How to Fix iPhone 16 Pro Max Camera Focus Issue

I am having the same issue, not sure if it was like this the first 2 weeks I got it, but now it is and it is driving me crazy. Even the front camera sometimes takes a few seconds to focus. Does anyone know if Apple will fix it?

Good, because you’ll have the distinction of being the very first community member to actually post a photo or two that’s an example of what they’re describing.

Words are great, but can’t be diagnosed. A photo illustrating the issue may help resolve the issue. Otherwise, the words are pointless. Apple is not here and will never read the words.

I am having the same problem. I did not take the pic in the portrait mode. Rather it was taken using a regular 1x Fusion Camera f1.4 and 24mm lens. And yet, it focused more on the person close to the cam while blurring out the background. Shifted from 15pro to 16pro to have a better canera. Yet it turned out to be a worse choice.

I bought iPhone 16pro max 1 week ago. Really worst camera quality front and back. Blurriness I couldn't take clear photos. I expected a lot from iPhone. I ll not suggest anyone to buy this. Waste of money. I really disappointed.

Please share an example or two of images you’re dissatisfied with. I find it interesting that the few people complaining haven’t shared a single photo illustrating the issue.

Some users are using 3rd party apps that have not been updated to work properly with the new cameras in iPhone 16 and 16 Pro models. Are you using a third party app?

Some people are asking if its the telephot lens or 5x or whatever. For god sake, thats the real problem that even if at 1x you take a normal photo of two persons, one sitting close to you and the other one sitting a little behind him, the person at the behind goes blur and the one who is sitting closer to you becomes razor sharp. The problem is that it is not the photo that you took in portrait mode and you cannot even change the focus in the edit mode since you wanted both of such persons to be in focus like any 'normal' camera phone would do. Duh! I hope apple brings some software update to rectify it.

It is normal for objects in front of the subject (point of focus) to be OoF (Out of Focus) and objects behind the subject to be OoF. That is the very definition of Depth of Field (DOF).

iPhone gives the photographer to adjust DoF just like a camera/lens with an adjustable aperture. This is one of the benefits of computational photography or AI. Apple Camera app gives photographers control of DoF before the image is taken. Some third party apps allow DoF to be adjusted when editing the image.

I am out taking pix on a boat of surfers in sunlight. No tripod.

This photo says: 24mm f1.78.

iso64 48mm 0ev. 1/6024s

All camera settings - format- high efficiency, photo mode 24mp, pro raw on, pro raw max check, pro raw format first one checked,

video capture- on.. pro res hdr.

fusion camera- 28mm on. 35mm on. Default lens 24mm.

I am mostly a scenic and people pic taker. Occasionally action like surfers.

thanks!

It’s OK, but what I don’t think you’re realizing is Apple switched the macro lens from the 1X to the .5X.

The macro setting on smart phones are not true macro lenses by any stretch of the imagination. They are slightly modified to focus closer than the other lenses. Your (fusion) camera lowers the resolution to 12 megapixels or 24 mp. Your other cameras were shooting 48 Mp.

We can debate why Apple changed things, but that’s pointless. What’s done is done and photographers will need to adapt. If you look at the center crop I posted, it’s sharp and probably a little larger than life size.

I hand held my images, but they’d have been sharper if I used a tripod.

Probably about 30 centimeters, just basically after it switches from macro lens to main lens(fusion lens), as that basically takes in the whole photo as I have been doing for years and need to show proof for work, etc. all i know is when i do that on the iPhone 16 its blurry when you zoom into the corners, never had this issue with previous iPhones.

I see what you shot. Did you see what I shot? Duplicate it with a tape measure/ruler in the scene. Your comparisons don’t have any context. What size are the objects in real life? What settings are you using? Your crops don’t even match.

Mine too 24mm. I’m going to look closer at these in the morning. But my initial thought is your lens isn’t sharp as it should be. I >think< your lens might be defective. It’s just not focusing correctly or it’s maybe misaligned. I get up in about 7 hours, but I’ll look again in the morning.

Thanks Jeff, have a sus even at the previous posts with my crops I have posted, unfortunately because the limit is 5MB on this forum there is no way to send the photos in full quality, etc. but all my crop comparisons are the full quality photos next to each other of all my 4 phones and then cropped and shrunk so i can upload, BUT the difference is obvious anyways. And I want to just reiterate this is not a once off bad shot, this is consistently bad on the iP16 with the main / fusion camera at 1x ONLY (NO issues with the macro, the 0.5x, the 2x they are great and crisp). For example if i take the photo with the 2x zoom I will be at ~40cm off the table and that's got no issues, very sharp, crisp, as it should be, but with the 1x zoom it is the same as always, blurry.

The interesting thing i found out tho, when i take a photo with the macro, 0.5 or 2x zoom, it actually takes the photo in 12MP and only the 1x zoom takes it at 24MP and those are the ones i have an issues with blurriness. All the 12MP ones are good enough for what I need, but it seems like the main / fusion lens is bad for close up photos and blurs out at the edges.

Maybe it is a defective lens, but i guess that's why we are all here, we need to figure it out if it is a major issue across all phones or just the few and see what Apple will do about it.

Maybe what you can try is get a clear, crisp and sharp brochure / menu / A4 paper with text on it, preferably black text on white paper and take a photo with the main lens at 1x (and not using any third party app) and see if you have the same issue, it only has to be A4 size and make sure its not a macro shot or wide, just the simple 1x main lens / fusion camera.

This is what everyone is complaining about in this forum, the issue is with the 1x main / fusion camera, because most of us aren't photographers, we just want to whip out our phones from our pockets and take a good non blurry photo with the 1x zoom like we ALWAYS have, and for it not to be blurry, like it always has been with previous generation iPhones. I know you mentioned that IOS18.2 is coming out soon so I will have to wait and see if that changes anything. But so far I have found that the 1x zoom on the main lens is bad for close up photos.

I just bought an iPhone 16 Pro and the camera is terrible. Especially when taking close-ups. I collect old/vintage photos and when I try to take a picture of an old photo, the result is blurrier than the old photo that I’m trying to take a picture of.

I’ve noticed several settings that will affect the quality of JPEGs. Do you have ProRaw and Resolution Control enabled? If so, what are the settings?

If you don’t have it enabled, I’m inclined to believe you have issues with the 1X, 24mm lens. If the macro symbol is activating, the camera automatically switches to 13mm. However, this can be adjusted in settings too, under Macro Control.