should my iphone xs max camera look blurry?

I have exactly same issue. All of my pictures taken in even decent lighting conditions looks smudgy. I contacted Apple support and they asked me to take it to the store and get a replacement but I don't think that will help. To me it seem Apple Post processing/Noise reduction algorithm is working too hard making image almost non usable. Can't believe hype about this camera. Look at Google Pixel photos. The difference is night and day.

It is with each and every XS and XS Max. I returned my XS and currently typing this on Max and it has same issue. Something seriously wrong with lost processing. I can’t get a clear pic on my son in low lights.

I am having the same issues. I contacted apple support and got my phone replaced. But as expected this one is exactly the same.
The main reason I upgraded was to get an updated better camera on my phone. I wish I had stayed with my iPhone 6plus. Much better photos, in all lights!

My Max 256 also has the same exact problem! All of my pics look exactly as yours do in any lighting.

It really makes me mad because my last iPhone was iPhone 6plus and it has a defective camera right out of the box and was a part of the recall. In that case I went to the store and immediately told them the camera wasn’t working properly and they tried to convince me it was just the camera settings that was effecting the photo quality, and I knew that it was not. This is ridiculous.

I have the XS Max and mine takes terrible pics too. ***** A friend at work has the X and it takes better pictures than this phone does. So much money for this and it takes images almost as bad as old flip phones. I have so far loved the way all the products work together etc but this camera is terrible for someone who always takes pictures of his kids etc.

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Same for me. I just got mine on Black Friday and haven’t really been able to use my camera much. Used it at my office party today. Everyone was so excited to use my phone for our group photos. It was AWFUL. Tried in different lights and even outside. My coworkers’ 3 year old Samsung and iPhone 6 Plus took better photos!!!! This is ridiculous. $1200 phone and this is what we get? My photos look like they were taken on a 5 year old phone. I tried all settings even saving in JPEG vs the high efficiency. No difference in any quality.

I had my husband take the same photo of our dog when I came home did by side with his Galaxy S9. Mine is so grainy compared to his. This is all rear camera. I bought this phone due to all the camera hype!! I had a 7 Plus and my photos were better on that. Grrr. Been Googling like crazy trying to find if there was an issue. Glad I found this thread. Obviously it’s not just me. Not happy at all with this problem. Wish I had went with the Pixel now.

I just wish they would acknowledge there is an issue and fix the problem. I dont mind there is one as long as they FIX it. No band aides no excuses, fix the problem. Its not like this phone was a couple of hundred bucks.

That one I cannot say for sure. I would assume so. I thought it pretty much had the same camera as the IPhone X has in it just with different features. I could be wrong though. This was my first Apple device. Ive been Android since my first smartphone that wasnt a Blackberry.

Just unacceptable for the amount we paid. 😡 I researched this phone to death so many rave reviews on the camera.

I have a friend who bought the XS Max same weekend I did. Her photos are as bad as mine. Apple needs to take notice.

Agreed. Ive read some people blame it on low light but I don't think that's the case. The room I'm sitting in has more than ample light being there are 5 bulbs in the fixture. Not to mention, the Note 9 I had could take a picture outside in the dark and not be as noisy as this camera inside. I am happy with most of the phone and the way it works with everything else but the camera is nothing short of a joke.

UPDATE: So i went to the Apple store today. I said my camera was doing some weird stuff and that all of my pictures looked pixelated. I showed him some pictures and the guy just blamed it on the low-light and said he couldn’t do anything about it. I even compared the camera of the Iphone 8 Plus with mine and he just said he couldn’t do anything about it... Is this what i payed 1450 euros for? Nice Apple... thanks.

I have this problem too and I'm very mad at the moment. I got XS MAX, taken some images and when I viewed them they all looked - I don't the word for it but the skin on the people just looks somehow smudgy, or a little bit "painted" by a paintbrush or something, it's ridiculous and looks horrible. I took a group photo of people with the back camera and the photo is useless, the people's skin is something like ripled, waterish, smudged, the colors look off and very pixelated.

I googled it and gave it few more shots. I disabled smart HDR since some ppl suggested that could be the problem - no, it's not smart HDR. I tried disabling live and no luck either. Pictures of people taken with the back camera indoor under regular room lighting are even worse than my 6 years old iPhone 5S! This is f* ridiculous! Hence, I picked up my old Iphone (5s) and took the same shot at the identical lighting conditions and on the 5s it looks WAY better, although it looks somewhat grainy in darker areas. Max on the other hand is just **** ugly, like painted or somewhat "rippled" or something, I really don't know the word but it's utterly annoying since none of the images on the phone are not even remotely useful. Even 5s has a better camera compared to this XS. There's something seriously wrong here, my IOS is updated to the latest version. If this doesn't resolve in a week, I'm taking it back. It's either a serious bug or false, very FALSE advertisement. The camera on mine is worse than 5s!

I’m beginning to think it’s all paid reviews. My photos are definitely not like all the photos in the YouTube XS camera reviews. I would think it was just my phone but my friend’s is like mine and so is my coworker’s who just got one. She doesn’t mind it. I travel a lot though and was hoping for this to be my go to camera instead of lugging around another one. I guess I was expecting too much for $1200 (rolls eyes). I get it is a 12 mega pixel camera but so is my husband’s Samsung and his photos are so much crisper and cleaner AND his phone was almost half price as mine. I just can’t believe there is no more talk of how crappy the camera is other than this one thread!!

Well its for sure not an awesome camera as it was made out to be. The wife's note 9 takes way better pictures that this phone ever thought about. hgfhfggh hit the nail on the head as how he describe it taking images. It's even more sad that Apple cannot admit they messed up. I left Android because I didn't want my data all over the place anymore and this was my first Apple product. Was hoping for a lot better than what I got here.

I tried my best to tell those Apple Store guys that it’s not the low-light but just the camera. But they just kept blaming it on the low-light. I’m now giving it a try to contact Unbox Theraphy. If he sees my e-mail about this issue maybe he will make a video about it so Apple is gonna be aware of the issue and hopefully fix it. Or else i will make a video and put it on Youtube, because this is just a 1450 euros joke for me.