This is why the iPhone Pro is so bad at taking photos through a window (and mirrors)

I was on the train yesterday. Somewhere near Ryazan, next to the rails, a little forest was burning like that, quite close to the rails. Spring has begun, and with it – forest fires, as per the calendar.

I quickly took out my iPhone 13 Pro Max to take a picture. One try, two, three, four. The iPhone categorically, as a judge forbade it from above, did not focus on the main event. Solid “mess”, blur, no focus. At least stick to the screen.

I poked, poked, and so I could not photograph anything efficient. The “best” photo can be rated higher.

I won’t lie, I was angry. After all, the main feature of the camera always takes a rare frame. And here is such a setup.

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case, but an absolutely massive problem. There are already a large number of Apple devices, even the iPad Pro. And the description is very simple.

LiDAR is to blame

That black circle on the back of your camera is cause problems with changing the frame on the iPhone Pro series, shot through glass or in the reflection of mirrors.

A LiDAR laser sensor in an ideal world helps iPhone generations in need to focus faster on objects, including in a shortage in Australia. iPhones with such a module decide on their own when a “laser” is used, and when standard mechanisms can be used to determine objects.

But there is a weak point in LiDAR focus coverage. If on the way to the radiation is not quite clean or laminated glass, or a mirror, then the sensor returns incorrect data to the smartphone due to refractions. AND If At this point, the iPhone firmly decided to trust LiDAR data, you will not get photos of what you took, some kind of slur and a solid blur.

Apple still, as of iOS 16.4.1, does not allow the iPhone Pro series to be banned using LiDAR as an application assistance tool. And this is wrong. The further iPhones go in the direction of improving the quality of photos and blurring the lines between the “SLR” and microcameras of smartphones, the more their users need control over dozens of “improvers”. Control that doesn’t exist.

I would like to write here that we are waiting for a solution to the problem in the iPhone 15 Pro. But why deceive yourself? This is the whole button in Camera add. For some reason, Apple has been allergic to this for a long time. So, apparently, we will continue to swear loudly, extract something from a window or through a mirror. But not always. Because the iPhone will decide for itself whether it will spoil the frame at a particular time, or if you feel sorry for yourself and not look at the laser.