pretty terrible. 

The lens just constantly seeks to readjust, because it doesn’t know what to do with itself when the shutter snaps and it’s actually not being jostled. This is a known and entirely expected issue, which is why the manual explicitly says to switch it off when using a tripod. 

Apple should probably look into what its own implementation of optical image stabilization is doing. The phone has an accelerometer, so it should be able to automatically deactivate OIS whenever it sense that the phone is actually stationary. 

As I've said repeatedly, I urge everyone experiencing what they feel is a camera issue to make an appointment to have your phone examined:

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

Not only can they tell you whether they believe there is an issue with your device or not, you can easily snap some photos with their demo iPhone 15 units in the store and directly compare photos taken in the same conditions under the same lighting.

Obviously if the store unit takes perfect photos and yours are still a blurry mess, either your device or something like its case is to blame, and it's much easier to figure out which and show that proof to the Apple Store staff if you feel their assessment is incorrect.

Note that Apple's diagnostics can only detect obviously broken hardware that doesn't respond to tests at all or is returning incorrect data; their diagnostic software cannot tell that the focusing hardware is broken or miscalibrated.

If you feel your iPhone is truly producing "grainy" and "distorted" photos, make an appointment to have it examined:

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

Independent reviewers and professional photographers continue to find the iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max to have one of the best cell phone camera systems available.

If you are uncomfortable with the amount of processing done, you need to become familiar with how to shoot in ProRAW or true RAW modes using a third-party app like Halide or Lightroom.

Take Apple ProRAW photos with your iPhone camera - Apple Support

Here’s Reddit at it’s best, being better than Apple’s support as usual. Here is the workaround:

"With a larger sensor comes a larger distance required to avoid blurry photos.

To avoid the auto-switching of the cameras like that, go to Settings > Camera and enable "Macro Control". Then also enable "Macro Control" in Settings > Camera > Preserve Settings.

Then open the Camera and get it close enough to something or put your hand in front of the camera as though you want to do a macro shot or a macro video of your hand or whatever it is in front of the camera so that you can get the Macro Mode indicator on the bottom-left. When you see it, turn it off. That way it will no longer automatically switch to Macro Mode unless you tap it to turn it on. If it's yellow, it's on."

Go to the photo in photos, tap the "i"nformation icon and post the information here.

That photo looks like it was taken in low light, which will result in additional grain and noise even with $7000 professional camera/lens combos.

The exposure information would be most helpful.

If you feel it is your phone, make an appointment to have it examined:

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

My 15 Pro Max photos are sharp and clear but have always been, though optimizing focus and exposure always yields best results.

Always remember: Use optical zoom only, never use digital zoom unless you are aware of its limitations and are willing to accept those.

For the 15 Pro Max, the optical zoom levels are .5x, 1x and, in good light, 2x and 5x.

I had the same issue. Photos were taken as if they are in portrait mode in every single photo. Focusing on one place, blurry elsewhere. I switched off Photo Portrait mode, I switched off Macro control, I also switched off depth control and anything with depth, portrait, macro from preserve settings. Now it is much better, yet it is not better than my iphone 12PM, so disappointed.

I went to the Genius Bar today. Thankfully my camera FAILED inspection. It jumps around which makes it impossible to take a clear photo. They replaced my camera. Jitter and jumping are fixed. But the focus and resolution still stink. The support rep at the Genius Bar acknowledged and agreed my focus still stinks. I’m talking to support tomorrow about getting a replacement phone though I doubt that will fix it. She said a hard reset is the only other option apart from hoping a future IOS release will fix this. I just did the 17.1.1 update. Did not fix the issue.

There are a lot of different issues being confused in this thread.

This is not an issue with the aperture bokeh or the portrait mode or macro mode.

This is a general issue with iPhone 15 having either poor focus or poor post processing of photos.

Some people may be getting poor results as they are not appreciating that anything other than using the lenses at prime zoom will result in more digital processing and some artefacts and generally less picture quality.

For example, if you use the iPhone 15 Pro max at 2X zoom you are outside of the native zoom of *any* of the lenses. This is why an iPhone 12 Pro will look better at times at 2X zoom. The iPhone 15 Pro will look better at 3X than a 15 Pro Max at 3X as the Pro has a 3x native zoom lens whereas the Pro Max has a 5X.

I believe that the "portraits in photo mode" settings in the camera app may be responsible for some of the poor focus. This mode captures depth information and I am not sure it is the best way to get a sharp, best focussed picture.

If I turn that off I seem to get more sharp pics but there still seems to be a general focusing issue.

Also, pets seem to confuse the focus. My partner has an iPhone 14 Plus and it is definitely taking better photos than my 15 Pro of non humans.