Camera and Flashlight not working after iOS 17.3.1 update

An update: My phone is under warranty. I took it in and they didn't replace the phone, but replaced the module in the top corner that has then camera lenses in it, which is also where the flashlight is. Works now. Thats the only solution.

Because I had AppleCare coverage on my iPhone, I called support on May 20th and spent 45 minutes on a call with a senior support advisor. She ran another remote diagnostic on my iPhone which showed no hardware defects of any kind, even though the front camera problem and the color artifacts in my photos were constant. She recommended that I just replace my phone with a new 14 Plus. I did that (my new phone arrived on May 23). I updated the new iPhone to iOS 17.5.1 and then transferred all apps and data to the new phone (the front camera on the new phone worked perfectly from the start and was not affected by the software update).

Then, on a whim, and before wiping all data from my old iPhone 14 Plus (which I had purchased new in late Nov. 2023), I accepted the prompt and updated by old iPhone to iOS 17.5.1. That software update instantly cured my front camera problem and the photo artifacts problem.

There has been a lot of media coverage about how iOS 17.5.1 has cured the problem of "deleted" photos being resurrected on users' phones. I have seen no publicity at all about how 17.5.1 also cures the "black screen" front camera problem, at least on some iPhones.

If 17.5.1 was released within the last couple of days, the Apple software engineers must have been working on this release for a while. The $64,000 question is: Why didn't the software engineers inform front-line Apple support personnel (on the hardware side) about how 17.5.1 was going to fix the front camera and photo artifacts problem? I could have saved myself several hours of time this week by just waiting for and installing iOS 17.5.1, without replacing my phone.

I am exactly the same, no cameras not flashlight, reset settings, no change, completely erased phone, restarted without recovery from backup, still nothing, restored from old backup, still nothing!

Initially my facetime camera worked, and the main camera only worked via the filmic app, but flash and main camera would not work via the apple camera icon, it was just black on screen. I updated to 17.5.1 tonight hoping the issue had been resolved but still the same, even after a reboot.

Apple support ran diagnostics on my phone, tried to tell me there is an issue with my camera (no sh*t Sherlock!) and since then, neither facetime or main camera work!! not even thru filmic app. so now I am left with no facial recognition too! this issue is 100% firmware related and do not let apple tell you otherwise!

apple's suggestion - Take it to local service centre! - I have told them I will not be paying for their poor firmware update causing problems with my phone. It is spotless, always in a case, never been dropped and worked perfectly until 17.5.0!! so frustrating.

I have an appointment at service centre tomorrow 23-05-2024 - I will let you all know the outcome of that.

Not impressed!

I have been having the same issue. I have found that if I drain my battery completely and then begin to charge the phone, the camera and flashlight work fine... for a while. Eventually they both stop working again.

Question: If you set your camera zoom to .5 - can you take a photo? And if so, is the photo messed up at all?

I had exactly the same two problems occur with the camera on my iPhone 14+ while running iOS 17.4.1, but starting at least a couple of weeks after installing that version. Both of the black screen on the front camera and the rainbow squashes of color across one side or one corner of every photo taken with the front camera. These problems went away immediately and temporarily when I installed iOS 17.5. and before these problems recurred later on May 16, I took my phone, which is under warranty, to a genius bar at the Apple Store. The diagnostic that was run indicated no hardware damage at all. Then later that day, both camera problems occurred and are still occurring, I can get the camera to work normally by doing a forest restart or by stepping the zoom ratio down to 0.5 and then manually pinching out to get to 1.0 or above. However, every photo taken with the front camera still has the color artifacts in it .

it seems a very common problem, my phone camera stopped working after 17.5.0 just updated again to 17.5.1 and no change. have reset, deleted all phone data, started fresh without recovery from backup, still no camera, then recovered backup, still nothing. apple have told me to take it to service centre tomorrow 23 May 24 lets see what they say, i have told apple I will not be paying money for a firmware fault causing issues, my phone is spotless owned from new and never a glitch until 17.5 :(

Same issue with my first 14, took it to Apple Store, repaired it and ended up giving me another new iPhone 14, now this one is doing the same thing. Same exact issues, 1x camera not working, flashlight not working, and .5x works, then you take a picture and the rainbow shows up. Two iPhone 14s now. Any update with yours

Make sure there is no crack in your lense as that can cause that issue.

Exact same issue, took it to the Genius Bar who confirmed my phone had no visual damage. However they are suggesting that the camera module was somehow broken before the software update and this new update has simply flagged the issue…. how could this possibly be true if all camera and flashlight features worked perfectly before the update?

They want £200 to replace the telephoto camera module. Absolutely ridiculous.

There was nothing wrong at all with the camera module before the update, they even gave me a written report which confirms the update has caused these issues but are refusing to repair it.

It is unacceptable that Apple can push software updates which removes features of a device which they advertised when they sold me the device. It’s a breach of consumer rights legislation.

Me too camera and flashlight not working. I also tried everything checking settings, soft reset, hard reset software is updated hence the issues😵‍💫Someone posted they got their camera to work on 0.5 magnification which worked for me too but if it’s a document the page is curved… photos too but more noticeable with document.

Apple Support Is there a fix for this yet?

Same problem here - iPhone 12 pro. One suggestion I came across was performing a "device firmware update". Unfortunately I wasn't able to duplicate the expected outcome which was iTunes detecting phone in recovery mode and then doing a force restart. Oh well...I guess it's time to call Apple...in hopes of not having to go to Apple store:-|

(The instructions were through ifixit.com - search for iPhone 12 camera not working.)

Having the same problem after last update - I first noticed it when my code scanner (in control center) went completely black, When taking photos, only works in 0.5x mag and flash does not work nor does my flashlight. Clearly a software issue so why isn't it being recognized and addressed - I would hate to have to wait until iOS 18 and pray it fixes the problem.

I'm also experiencing the same issue on my Apple iPhone 15 Plus 512GB. My flash is turned on and I'm not able to turn it off. They told me that there is a hardware issue. It's just 4 months after the purchase, and I'm already facing this problem. This happened overnight, and it looks like they have pushed a new update for iOS version 17.5.1. Upon restarting, I receive a message stating that the camera for this iPhone is not recognized. The previous day, the phone was working fine, and there was no issue at all.

I had the same problem , took it in to an Apple dealer and after multiple trips they finally changed parts that they said were defective . Not even 3 months and I have the same issue , back camera and flash don’t work and if I zoom it comes out with all colours . And now warranty is up they say I have to pay . SMH