IOS 26.0.1 camera are blurry on iPhone 17 Pro Max and older iPhones.

Jeff,

A larger depth of field means more of the picture is in focus from near to far away. More depth not less.

Small sensors inherently cannot produce a shallow (small) depth of field. Especially when coupled with tiny lenses. I think we are saying the same thing?

What you are seeing at the edge of my photo is not camera movement but the rather nauseous "bokeh" produced by apple engineering !

I'm not arguing the camera is defective but there is a bug in the software. Short and unscientific but extensive photography appears to indicate the focusing system may be over reliant on a lidar which has a colour blind spot in the red spectrum, resulting in the over aggressive use of the "low-light" technology, ruining the image. Sometimes. But then again, maybe the lidar is defective? Way too many variables to really know.

Purge speculation of course as we don't have the means to disable the technology. It may be something else or there may be more than one blind spot! But several thousand pictures taken using a process used many many times over the last five years indicates there is something amiss.

The one thing you could rely on with an iPhone camera in normal lighting conditions was rock solid focus. No tripod needed.

I will post some samples.

Patrick

p.s. i've changed the image status on flickr to public so you should be able to review the whole image.

iPhone cameras do have a Lidar sensor, but it’s used for capturing depth data to use in the algorithm used to simulate DOF when in portrait mode. It may be used to assist AF in low light situations. Its sensitivity to red wavelengths doesn’t factor into AF that Apple mentions.

Focus in daylight uses whats called phase detection AF. It’s standard in the photo industry and virtually every major camera manufacturer uses the same technology. Phase detect is fast and extremely accurate in daylight.

Lidar was added to assist the phase detect AF in low light by adding distance and depth information to improve accuracy and speed. A major complaint about earlier iPhones was their poor low light focusing performance.

There is a school of thought that moving the Lidar sensor to the far right has affected the sensor’s performance. However, photographers doing spatial photography are praising the move saying it’s improved.

It would be best to post your photos in the thread if for no other reason than continuity. It avoids confusion about which image is being discussed.

Use of a tripod aids focus and minimizes camera blur. While it hinders spontaneity, it will improve any photo by providing a rock solid base. It also permits use of a lower ISO setting and the resultant slower shutter speed. Handholding at slower shutter speeds is an issue for even the steadiest of hands.

It definitely has something to do with iOS 26 (software issue, not hardware) my iPhone 16 took amazing astrophotography until I updated the iOS to 26, and it’s been taking blurry pictures ever since. It’s incredibly frustrating. ( latest update 26.1 has same issue) it’s terrible

Please post one or two photos illustrating the issue. Also exactly how far is your iPhone from the book or object you want in focus?

Please share a couple of the images you’re not satisfied with. It’s impossible to diagnose a visual issue with some visual evidence of what you’re experiencing.

Ok glad that I am not the only one here. I bought Iphone 17 Pro and have Iphone 12 (not pro) for work. Today I tried taking a photo on my 17 Pro from my monitor and noticed blurry text. I thought may be the screen is not clear. So I cleaned it but still same result. Then took a photo on my Iphone 12 and to my surprise, it was as clear as it should be. I even showed it to my colleague and he noticed that as well. I tried taking different text photos and same result in all images. Did I get scammed for $1300 is what I started thinking. Both my 17 pro and 12 are running on iOS26.0.1

The cameras have different lenses, different sensors (12 Megapixel vs. 48 Megapixel) and this contributes to the different images that result from the different cameras. Apple optimizes their cameras for the average iPhone user. If you’re wanting different results, experiment with different third party apps, different image processing apps and even third party lenses. IPhone cameras cannot fit the needs of every photographer on the planet. Apple has also changed the way iPhones do Astrophotography. These are changes intended to best suit the needs of the average iPhone user.

I gotta say, I am disappointed in my pictures too. I’m by far not a professional photographer, but I’ve enjoyed using my iPhone camera to capture some really great photos until this last update. Doing a google search, and it’s pretty much all over the feeds out there. Just did the 26.1 update, not seeing anything better. Same blurry edges around stuff. There has to be a simple adjustment fix of some sort?!

come on apple…step up, listen to your users…fix this issue.

signed…amateur photo clicker!!

Adjust the exposure using the swipe up and down feature of your iPhone. Also use thE focus lock feature. If you’re using Night Mode, don’t. The moon is illuminated by the sun and needs a regular daylight exposure setting.

