iPhone 15 Pro Max ProRAW 48 is broken on iPhone 15 Pro Max

[Singulaffect]

How does the new 15 Pro Max compare with your 14 Pro Max with the same shot side-by-side in the native camera app's ProRAW mode?

I'm also seeing much less detail/more inconsistencies when shooting in ProRAW or HEIF Max on my 15 Pro main lens compared to my 14 Pro, and trying to figure out if it's a hardware issue on the 15 Pro, or just bugs in the image processing pipeline.

 

[jajo.j]

How does the new 15 Pro Max compare with your 14 Pro Max with the same shot side-by-side in the native camera app's ProRAW mode?

I'm also seeing much less detail/more inconsistencies when shooting in ProRAW or HEIF Max compared on my 15 Pro main lens compared to my 14 Pro, and trying to figure out if it's a hardware issue on the 15 Pro, or just bugs in the image processing pipeline.

I will test my usual daylight scenes tomorrow (dark now) and report back the results.

 

[grator]

Hello,
For what is worth, I currently have 2 iPhone 15 pro at home, and there are definitely differences regarding the photo quality.
As you can see here, this is an example of the same shot from each phone. Shots have been made in ProRAW on the main lens, then exported with no modification from photo app on Mac, in 100% size and max quality.
I took multiple shots each time, and this is the best I could get from each phone.

 

[jajo.j]

I have done some testing today and I am pretty confident to say that my replacement device is very close to the performance of 14 Pro Max regarding detail (but of course a lot better dynamic range).

Something was wrong with my previous 15PM.

I will post some shots tomorrow.

 

[Singulaffect]

Glad your replacement device is much improved!

Bummer now that it seems these issues are hardware-related, rather than ones that can be addressed with a software update. Contacting Apple to get a replacement device.

I've been taking test shots with both my 14 Pro and 15 Pro with the same settings and in 48 MP HEIF Max, and the 15 Pro main lens is always worse by a long shot: textures and fine detail found in the 14 Pro photos when zoomed in are completely lost or smeared in the 15 Pro.

Attaching zoomed-in examples of the 14 Pro (left) and 15 Pro (right) photos taken at the same time.

Edit: MR Forums heavily compresses image uploads, so the differences aren't as stark as when viewing on my computer display. Check out the solar panels and grass details on the 1st image, the tower cables on the 2nd image, and detail on the leaf edges in the 3rd image.

 

[jajo.j]

Whatever is going on is extremely confusing to me. Before I replaced my 15 Pro Max for a new one, I tried 17.1 and saw no improvements on ProRAW 48. RAW 48 from Firstlight was still a lot more detailed.

On the replacement unit, also running 17.1, ProRAW 48 from the stock camera app is a lot more detailed than on the previous device.

Very odd when a "software issue" is improved with hardware replacement...

(ProRAW 48 stock to the left and RAW 48 firstlight to the right). 100% crop (actual pixels).

Firstlight RAW 48 is still the best on fine detail though.

(ProRAW 48 stock to the left and RAW 48 firstlight to the right). 100% crop (actual pixels).

--

I think my previous 15 Pro Max had some odd focus issue that caused even more blur on top of the existing software issue with ProRAW 48. The new unit seems to be a lot sharper all over the frame which is good to see.

 

[lzandman]

This thread is specifically about ProRAW 48. But I'm seeing blurry photos in all modes. It often looks like there's a blurry ring around the center. If you take a photo of a document, the text on the edges is often blurry. I'm also thinking about getting my 15 Pro replaced. I'm coming from an iPhone 11 Pro and am honestly disappointed by the camera of the 15 Pro. Very often it's less sharp.

 

[Dust-by-Monday]

Hello,
For what is worth, I currently have 2 iPhone 15 pro at home, and there are definitely differences regarding the photo quality.
As you can see here, this is an example of the same shot from each phone. Shots have been made in ProRAW on the main lens, then exported with no modification from photo app on Mac, in 100% size and max quality.
I took multiple shots each time, and this is the best I could get from each phone.

Lenses are essentially analog, so hey may have gotten a "bad copy" as they say in the DLSR/Mirrorless lens world.

I'm glad the new iPhone 15 Pro is much better. Mine seems sharp as a tack so I'm happy, but I still prefer to use my Mirrorless for anything that needs to be really high quality.

 

[jajo.j]

This thread is specifically about ProRAW 48. But I'm seeing blurry photos in all modes. It often looks like there's a blurry ring around the center. If you take a photo of a document, the text on the edges is often blurry. I'm also thinking about getting my 15 Pro replaced. I'm coming from an iPhone 11 Pro and am honestly disappointed by the camera of the 15 Pro. Very often it's less sharp.

One difference is that iPhone 11 has a much smaller image sensor and lens aperture. This will have the advantage of higher edge sharpness when you take pictures of something in close distance.

I once had a Xiaomi 13 Ultra with a 1 inch sensor and it was impossible to take photos of objects in close distance without heavy edge blur. That is a natural effect of big sensors and large apertures.

