Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPhone 11 Pro Dust spec in lens
- Thread starter Superrenz
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
@ihakim is correct. An old SLR trick when shooting through a chain link fence was to get up close to it, like lens touching it close, and a lot of times you couldn’t see the fence. Doesn’t sound right but it is. The lens cannot resolve the dust or even a fence that close. I am not telling you not to exchange your phone if it bothers you.
I don’t care as long as it is not interfering with picture quality
Enjoy your phone don’t worry about I stopped worrying about since last yesr my deal max had dust in lens never exchanged at Apple and my 11 pro max is fine.
As a photographer I can attest that dust in SLR lenses can be a PITA depending on WHERE the dust is located. 99% of the time the dust isn’t an issue. While I’ve never had dust “ruin” a photo I do have all my equipment cleaned yearly.
Now I do make money from photography so my investments turn into revenue. This also includes iPhoneography. I’ve had several iPhones that I could see dust or some foreign debris but it never impacted the quality of my photos.
There’s also never, let me say that again, NEVER going to be a perfectly assembled iPhone. Never ever. With that being said, if the dust is that big a deal to you and you feel you must do something about it, then by all means go for it. You spent $1000-ish for your device and should get a device that makes you happy. But at the same time you run the risk of getting another device that you may also not find acceptable.
The bottom line is, it’s roll of the dice.
Short update: Had time to check the other lenses too: All of them have dust in them. The tele lens 10+ specs. So I went to make some test shots on a bright blue German Indian SummersSky. You can see the result below: The dust is in Frame - not focused but there. So I called up Apple Care and they will swap it in the coming days via UPS. IPhone lottery....
don’t worry winter is coming soon it will freeze and go away. By the way whoever put these specs inside camera must be a genius.
Good one 🙃 The genius placed little presents in all three cameras... and it is not even Close to XMAS. Now I entered the IPhone lottery. Hope the genius in China had a day off when the produced my next 11 Pro.
Update:Apple exchanged the phone and sent me another one. So far no dust and I‘ll keep my fingers of the magnifying lens 
I sended mine back. (Pro Max 256gb space gray). They accepted the return without question. Ordered a new one and now waiting on it. (In the Europe the 256gb SG Pro Maxes are hard to get, fingers crossed i have mine next week)Update:Apple exchanged the phone and sent me another one. So far no dust and I‘ll keep my fingers of the magnifying lens
Another update: Happyness over. The replacement phone Apple sent me has a big scratch in the glass of the wide angle lens. Going back! How can it be the QC missed that one? Ok you can only see it when light comes from the side...but it is there and should have never left the factory. I know: There is no such thing as a perfect iPhone but big fat scratches are not acceptable. Phone number 3 is on its' way. 😡
Volkswagens are far more practical and useful than Ferraris and better to drive 99% of the time...
Ferraris are fun for a few hours, then endless time, money, and effort spent on maintenance
3 iPhones? That’s between you and Apple, but when you mass produce a Phone into hundreds of thousands that are produced every single day (sometimes 500,000 units a day), you can’t expect devices to be without some flaws, and that depends on the eye that can actually spot the flaw. Some people are more observant than others, and are willing to overlook certain imperfections. (I.e Rough edges, a micro scratch, ect.)
You are 100% correct. The most dust will do is restrict light capability and even at that, it takes a lot of dust.
I wonder what Apple do with all these returned phones? Do they become the replacements for Apple Care?
Sure - but Apple charges premium prices - and if I pay a premium price, I expect a premium product. If they can't meet premium quality standards they should either lower their prices or have a serious word with their manufacturers in China to raise quality. Would you accept a brand new car with a crack in the windshield and a car seller arguing "sorry for the crack but these windshields are mass produced so you can't expect them to be without flaw? I don't think so. A micro scratch is no problem at all, but 10+ dust specs in all 3 cameras that show in pictures (see post 31 above) or a big scratch in one lens out of the box are not acceptable.
Last edited:
May I draw your attention to post 31. The picture was shot with freshly cleaned lenses against a bright sky. You can clearly see the dust spot in the picture. I talked you our best cameraman (I work with a TV network) and he said, that it is possible for dust to show up in frame, even if it is this close to the aperture. The picture proofed this ....unfortunately.
It looked to me to be on the sensor itself and not the lens. I guess that is a moot point. I have never seen a sensor resolve dirt on lens and I'm a retired Nikon Pro. But hey, it's your phone and you need to be happy for sure.
You could be right. Our cameramen argued, that dirt in on the lens will cause blurring and other effects. If it is on the sensor - one more argument to exchange it. What do you think?
Update: Got my Space Gray 256gb Pro Max today:
No scratches/dust on the lens. (i'm glad i exchanged it)
And just to those who said dust spec won't affect the camera quality. I don't know if its a placebo effect. But to my eyes my 0.5x -camera isn't "AS" blurry as the previous one. In the previous one the distortion was way more noticeable. I think it had issues focusing. (Previous one had noticeable dust spec under the glass)
No scratches/dust on the lens. (i'm glad i exchanged it)
And just to those who said dust spec won't affect the camera quality. I don't know if its a placebo effect. But to my eyes my 0.5x -camera isn't "AS" blurry as the previous one. In the previous one the distortion was way more noticeable. I think it had issues focusing. (Previous one had noticeable dust spec under the glass)
Same over here...although I am already on phone number 3 ....
Same over here...although I am already on phone number 3 ....
Haha
In my country (Finland) some people haven't received their 256gb maxes yet.... Even tho they ordered it in 13.9 on the preorder day.So i was lucky i got mine exchanged so "quickly"
But good thing that yours is now perfect. Enjoy it!