You might want to read this review for a more extensive review of iPhone 17 Pro models.

https://www.dxomark.com/apple-iphone-17-pro-camera-test/

I’ve stated several times throughout this thread that the iPhone fusion camera is not the best way to scan documents using an iPhone. The scans will come out sharper overall with little to no geometrical distortion if the scanning feature in Apple Notes app is used.

While the iPhone camera app can be used, it’s computational photography is designed more for three dimensional subjects Whereas the scanning function’s algorithm is designed more for 2D (flat field) copy work.

Here’s a short video released today by the fine folks at ReeFlex.

https://youtu.be/zWJ3GC1TtRc?si=P8fZivAD75fMNUFG

Same issue after the latest 26.0.1 update. Using iphone 15 pro. Camera has lost quality after the ios update 😑

I currently have available to test an iPhone 17 PM, 16 PM and 15 PM. Setup the experiment you want me to shoot. I need exact height and width of object in inches and exact distance from subject (exact point of focus) to camera.

I can’t comment on what an employee said in an Apple Store. Show me her pictures and we’ll talk.

The iPhone 15 PM is on iOS 18.6.2 and not iOS 26.X.X so now tell me exactly what to shoot. My 17 PM is on iOS 26. You set up the experiment and prove me wrong.

Are you a student or a teacher, just curious.

Why can’t DoF be turned off? Good question. The short answer is it involves several laws of physics and can’t be turned off. You The DoF formula I linked to is the mathematical proof of those laws of physics.

You can feel anything you want, but it’s actually you just guessing with nothing to back you up. In regard to the cost, it would matter what it costs. No software fix is going to produce what you want. Bottom line, your not a photographer, you have apparently little understanding of math or physics, have little or no desire to read and learn and feel because you spent a lot of money, a device should do anything you want. Well, it doesn’t. You didn’t do any research and you bought the wrong tool for the job.

Now, how about the samples you want to see? Here’s my 15 PM and 16 PM just waiting for your instructions. Put my writing to the test.

No camera is the perfect photographic instrument for all people. That’s a fact. People want to photograph a lot of things with there cameras such as underwater photography, astrophotography, photography, wildlife photography, sports photography and the list goes on.

Unfortunately, cellphone cameras have limitations when we talk about some of the genres of photography. Cellphone cameras are not ideally designed for those specialties. That’s a fact.

Enter the world of closeup or reproduction photography. Again, cellphones do a respectable job in some circumstances such as flowers and insects. But the photographers capturing those amazing images are using add-on lenses cost upwards of $200 USD to get those results.

When I do reproduction work for artists, I use my Canon R3 and a macro lens capable of flat field reproduction. Total cost, about $6,000 USD. I would never consider using my iPhone 17 Pro Max for that type of work. I would however use my iPhone for my grandson’s second grade science project.

If you do a lot of close up or reproduction type photography consider a different camera. If you do it now and then, consider an attachment lens for your iPhone and if you rarely use the built in closeup or macro features or use the native scanning tools Apple provides in your iPhone.

Please follow this path,

iPhone > Notes > new document/note > Paper clip > scan text or scan document

I bought an iphone 17 Pro three days ago and the camera was a significant part of the decision to upgrade from an iphone 14 Plus. I took the phone to a wedding yesterday and was surprised at the softness of the photos. I then went on to the forums to see if anyone else had experienced this and here I am.

I know when a photo is less sharp compared to a previous camera and all the sophistry I've been reading about depth of field, Apple's decison to make the phone fit most users etc etc does not make up for the fact that subjectively my photos lack bite. I was hoping to ditch my Lumix with Leica lens for most situations but will not be retiring it until Apple sort this issue out.

Please post a few examples. If you had read this thread, you’d see the discussion is about copying documents. Your statement that scenes at a wedding were soft, is a different matter entirely. Please post a few examples so we can see what is going on.

My overall experience to date is that .5X lens is very slightly improved in the corners and otherwise the same as the iPhone 16 PM. The improvement in the corners could just be individual differences in the same lens. The iPhone 17 PM 1X lens is virtually the same as my 16 PM. The 4X is much improved over the 5X and 8X displays much more detail than 10X. Overall, I’m very happy with the improvements in the iPhone 17 PM.