How to Fix iPhone 16 Pro Max Camera Focus Issue

Ive been involved in photography since the late ‘70’s and taught photography for 4 years at MSU, worked for AP and International Herald Tribune.

My job was to come back with a photo, not worrying about my camera not working the way I want it to. If a third party app is the better tool for a specific job or photo, use it. I couldn’t care less what camera or app took it.

Yes, DoF is a zone of acceptable sharpness that extends both in front of and behind the point of focus (subject). If I misstated, it could have been a typo. Sorry for any confusion it may have caused.

Post your group shot with ISO, shutter speed and f/number and which lens or zoom setting.

You may also be interested in learning Apple iOS 18.2 public release is rolling out around the world in many (all?) countries today. I watched a video from someone in Australia an hour ago and he’d installed the update and reported that it resolved many of his issues. The article below explains how to update. The release time in your area may not have occurred yet. You will just need to check the update option in your iPhone.

Update iOS on iPhone

By the way have you tried what I said in the previous post? To take a photo with the 1x of a sharp text menu / pamphlet / A4 sheet and tried to zoom in to corners and see if your camera has the same blur issue?

Yeah sweet, well there’s the thing I have been to apple basically not even a week after the iPhone 16 has been released with this issue, and they have acknowledged that it takes blurry photos, but then they compared it with another workers iPhone 15 pro and that had the same issue! And they also tried a demo iPhone 16 off the shop floor and that was the same!

and basically the worker didn’t know what to do so he said just give feedback to apple (which I did) but I had no replies, and I can’t even attach any photos on the feedback section so I’m not even sure if they have received the feedback because I haven’t seen any reply.

so at the end of it, it was down to let’s see if any further iOS Updates solve the issue. So here we are, I’m a bit worried that it’s across all lenses if the workers iP15 pro had the same issue and a demo iPhone 16 pro also had the same issue….

and when I started researching about blurry photos I came across this forum. Hopefully Apple sees this forum! 😅

What does app the above show? Settings make a huge difference. Best results for that distance? Turn off Macro Control and force use of 1X 24 mm lens and maintain at least 1/100 of a second shutter speed and add enough light to maintain ISO of 100. Better results obtained with a tripod.

13mm lens .5X 12MP

24mm 1X lens at 48 megapixel

Me too!!! At the beginning of December I "upgraded" from iPhone 15 to iPhone 16 Pro.

Initially I thought I had a defective model, so I went to the Apple Store (Carosello, Italy) to do some comparison tests: thanks to the helpfulness of the staff, I was able to take several photos with the devices present in the showroom, also trying different software settings, and the result was shocking: all the iPhone 16 Pros have the same very low image quality.

iPhones focus, like virtually every other AF camera. They use a method called phase detection AF. The camera analyzes light hitting the lens from different points to determine if the image is in focus; essentially, it compares the light rays from two points on opposite sides of the lens, and when they overlap, the image is considered sharp. It works as follows,

(1) An autofocus processor (AFP) makes a small change in the focusing distance.

(2) AFP reads the AF sensor to assess whether, and by how much, focus has improved.

(3) Using the information from (2), the AFP sets the lens to a new focusing distance.

(4) The AFP may repeat steps 2-3 until satisfactory focus has been achieved.

This entire process is usually completed within a fraction of a second. For difficult subjects, the camera may fail to achieve satisfactory focus and will give up on repeating the above sequence, resulting in failed autofocus. This is the dreaded "focus hunting" scenario where the camera focuses back and forth repeatedly without achieving focus lock. This does not, however, mean that focus is not possible for the chosen subject. Whether and why autofocus may fail is primarily determined by 3 factors.

1. Light – brighter the light, faster and more accurate focus
2. Contrast – the higher the contrast at focus point, faster and more accurate focus
3. Motion – the less motion of camera and/or subject, faster and more accurate focus

Extremely accurate focus can be obtained by combining all three factors, shoot in bright conditions, stop all motion (focus point is consistent), and if high contrast exists at consist and bright focus point, focus is near instant.

You are absolutely right; nobody has been able to prove that 16pro can take clear photos as previous models; everyone just keeps telling us to try different settings/ or use third party app etc. even Apple can’t resolve it; I went to see the Apple technician in store, they tried for about two hours with my phone and any other phones in the store - same blur; the technician (if can call them technician- because I think they are just been trained on how to use the iPhone apps ; I don’t think they know much more than the seasoned iPhone user); she was about to cry as she ran out of ideas what else to try or tell me; I told her I don’t blame her as it is problem with all the 16pro phones and it is not something she or anyone else can resolve as it seems to be a software issue. I’m sure Apple knows the issue is there; however as every business they won’t admit to it as it will make the liable. It is a real shame as overall (except the camera issue) the 16pro has an amazing performance

Thanks but don't bother doing this test, it is well known that the macro mode uses the 12MP Wide camera, this means working in "Crop mode" to avoid being too close and distorting the sheet of paper.

