iPhone 5 Camera Horrible Purple Lines Down Pictures!

Hi Kipto,

I have exactly the same problem and I have been searching for others who have seen this too.

My wife & I have an iPhone 5 each, both purchased around DEC 2012 also in UK on O2 and BOTH phones do this.

I have read elsewhere and have been following the possiblity that this is caused by interference when the phone has switched to a 2G data network, which is represented by an "o" on the screen in the UK on O2. When the phone is showing this symbol AND your phone is trying to send or receive data AND you are using your camera (Movie or Photo) there is a high probability that you will see these pink interference lines on the screen. Sometimes it takes a while to appear, sometimes it appears straight away. If you are connected to WiFi or 3G, the interference seems to never appear. If you force the iPhone to connect via 2G by switching off 3G and Wifi in the settings, see what you get when you use your camera, it does need to send or receive data at the same time.

It appears that a really good work around in poor signal areas is to switch ON "Airplane Mode" when you want to use your camera, it works perfectly here. Another trick which I have been experimenting with is to double tap your home button and stop running every app other than the Camera app, this seems to work so far. This would reduce the data transmission on the 2G signal but Airplane Mode is the best.

I have also noticed that when the iPhone is connected to 2G and is either searching for a 3G or a WiFi connection or even sending data slowly, it raises its temperature, this may well be another sign that its working hard.

Somehow 2G causes problems with the camera when the iPhone is sending or receiving data but by making sure this does not happen, the camera seems to work with no problems.

I have done this on both iPhones 5's (1x Black 1x White) and they are both exactly the same so at the moment I am reluctant to exchange, lets see if iOS 7 makes this any better.

These are my findings so thought I would share.

Not sure I'd agree with that assessment. I've had it occur many a time when in the house on my wifi network.

Hi drfrot

Now that is a shame, I have yet to see this at home or anywhere I am connected to WiFi on either phone, what a nuisance issue this is.

I am interested to know, if you switch on "Airplane Mode" in your house on WiFi, does your pink interference stop when you use the camera?

So far this has worked for us. So Far!

Next time it happens I will try!

Must say though, I'm not so interested in a workaround - the camera needs to work the moment I want to use it, and from everything else I've read, this is a hardware problem.

We shall see. I've really got to take mine to an AppleStore soon, as the dodgy sleep button is driving me bonkers!

G

trust me, its a hardware problem 100%, better exchange asap, read my previous conversations with others in the thread.

horrible purple lines here too, first appeared during charging, then appears every now and then, really annoying!!

does anyone get an answer from the apple store? i will need to go and check it out this weekend... sigh...

ok guys, i updated to 6.1.4 and after one day problem back. So this is not SOFTWARE problem for sure !! I am sending my iphone to local repair center and hope to get new one.

Did you do a fresh install or did you do a restore? I was told to do a fresh install to solve the problem. Have not tried it yet as it is a huge inconvenience. After a reboot the symptoms seem to disappear for a while, so there may be something in it..

i updated to 6.1.4 and restored my latest backup :/ Anyway i really don't think it's software issue.

I had this issue, it was cured by having my iPhone 5 swapped out, it appears to be hardware related.

SNAP

Once again on the 2G O2 UK network with 3G & WiFi turned off, Safari downloading a web page.

For both of my iPhone 5 units to do this is poor, I mean what it the probability of getting two bad ones?

Clearly high as this must be a design flaw, concidering the production quantity that have been made.

This fault is appearing in so many countries.

Has anybody received acknowledgement or any form of feedback from Apple about this issue?

Or have they just swapped them all to keep the customer happy?

If this is truly a hardware / design problem, there must be a vast quantity of iPhone 5 units out there that have this fault, many of which have yet to be discovered.

I was told to do a fresh install of the device, and not do a restore of a backup. Did you do a restore?

I have not yet done this, as it is so much work but lately it has become even worse. You would indeed think these issues would be ironed out by now if they are hardware related.

I will give this a try too, as I have a "feeling" that it has happened after using the GPS for a while. Could also just be heat conditions triggering a hardware fault, as the device gets warm when using GPS for long periods of time.

Skip doing software restore or firmware upgrade, will be wasting your time, i've done it before and so were many others here, the problem WILL occurs again and again. it will happened randomly regardless of your heat, GPS, 3G connections etc.., it is just a faulty camera hardware, i repeat it is a HARDWARE PROBLEM PEEPS, full stop. Replace it ASAP and save yourself the pain and time troubleshooting and diagnosting it, take some sample photos or videos as a proof when visiting your Apple Store or telcos for countries without Apple Store.

I have restored as new and not from any backup and I can replicate the fault in 2 mins.

I just switch off 3G & Wifi, go on to 2G, download some data by opening some apps whilst using the camera, wait a while, let it warm up and boom, there is it. Sometimes the camera app crashes.

I think what is odd, is that if the camera has at fault, it would not work at all?

There must be a combination of things going on here because I can make the camera work perfectly in Airplane mode, on WiFi and on 3G. Did I just use software to fix the fault?

If I get them swapped, I might get another two with exactly the same faults, I surpose that's the risk you take.

I agree with you totally, you would have thought Apple would have sorted this "hardware" issue out by now, it seems you can have this fault on an iPhone 5 that is only days old or purchased on release day last year.