11.2 and iPhone 8 Plus camera focus issue

[C DM]

Another website highlighting this issue. Come on Apple, why aren’t they taking note!

https://appletoolbox.com/2017/12/iphone-issues-ios-11-2-update-accessory-use/

To be fair, just because there isn't some word from Apple about it doesn't mean that they aren't aware of that and aren't looking into it (and aren't working on or already have a fix for it that they will release in an update).

 

[nowhoney]

I just tried downgrading to 11.2.1 and no luck.

I'm going to try just 11.0.1 and see if that helps - if not I'm going to go back to 11.2 and wait for a hopeful fix.

The odd thing is, when I noticed that the focus wasn't working I don't believe I'd done an update - it just seemingly happened overnight.

Perhaps it's a bug that can just appear out of nowhere? I don't know.

 

[C DM]

I just tried downgrading to 11.2.1 and no luck.

I'm going to try just 11.0.1 and see if that helps - if not I'm going to go back to 11.2 and wait for a hopeful fix.

The odd thing is, when I noticed that the focus wasn't working I don't believe I'd done an update - it just seemingly happened overnight.

Perhaps it's a bug that can just appear out of nowhere? I don't know.

Do you mean 11.1.2? You might want to be careful rolling back to an earlier version as you might end up with a device that is crashing often due to the local notification issue that is present in versions prior to 11.2.

 

[metsjetsfan]

To be fair, just because there isn't some word from Apple about it doesn't mean that they aren't aware of that and aren't looking into it (and aren't working on or already have a fix for it that they will release in an update).

very true you do see on the bug list many items you didnt know existed to begin with

 

[nowhoney]

Do you mean 11.1.2? You might want to be careful rolling back to an earlier version as you might end up with a device that is crashing often due to the local notification issue that is present in versions prior to 11.2.

That's the one. I ended up just going back to 11.2 anyway. I don't know what's wrong with my camera.

 

[macfacts]

To be fair, just because there isn't some word from Apple about it doesn't mean that they aren't aware of that and aren't looking into it (and aren't working on or already have a fix for it that they will release in an update).

Secrecy is nice when the product hasn't been released and you want the competition to be clueless.

Secrecy is not nice when it is between Apple and their customers. Apple should acknowledge the issue at least. Very annoying.

 

[hmmwhat]

I haven't heard of a beta, I'm afraid, but I need to get the camera working much earlier than New Year. I've paid over 1.1k GBP for the X that is now crippled and forces me to take a separate camera with me at all times (it sounds even more ridiculous when I write it down).

If you save your data on iCloud or via iTunes on your Mac or Windows computer, you will only have a backup of the current iOS version you are on. I had to learn it the hard way myself - I made a backup before upgrading to 11.2 and restored from that backup after the upgrade. Later on when I noticed the issues with 11.2 I downgraded to 11.1.2 and wanted to restore from my former 11.1.2 backup but iTunes didn't show this older backup anymore. What it did was overwriting the backup with the 11.2 data immediately after I had upgraded which made it impossible to get my data back onto my phone on a lower firmware. The only "solution" was to upgrade again to 11.2, restore from the backup and crippling my camera again.

That's the current status quo, the only thing I can do now is sit and wait until Apple releases a fix (or go back to 11.1.2 and loose all my data).

If you want to save a backup permanently, you need to archive it in iTunes' preferences (another ridiculous way to hide this option, why can't you do that directly in iTunes frontend?). Unfortunately, I only learned about that when it was already too late for me.

Yeah, I was faced with this problem as well. All my iCloud backups are unfortunately tied to 11.2, so when I downgraded with the 11.1.2 .ipsw, I was unable to restore my data through the 11.2-based iCloud backups. Looks like there are only two options for now:

- Go back to 11.1.2, set up phone as new, and have a perfect camera without any of your data
- Stay on 11.2, remain up-to-date with your data, and deal with the faulty wide-angle lens.

For the time being, I'm not going to bother with any 3rd party data retrieval options. Even with though, I'm not sure if there's a workaround to get an 11.2 backup onto an 11.1.2 build. This would be slightly less annoying if messages were cloud-based like the photos, but I digress.

 

[nowhoney]

Are we actually expecting this to get fixed? Surely Apple can't just expect us to have broken cameras.

 

[C DM]

Secrecy is nice when the product hasn't been released and you want the competition to be clueless.

Secrecy is not nice when it is between Apple and their customers. Apple should acknowledge the issue at least. Very annoying.