Personally I prefer to use the 48MP main camera of the iPhone 15 / iPhone 16 to reproduce documents or photo prints, rather than using a 12MP wide-angle camera in "crop mode" plus "digital zoom" (image too grainy on details). The 16 Pro's macro function is only suitable for photographing coins, flowers and insects, that is where the 12MP are not cropped.

The design error of the iPhone 16 Pro 48MP main camera is the use of a sensor that is too large compared to the small size of the lens. This results in an image that is soft at the edges, without any particular qualitative advantage even for subjects at a great distance.

Apple doesn’t read these comments on this forum so everyone should send feedback to the Apple link and hopefully if they get enough complaints they will fix the camera focus issue because it is a real big problem and just not fair. Here’s the link. Product Feedback - Apple

I would try to reset my phone by accessing iTunes on a computer and connecting your 16 to the computer, there is a reset and update option and and then it’s done you can put your iCloud password in again

Exactly the same issue with my 16 Pro. Support recommended to update to latest iOS (18.3.1). Makes no difference. I am a teacher and use the iPhone a lot to photograph printed text for smartboard use. But even my iPad Air 4 produces sharper Images than my new iPhone (13 pro was much better).

This appears to be a hardware issue. How does Apple handle this?

Thank you. What distance were you? You said normal distance. What is that exactly? To a landscape photographer, it’s probably 20+ meters, to a street photographer maybe 10 meters, to a portrait photographer maybe 5 meters or less, to a still life photographer maybe 1 to 2 meters, but to a closeup or macro photographer what is normal?

Did you bother reading my post of May 4th where I explained iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max don’t focus as close as previous models? I also explained how if macro switching is enabled, the switch to 13mm .5X lens happens further from the subject.

Apple changed the specs, it’s just different from prior models. You said it should be simple to use under normal conditions. I’d say, macro photography is not normal for the millions that make up the vast majority of iPhone users. Normal iPhone users take pictures of friends, their trips, scenery, sunsets, the times of their lives. Normal to the vast majority is not being 10 centimeters from their subjects.

No, I’m going to make it simple. Apple changed the specification. The 24mm 1X lens does not focus as close as the older lenses. I’ve said that many times, but no one accepts it. Here is another analogy, really simplified. My 2025 Lexus looks different than the 2022 model. It’s obviously defective because they are different and I demand Lexus fix my 2022 model.

Do you understand now. It’s not defective. The lens designed changed. There is nothing to fix. The engineers changed the specifications for the lens. If you want to know why, ask the engineers and product managers at Apple. No software will fix the lens’ ability to focus close, no software will make the 2025 Lexus look like the 2022. Lexus. If you want an iPhone 13 you should have bought one. But iPhone 16 brought changes that you don’t want.

Stop wasting peoples time and go take some pictures.

Hey everybody,

One of the support person of Apple told me to get your message across and reach the developers you should report your issue to the Camera team here:

http://apple.com/feedback/camera/

so lets go and flood them with our camera issues.

If the center of your frame is not sharp, either you’re miss focusing, the camera is focusing on the wrong part, of the camera is defective and should be diagnosed by Apple to confirm hardware malfunction and have the camera module replace.

If you had read this thread you’d know what the OP posted in the first comment and what literally every comment has been about. Why do think people are shooting flat copy work as examples throughout the post? Why are posters talking about not be able to shoot charts, menus’ etc.?

This is not a 90% of iPhone cameras are defective. It’s not even 10%. I’ve been to Apple Stores many times and the cameras I’ve tested (not exactly what I go to stores to do) take great photos.

Prove me wrong, get your iPhone diagnosed by Apple, in a store, and post the repair ticket. But creating fake numbers to validate a point is useless. But if you’d rather make snide little comments about fellow community member you don’t know, it doesn’t help either. In fact I’ve a degree in physics, a Masters in photography and taught photography at MSU for 4 years. I’ve been teaching photography for nearly 40 years and worked for the AP. If you’d like to come to Clearwater, I’d be happy to teach you how to make pictures with your iPhone.