How to Fix iPhone 16 Pro Max Camera Focus Issue

Bang on! I agree and most of us here seem to be on the same page, we are simply talking about taking a close up photo(NOT MACRO) of a menu/ brochure / etc. with the standard 24mm, 1x zoom and for it to be crisp and sharp all around, as it has been on all older iPhones, not sure why this is so complex to understand, right 😅?

It’s actually pretty embarrassing sending a 💩 and blurry photo to a mate from an iPhone 16 Pro Max, AFTER spending $2000+ because it’s meant to have the “best cameras” 😒 when clearly it doesn’t, even when compared to my iPhone 13 Pro 🤦🏻

I was really looking forward to getting the 16 pro Max as I do a lot of photography for my Watch business. The camera is absolutely useless. Whatever I try the subject or at least part of it is out of focus. It doesn’t matter if it’s close-up photography or just taking pictures of people.

Over Christmas, I took pictures of family members and on every photo somebody’s face will be in focus and another persons will be blurred.

Apple need to acknowledge and fix this problem ASAP. Let’s face it the iPhone has really plateaued over the last few years. All they wanna talk about is how the camera is twice as good as the previous generation. So if that’s the big sell for buying the top of the line iPhone 16 then Apple needs to step up and fix this now.

the quality of pics and vids are poor. I am using raw max.

12 pages of comments in a few months - has anyone found a solution or was able to return their 16? I unfortunately discovered this blurring issue just outside of my 30 day return window. My boyfriend has the same model (16 pro max) and both have sharp center that blurs out, almost like a vignette filter, while my old 13 pro max does not.

Hey mate you basically take a photo on the main camera and when you zoom into corners and especially when it’s text, the quality is horrid. I have taken photos with my iPhone 11 Pro Max, 13 pro, 14 pro max and 16 pro max, and it’s actually gotten worse from 14 onwards. For example i use the IP13P for work and I have to take photos of a specific sheet with serial numbers and a a few values which i have to eventually enter into a spreadsheet and thi sis how i came across it when i has to zoom in i noticed how terrible the main lens was. Ill show you a couple of my comparisons below:

No I don’t have ProRaw, as all my photos sizes are between 5-6MBs, instead of 25MB.

yeah I’m just going to wait till I can install IOS 18.2 and see if that fixes anything before I investigate further, but definitely the 24mm is the issue here at this point in time!

Ive been involved in photography since the late ‘70’s and taught photography for 4 years at MSU, worked for AP and International Herald Tribune.

My job was to come back with a photo, not worrying about my camera not working the way I want it to. If a third party app is the better tool for a specific job or photo, use it. I couldn’t care less what camera or app took it.

Yes, DoF is a zone of acceptable sharpness that extends both in front of and behind the point of focus (subject). If I misstated, it could have been a typo. Sorry for any confusion it may have caused.

Post your group shot with ISO, shutter speed and f/number and which lens or zoom setting.

You may also be interested in learning Apple iOS 18.2 public release is rolling out around the world in many (all?) countries today. I watched a video from someone in Australia an hour ago and he’d installed the update and reported that it resolved many of his issues. The article below explains how to update. The release time in your area may not have occurred yet. You will just need to check the update option in your iPhone.

Update iOS on iPhone

More iPhone Comparison photos below of the blurriness issue

I am facing the same issue with iphone 16pro lens may be it is a software problem because it is happening in every lens in iphone 16pro and pro max .

Yes, photos app on your iPhone and share/export and chose Option and Most Compatible.

Hey Mate more proof below, again i had to resize it, etc. once again looks worse on full quality and zoomed in

Have a look where it says 130g/220ml and have a look at the blur between IP11, 13, 14 and 16 being the worst

One more comparison of the above shots that i have posted earlier , the one on the left is the iPhone 13 PRO with clear texts and the one on the right is the iPhone 16 Pro Max with the blurry / smudgy texts:

I have taken many shots these days, many comparison tests. The only solution, if you want to photograph an A4 sheet, you can't do it with an iPhone 16 Pro, you have to use a "normal" iPhone 16 or iPhone 15. Many people here will tell you that you are taking the photo wrong, but none of these people are able to upload a comparison test that can deny this fact: if you want to shoot an A4 sheet you can't do it with the "Pro". If they prove otherwise I will be very happy because they will have to replace my brand new iPhone 16 Pro, under warranty, I also have AppleCare +. However, unfortunately these are the normal optical performance of the main camera of the iPhone 16 Pro, since I tested various models in different stores, even in the Apple store, they say that everything is ok.

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This is really frustrating for me too.

Adjust the camera's focus and exposure

• Open Camera on your iPhone.
• Tap the screen to show the automatic focus area and exposure setting.
• Tap where you want to move the focus area.
• Next to the focus area, drag. up or down to adjust the exposure.

Use iPhone camera tools to set up your shot - Apple Support (IN)

Jeff, I have been a professional photographer for the past 20 years. Been toying with so many phone models and paraphernalia of photography accordingly. So, believe me it is NOT normal for the "objects in front of the subject to be In Focus and objects behind the subject to be OoF". I have been using iphones for the past 8 years and never have I ever encountered this problem. You do not have to define the depth of field for me mate. My whole contention is regarding the very fact that when I am NOT using the portrait mode, why should one person in a group shot, who is close to the cam becomes razor sharp, while the rest of the persons go blur even when a shot is taken at 1x? Talking about the computational photography or the AI, both should be sensible enough to understand the fact that its a GROUP shot and not an individual one just like the cams of the previous iphone models understood. However, its not the same with iphone 16. And even changing the apertures or focal length doesn't help much when taking a group shot. Again, the AI should kick in deciding the focal length for each shot depending upon the intention of taking that shot. Coming to your "third party app" point, what good is iphone cam app if i need to use a third party app? Its preposterous. Rather than understanding the irritation that all of us, iphone 16 users are going through, you are simply brushing off the entire thing under the carpet, unfortunately.