Back Camera and Flashlight doesn't work after iOS 18, 18.1, 18.2

Final update:

After all is said and done, Apple support booked me at an Apple store to get the camera replaced for free. Still never got a clear answer as to why people are having this issue. I was told everything from "our diagnostics picked out a third-party camera" (not true, phone was out of the box brand new from verizon store) to "your wide camera lense isn't working," (also not true because the only way I could occasionally force the back camera to work was with the .5 view), to "software updates don't cause issue, but they have a better chance at 'revealing the truth,'" which also makes no sense becuase there was no issue in the first place until I updated to iOS 18.

I noted that every piece of information that was provided to me had evidence that suggested the contrary.

Repair would have been $170, but got it fixed for $0.

If you put in a ticket for this issue, document every exchange and it won't take long to have a solid case in your favor. At least they eventually did the right thing and fixed my phone.

Brittany over at customer service is the real MVP here. Everybody else who tried making motorcycle metaphors to make it seem like this was my fault, not so much. Overall, this was a massive headache, but I'm not going to assume malice when general incompetence is the most likely explanation. I'll check back in a year when they find out what really happened and issue a recall for the affected models.

I submitted a support ticket, and in that ticket I included this post with all the details, as well as a couple other related posts regarding this same issue. I also talked to the rep about a few Reddit posts where a number of users (all with different makes and models, all of which stopped working in this oddly specific way after the iOS update) have the same issue. I was on hold on and off for about 40 minutes, and I got assigned a point of contact. They messaged me back with an update, but I missed their window of availability because it was late in the day, so I scheduled a follow up call for tomorrow morning with the same person. Fingers crossed, becuase it seems like I gathered enough info for them to work with and are looking into this now.

I explained that this seems to be an issue that's affecting a subset of users across a number of devices, but it probably hasn't been reported a bunch so it's not on their radar. I reckon if people were due for an upgrade or willing to shell out some money for a repair, and their camera and flashlight went out, they probably just went that route and didn't think twice about it. The one reason I've been persistent on this is becuase my phone in otherwise perfect condition, and I've only paid off half of it. I don't have the $$$ to comfortably throw down for a repair or an upgrade. If I had a few hundred dollars to drop on this, I'd take that route too and be done with this because I spent a lot of time trying to get to the bottom of this.

The one thing that made sense when I was talking to other people about the issue is that one of the drivers for the camera app didn't save to storage during the update (somebody checked the update logs and pointed this out). If I'm understanding correctly, then I'm under the impression that the diagnostics are incorrect in pointing to a hardware issue, but something's not triggering to work the camera.

Another thing I've noticed is that if you go to the panoramic setting on the camera and switch to .5 zoom and wait about 5 seconds, the camera works again, but when you flip back to regular photo or video, it freezes and force closes again. So the camera is being triggered in the right context, but not fully functional across the app.

tl;dr: I can get the camera going sometimes, which tells me the hardware is functional, but something's not triggering right (it also sometimes works on Instagram, and on apps like Slack and Google Meet. I'll have a better update tomorrow, but that's what I know so far. Figured I'd let ya know that at least for me somebody is looking into this, and they're trying to get to the bottom of it.

Updating to add my comment from related post that can be found here:

Back Camera and Flashlight Not Working Af… - Apple Community

Funny enough, when I got diagnostics done a few months ago, it wasn't an issue, and having just gotten off the phone with Apple for remote diagnostics just a few minutes ago, now the camera sensors are damaged, and with that the flashlight also doesn't work. It's not a user error, or a software issue (according to the representative who ran the diagnostics), but a hardware issue. I just find it peculiar that my hardware was all fine and (100% healthy) before iOS 18, but suddenly needs a physical repair for having the same exact issue other people are clearly having with the same lack of functionality after making the update.

So... long story short, it's a hardware issue, but probably didn't show up on diagnostics until after 18 rolled out? I'm confused by the whole thing, but I can't afford a new phone, and my warrantee is expired (bought through Verizon), so I guess I'll just finish paying off this phone and upgrade or something a few months from now.

This seems to be a recurring/known issue among users. If this is truly a hardware issue, then why is this happening to people after updating?

https://www.reddit.com/r/iphone/comments/1fnnxuf/iphone_13_pm_cameras_not_working_after_ios_18/

Everybody on this thread is experiencing the exact same issue I am. The screenshot of the photo with the light streaks is identical as well. Seems like a healthy amount of phones suddenly have "a hardware issue" after getting this update.

I haven't had remote diagnostics done, but I physically went into an Apple store. I was there for about 2 hours and they couldn't figure it out. Would the diagnostics they did in person cover what the remote diagnostics would have covered? I figured going straight to the source was the best approach because they have all the tools they need to figure it out.

Camera and flashlight works for users.

iOS update.

Camera and flashlight doesn't work.

How is this a hardware issue/not a software issue?

Just did this. I'll wait for a response. I collected every thread on this issue and included them as well. If it's a matter of not enough people reporting it, I just did my part. Thank you.