Secrecy is one thing, publicly acknowledging every possible issue is another. That's not so say that some issues shouldn't be acknowledged, but usually after they are investigated and more is known about them. Apple has certainly done that in many instances, and at the same time certainly not all or as many as something like that might have been good.

 

[JBW01]

To be fair, just because there isn't some word from Apple about it doesn't mean that they aren't aware of that and aren't looking into it (and aren't working on or already have a fix for it that they will release in an update).

I am having the same random focussing issues with the iP8 back camera since upgrading to iOS 11:2. If I take the camera out of its case it then focusses properly. This wasn’t a problem during the 3 months, since new, prior to upgrading.

 

[lelisa13p]

I am having the same random focussing issues with the iP8 back camera since upgrading to iOS 11:2. If I take the camera out of its case it then focusses properly. This wasn’t a problem during the 3 months, since new, prior to upgrading.

Magnet in your case or not? Seems to matter to some but to others, not so much.

 

[derw24]

Hello there, was wondering if anyone have this issue too, when on iOS 11.2 the camera isnt able to get in focus, the lense just go back and forth indefinetly. Restored back to 11.1.2 and the issue is gone, updated back as new iPhone on 11.2 issue is there. So this looks like a software problem. Anybody with the same problem?

read about taking phone from case as i have the same issue with camera,camera working okay got new case and still working ok,put back older case just to see and camera back to zooming in and out ,so i dumped the old case for now how it keeps working

 

[appleino]

I went to the Apple store yesterday and, like I thought, they didn't have a clue how to fix the issue. Basically, after a bit of back and forth and talking to colleagues, they said there are only two options:

1. Wait for the next update and hope that Apple will include a fix.
2. Set up phone as new and loose all data (since restoring the backup will bring back the issue onto the phone).

Cost me 4 hours and we're back to square one...

 

[ayresm]

Issue for me on iPhone X after upgrading to 11.2 last night.

Never had a case on the phone.

Only affects the wide angle lens.

Apple Support next to useless.

Interestingly, after seeing the issue, I was able to place a magnet next to the camera and move it around a bit and it could get the lens to focus that way.

I wonder if the face that it was next to my Apple Watch charger during the upgrade somehow caused some new unfocussed baseline to be set when it ran the upgrade?

 

[Daveyk54321]

I went to the Apple store yesterday and, like I thought, they didn't have a clue how to fix the issue. Basically, after a bit of back and forth and talking to colleagues, they said there are only two options:

1. Wait for the next update and hope that Apple will include a fix.
2. Set up phone as new and loose all data (since restoring the backup will bring back the issue onto the phone).

Cost me 4 hours and we're back to square one...

I did the entire @applesupport thing. Backed up iPhone 8 Plus, erased phone and started it up as a new phone and camera worked perfectly using iOS 11.2. Erased and started it up using latest back up and problem with camera reappeared. Saved data v working camera. Data won. Portrait mode works fine!

 

[metsjetsfan]

I did the entire @applesupport thing. Backed up iPhone 8 Plus, erased phone and started it up as a new phone and camera worked perfectly using iOS 11.2. Erased and started it up using latest back up and problem with camera reappeared. Saved data v working camera. Data won. Portrait mode works fine!

Thats sad if thats the case then apple may not see this as an 11.2 issue

 

[arcturuz]

i am on 11.2 and my iphone x doesn't exhibit this issue

 

[Novecento]

Just here to take the same line:

• iPhone 8 Plus with iOS 11.2, this all began with updating to 11.2
• no focus in photos and videos for everything that is out of arms reach
• no more bokeh effect in portait mode, everything is sharp
• silicon case, no magnet involved

(of course neither restoring from iTunes nor iCloud backup helped)

 

[ayresm]

Issue for me on iPhone X after upgrading to 11.2 last night.

Never had a case on the phone.

Only affects the wide angle lens.

Apple Support next to useless.

Interestingly, after seeing the issue, I was able to place a magnet next to the camera and move it around a bit and it could get the lens to focus that way.

I wonder if the face that it was next to my Apple Watch charger during the upgrade somehow caused some new unfocussed baseline to be set when it ran the upgrade?

Just taken some photos today and seems to have resolved itself - images are not blurry anymore. No idea why. Going to keep monitoring in case the issue returns.

 

[hmmwhat]

So, I was able to fix this issue on my iPhone X (no case involved) by the following:

1) turn ON live photos, tap to focus
2) settings>general>reset>reset all settings

I'm not sure if #1 is necessary, but these are the steps I was following by a poster in another thread and I believe my phone is focusing normally again. I've since disabled live photos and everything still seems to be in order.