 

[Andrey5759]

Whatever is going on is extremely confusing to me. Before I replaced my 15 Pro Max for a new one, I tried 17.1 and saw no improvements on ProRAW 48. RAW 48 from Firstlight was still a lot more detailed.

On the replacement unit, also running 17.1, ProRAW 48 from the stock camera app is a lot more detailed than on the previous device.

Very odd when a "software issue" is improved with hardware replacement...


View attachment 2303399

(ProRAW 48 stock to the left and RAW 48 firstlight to the right). 100% crop (actual pixels).

Firstlight RAW 48 is still the best on fine detail though.


View attachment 2303401

(ProRAW 48 stock to the left and RAW 48 firstlight to the right). 100% crop (actual pixels).

--

I think my previous 15 Pro Max had some odd focus issue that caused even more blur on top of the existing software issue with ProRAW 48. The new unit seems to be a lot sharper all over the frame which is good to see.

Greetings, dear friend! I read your article on the site and completely agree, I also look at reviews and photos comparing the iPhone 15 pro max and 14 pro max and notice a global difference in sharpness and resolution in favor of the 14 pro max, as well as soap, rather than the sharpness of the iPhone 15 pro max frame. I'm a photographer myself, and if I'm going to shoot on my phone, then I'm just as interested in full-format, raw or proraw, as you are. And I still can't decide which of these two models to buy 15 or 14 proMax? The 5x zoom is relevant to me, but how can I avoid defects in the 15 proMax? Can you give me some advice? I will be grateful to you. It is also very frightening that it is not as stable in terms of the display and back cover as the proMax14, and many videos on the Internet confirm this.

 

[Artsketch]

I have tried several 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, and 48 mp ProRAW never matched the detail and sharpness of the 14 Pro or 14 Pro Max main lens. Many users compare older 12 mp models to the 24 mp of the 15 Pro / Max, or the 24 mp of the 15 Pro / Max to the 12 mp of the 14 Pro / Max, but not 48 mp ProRAW to 48 mp ProRAW of both, and here the older 14 Pro / Max is clearly superior. It seems that the new lens design and coating adds a bit of haze to all images and also reduces sharpness.

 

[jajo.j]

I have tried several 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, and 48 mp ProRAW never matched the detail and sharpness of the 14 Pro or 14 Pro Max main lens. Many users compare older 12 mp models to the 24 mp of the 15 Pro / Max, or the 24 mp of the 15 Pro / Max to the 12 mp of the 14 Pro / Max, but not 48 mp ProRAW to 48 mp ProRAW of both, and here the older 14 Pro / Max is clearly superior. It seems that the new lens design and coating adds a bit of haze to all images and also reduces sharpness.

16 Pro Max has the same issue.

I think it is too heavy noise reduction. A true shame - RAW formats should not be denoised. That is the whole point of RAW.

 

[Artsketch]

16 Pro Max has the same issue.

I think it is too heavy noise reduction. A true shame - RAW formats should not be denoised. That is the whole point of RAW.

The denoising on the 15 Pro was heavier but the minimal focus distance changed too, from 20 cm to usable 30-35 cm. It also had a shallower depth of field and more bokeh. Maybe cheaper lenses too? I've seen 48 ProRAW photos from the 16 Pro that don't quite match the sharpness and detail rendition of the 14 Pro, but had less noise reduction than the 15 Pro. I assume that the lens is the main cause. That's why I switched back to the 14 Pro, even though I was expecting a larger sensor on the 16 Pro.

 

[krvld]

16 Pro Max has the same issue.

I think it is too heavy noise reduction. A true shame - RAW formats should not be denoised. That is the whole point of RAW.

Seems like they changed something in algorithm and 16 Pro produces less sharp and more smudgy photos compared to 14 Pro, especially in low light. Did Apple choose to go for noise free (detail free), mash potato mess this time (same as 12 pro, first ProRAW iteration)?

Every ProRAW shot coming from 16 Pro is absolutely noise free, just like on S23 Ultra in this video.

 

[krvld]

Seems like they changed something in algorithm and 16 Pro produces less sharp and more smudgy photos compared to 14 Pro, especially in low light. Did Apple choose to go for noise free (detail free), mash potato mess this time (same as 12 pro, first ProRAW iteration)?

Every ProRAW shot coming from 16 Pro is absolutely noise free, just like on S23 Ultra in this video.

Similar example on 15 Pro. The algorithm goes harder on darker parts where it strips all the noise and leaves smudgy detail free mess.

 

[jajo.j]

I completely stopped shooting in ProRAW since 15 Pro Max. Before it was my favorite format that had wonderful detail and minimal processing. Now it is a smudgy useless mess and it should be illegal to call it "RAW".

On the positive side, using a software like ProCamera to take regular RAW and then processing them in Lightroom gives me fantastic results and by far the best smartphone camera I have tried (16 Pro Max). But it is limited to 12MP.