Zoom and photo quality issues on iPhone 15 Pro after iOS 18.5 update

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Zoom and photo quality issues on iPhone 15 Pro after iOS 18.5 update

After I updated my phone 2 or 3 updates ago, the camera quality is horrible. It looks like I am taking photos on an iPhone 4. I can't zoom and keep the quality at all. I notice when I am just looking at what the camera sees before taking a photo, the image is clear but as soon as I take a photo, it is grainy and just overall awful quality. I just updated to iOS 18.5 and it did not help at all. I've also tried changing some of the camera settings but that does not work either.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

iPhone 15 Pro, iOS 18

Posted on May 21, 2025 4:49 PM

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Aid_hug

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May 21, 2025 5:28 PM in response to Lexijaws

You're not imagining it—this has been a pretty common complaint since some of the recent iOS 18 updates. Apple seems to be tweaking the image processing pipeline (possibly too aggressively), and it’s messing with sharpness, detail, and noise levels, especially in low light or zoom shots.

A few things to try (in case you haven’t already):

Go to Settings > Camera > Formats and make sure “Apple ProRAW” is enabled if you're into editing after.

Try toggling Photographic Styles back to “Standard” and see if that improves the final photo.

Also, test shooting with a third-party app like Halide or ProCamera to bypass Apple’s post-processing—it might give you better results for now.

Hopefully Apple rolls out a fix soon. The iPhone 15 Pro should be crushing it with that camera hardware. Right now it’s giving iPhone 6 energy 😩

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Zoom and photo quality issues on iPhone 15 Pro after iOS 18.5 update

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