Before this, I never had issues taking macro shots, it was only the further-away shots with the wide angle lens. Something about the settings I had (which caused no issue when I downgraded to 11.1.2) were limiting my phones ability to focus to infinity on 11.2.

While it's still kind of annoying to have to reinstate all of the settings, it's certainly less cumbersome than setting up as a new phone on 11.2 or downgrading/remaining on 11.1.2.

I realize that this thread is a bit conflating with the magnet/case issue, but resetting all settings (NOT all content and settings) seemed to resolve my problems, which did NOT have anything to do with a case as my phone's always been naked.

Just passing this along in case it helps somebody else.

 

[appleino]

I wanted to pass along another tip for those who still can't fix it using @hmmwhat's solution.

With Apple being so clueless and helpless about the issue, I decided to downgrade while trying to keep my data. What worked for me was:

1. Back up the phone on 11.2 (just in case I had to go back after all).
2. Downgrade to 11.1.2 using the "Update" function in iTunes. I didn't know that you can trick iTunes into letting you "update" to a lower version if you hold the Alt button on a Mac when clicking on it. I had only done this via "restore" in the past but then you'd loose all your data. So after downloading the 11.1.2 firmware and using the update function in iTunes to downgrade to this version, the issue was gone as expected but all my data was still there. However, my Apple watch wouldn't connect to the phone anymore and all health-related apps only gave me a spinning wheel when I launched them (activity, health app, sleep tracking apps, etc.).
3. I found someone with the same problem in a different forum and followed their advice. Since I already was on 11.1.2 with all my data intact except for the health apps working, I made a backup in iTunes. Afterwards, I restored to 11.1.2 via iTunes (this time using the "restore" button) and then restored my backup. This brought all the data back to the phone and allowed me to re-connect my watch. The watch wouldn't pair and I had to reset and delete all settings before setting it up as a new watch (so I lost my data and settings on the watch once again) but I'm finally back to where I was 1.5 weeks ago with a working camera and a working watch.

I've never had to go through so much hassle with any iPhone before and sincerely hope Apple will get their **** together and fix this in 11.2.1.

 

[Daveyk54321]

Thats sad if thats the case then apple may not see this as an 11.2 issue

Well I hammered home the point that all was ok with camera and backups until 11.2.

 

[metsjetsfan]

So, I was able to fix this issue on my iPhone X (no case involved) by the following:

1) turn ON live photos, tap to focus
2) settings>general>reset>reset all settings

I'm not sure if #1 is necessary, but these are the steps I was following by a poster in another thread and I believe my phone is focusing normally again. I've since disabled live photos and everything still seems to be in order.

Before this, I never had issues taking macro shots, it was only the further-away shots with the wide angle lens. Something about the settings I had (which caused no issue when I downgraded to 11.1.2) were limiting my phones ability to focus to infinity on 11.2.

While it's still kind of annoying to have to reinstate all of the settings, it's certainly less cumbersome than setting up as a new phone on 11.2 or downgrading/remaining on 11.1.2.

I realize that this thread is a bit conflating with the magnet/case issue, but resetting all settings (NOT all content and settings) seemed to resolve my problems, which did NOT have anything to do with a case as my phone's always been naked.

Just passing this along in case it helps somebody else.

Thanks and sorry dumb question but what happens with the apple watch if you reset settings? Do you have to redo settings on the watch apl again?

 

[MikeSny]

So, I was able to fix this issue on my iPhone X (no case involved) by the following:

1) turn ON live photos, tap to focus
2) settings>general>reset>reset all settings

I'm not sure if #1 is necessary, but these are the steps I was following by a poster in another thread and I believe my phone is focusing normally again. I've since disabled live photos and everything still seems to be in order.

Before this, I never had issues taking macro shots, it was only the further-away shots with the wide angle lens. Something about the settings I had (which caused no issue when I downgraded to 11.1.2) were limiting my phones ability to focus to infinity on 11.2.

While it's still kind of annoying to have to reinstate all of the settings, it's certainly less cumbersome than setting up as a new phone on 11.2 or downgrading/remaining on 11.1.2.

I realize that this thread is a bit conflating with the magnet/case issue, but resetting all settings (NOT all content and settings) seemed to resolve my problems, which did NOT have anything to do with a case as my phone's always been naked.

Just passing this along in case it helps somebody else.

On my iPhone 6sPlus I did the reset but issues persisted. Anyone hear about an update this week from Apple?

 

[metsjetsfan]

On my iPhone 6sPlus I did the reset but issues persisted. Anyone hear about an update this week from Apple?

There is an update coming this week but for the homekit issue. No idea if they tackle this or not