Black spots appearing in iPhone 14 Pro Max camera photos

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Level 1

4 points

Black spots appearing in iPhone 14 Pro Max camera photos

i genuinely feel like i’m just being paranoid and this might be really stupid, but i took a photo and while i was taking it, i focused and put the brightness up on my iphone 14 pro max camera so the subject wouldn’t be too dark on the image. then i noticed that there was black spots on the sky of the image (in the photo below i zoomed it and cropped it). is this any signs of sensor damage that could be a permanent and serious issue? or could this just be birds, insects, or dusts? thanks to anyone who would respond.

iPhone 14 Pro Max, iOS 26

Posted on Feb 1, 2026 8:19 AM

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Answer 1

Feb 1, 2026 8:26 AM in response to gang07

When we use a camera with interchangeable lenses, we can get dust particles on the sensor. I can tell when this happens if I start seeing dots on pictures, and the dots are always in the same part of the photo, even when the camera is pointed in different directions. I usually go outside and point up at the evenly blue or overcast sky, maybe defocus, and take several pictures.

Have you seen these spots in the same place on different pictures?

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Answer 2

Feb 1, 2026 8:49 AM in response to gang07

You can also mess with the brightness of the picture using Photos edit. To be a phone problem, the spots have to be staying there.

Sounds like it's birds-- or UFOs.

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Answer 3

gang07 Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 1, 2026 8:38 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

i took a photo the next few days of just the sky in the camera but without increasing the brightness while taking a plain blue sky, and there’s no any signs of the black dots.

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Answer 4

gang07 Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 1, 2026 8:56 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

sorry i tend to overthink a lot but as long as the future images doesn’t have that same exact spots that means my camera is totally fine right? or will i see more UFOs hahaha

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