I was just relieved to hear them admit the issue. The person I talked to said she was working with a few other people with the same problem.
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iPhone 16 Pro Max Camera problems: Blue smudges, lines, etc. [MERGED]
- Thread starter JasonHB
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Let's hope to hear the good news about this being software and not hardware related!
I really doubt this is just software related and that it's some combination of hot pixels and image processing.
My theory is when the sensor has some hot pixels (and specifically blue ones) the image processing is seeing this as "light" and turns up some processing for the image. Most examples posted does seem to have brighter pixels that are blue.
Some users posting complete black test photos have red hot pixels, so the processing doesn't seem to work the same with those.
Apple could probably have some sort of digital remapping function for the camera sensor, if that is even possible (some DSLRs have this feature).
Or that their camera software can identify them and remove them during processing photos (but then in a stage where other parts of the photo is not affected).
My theory is when the sensor has some hot pixels (and specifically blue ones) the image processing is seeing this as "light" and turns up some processing for the image. Most examples posted does seem to have brighter pixels that are blue.
Some users posting complete black test photos have red hot pixels, so the processing doesn't seem to work the same with those.
Apple could probably have some sort of digital remapping function for the camera sensor, if that is even possible (some DSLRs have this feature).
Or that their camera software can identify them and remove them during processing photos (but then in a stage where other parts of the photo is not affected).
He can also set nightmode to max then he will get the 10 secs most times if it's dark enough.
Well now I'm losing faith in Apple's engineers. They called me back today to ask some follow-up questions. They asked if I'm experiencing this long exposure Night Mode issue in videos, or just pictures. 
Then they said some "noise" is common when taking a picture in very low light, or no light at all. I had to explain that my I tested this on two iPhone 16 Pros and one iPhone 12, and only one of the 16 Pros has the blue issue, which is not simply noise.
The problem is that even if this issue were widespread, most users are not taking 30-second exposure pictures in very low light conditions.
Then they said some "noise" is common when taking a picture in very low light, or no light at all. I had to explain that my I tested this on two iPhone 16 Pros and one iPhone 12, and only one of the 16 Pros has the blue issue, which is not simply noise. The problem is that even if this issue were widespread, most users are not taking 30-second exposure pictures in very low light conditions.
Not likely. The blue noise is related to differences in how the sensors handle high ISO. I had both a 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max. The 16 Pro had the blue issue and the 16 Pro Max had not, and when shooting a regular RAW in manual camera app at 10K ISO the amount of noise was night and day. So it is surely a hardware difference causing this.
The only thing Apple can do software wise to "solve" this is to apply additional noise reduction and post processing which will lead to less detail on the phones affected.
Slight tangent - can’t help but notice all the hardware issues going on between this, the screen brightness, and the touch issues thread — all of these seem to improve with hardware replacements? This is on top of the typical OLED lottery
From recent discussions in online communities, it appears that Apple has reportedly begun rejecting returns over this matter. An internal note suggests that Apple views this method of testing as invalid, labeling it as part of the standard processing for 30-second exposure photos, which supposedly few people actually use.
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This is by far the worst release Apple has ever made. Unfinished software and poor quality control. But they do offer great customer service and happily replaces phones that have any of these issues.
It is a hardware issue and some units have faulty (or out-of-spec) image sensors for the primary camera (1x). The statement that it is a software issue makes no sense at all to me. If Apple would "solve" this with software, I would be pretty worried that they just made the issue harder to see.
I would attempt a full restore (Recovery mode) and then setup the phone without restoring iCloud backup and see if that helps. It seems to be a universal fix for all sorts of software related issues with the 16 series.
If this were the case, then it would be replicated on all phones. The simple fact that several phones running identical backups and firmware exhibit different results with the test.
Some are completely black, some are completely blue and the others and degrees inbetween.
The really kicker here is that if you actually take a 30 second exposure photograph at night, you can see the issue, it’s just that the “test” makes it easier to see.
Jason
Yes, exactly. Maybe Apple could reduce the issue with software if the issues are from what I'm theorizing is from blue hot pixel issues with the sensor/sensors, but they probably won't or are able to.
Where did you read this? Seems like if there is issues with the hardware it should be on warranty.
Not restoring from an iCloud backup will be the last resort, she has heaps of things she'd need to do if setting up as new
Normally there are just a few pixels that are calibrated out of spec and reacts bad to higher current (hot pixels). Not the entire sensor as is the case with phones that has this issue.
It will not be possible to fix this but it will not be a big issue when shooting in normal conditions. Only for more extreme low light.
15PM ISO8000
The higher the ISO, the more blue appears.. At least on my phone that's what I've experienced
The higher the ISO, the more blue appears.. At least on my phone that's what I've experienced
Yes, I understand what you're saying but I would like to do some astrophotography in the future and I'm worried it may be an issue at that time. This is a picture I took in my backyard on a dark night. Long exposure without a tripod high ISO: Crappie photo but blue streaking is noticeable
And herein lies the problem. It is not good enough from Apple, this really needs to be addressed. I’m convinced it’s a hardware problem.
If the blue lines are showing up in an image, then it’s not fit for purpose. No point having a long exposure night mode if it doesn’t work properly
Jason
Exactly! It’s not acceptable. My iPhone 14 took better Night Mode images and astrophotography pictures than this. In two years you don’t expect to go backwards!
