iPhone 12 Pro Max Increased brightness only when editing photos (HDR issue)

[SergioRZ]

Probably an old subject and pretty much a silly question... but hey, I just noticed this today so please bear with me.

I noticed that when I go into edit mode on a photo, the brightness automatically increases a bit... even if I do absolutely nothing to the photo. When I exit edit mode, the brightness goes down back to the level it was before.

So, what's happening? Is that some feature to allow the user to see better/more when editing a photo?

Thanks!

 

[SergioRZ]

huummm nobody? Maybe it's happening only to me?

 

[SergioRZ]

I tested this on my wife's XS and I could not replicate the "brightness" issue...

Then I tried a quick test on my 12PM: if I disable the option Settings>Photos>View Full HDR... then the issue goes away, it does not get brighter when editing the photos anymore, same brightness is displayed in photo view mode and photo edit mode.

So this is something related to the HDR options... but I still can't figure out why it displays differently on those two modes.

 

[Aero-25]

I have just tried and the brightness stays the same for me, regarldless if the "View full HDR" is turned on or off.
I have the iPhone 12 Pro Max and I am on iOS 14.2.

 

[SergioRZ]

Thanks @Aero-25

I'm puzzled by this issue... I was trying to take print screens to better show what I see on my phone, so I took a photo, tapped on "edit", I can see the immediate brightness increase a notch, and took a print screen... but when I do that even the print screen does not show the brightness, it displays with normal brightness just like it does outside of edit mode.

So, the print screen could not capture the brighter version... or even keep that information in the capture, if I edit the print screen, brightness does not change.


This seems to be some HDR issue.

The increased brightness I see in edit mode is probably just the HDR version of the photo, it certainly looks like it, it's most obvious if I shoot a scenery with blue sky and white clouds and something darker down below, it makes everything "pop" and looks really great.

The problem, it seems, is that I can only see the HDR photo in edit mode, if I just open the photo to see it normally, it does not seem to show me the HDR version.

I think I'm going to contact support about this... it's very weird.

 

[SergioRZ]

I wonder if this could be related to my permanent "syncing" issue...

Permanent "Syncing..." message at bottom of photo gallery?

On my old iPhone 11 Pro and new 12 Pro Max I always see a message of "Sycing..." at the lower section of All Photos or Recent Album. It's there every day, 24h/day... What could it be? Syncing what with what? I have Photos turned OFF for iCloud, never used it. Sometimes I see a white circle...

forums.macrumors.com

well, anyway, I will be called by Apple Support in about 30 minutes, let's see what I can find out about this HDR issue...

 

[silverblack]

Did you check that ‘Reduce White Point’ is off under Accessibility, Display & Text Size?

 

[SergioRZ]

Did you check that ‘Reduce White Point’ is off under Accessibility, Display & Text Size?

Hi, yes just checked, it's off.

 

[SergioRZ]

Spoke to Apple support, they say it could well be related to the "Syncing..." issue.

Reset All Settings attempted, but made no difference.

Support thinks it could be corrupted data from previous iPhone(s).

Suggested action plan:

1- Temporary enable iCloud photos backup to save all photos in cloud.

2- When that finishes (will take a while), perform a full restore of the phone from PC/iTunes.

3- Then disable iCloud Photos again and see if things are ok, working as expected...

Now waiting (hours?) for iCloud Photos upload to finish...

 

[SergioRZ]

What they think is that whatever is causing the permanent "Syncing..." issue is also preventing the phone from displaying photos correctly with full resolution/HDR.

 

[newphone12]

I'm experiencing the same issue and have been on with Apple support a few times about it with no resolve yet. I even returned the phone (at their suggestion) and got a brand new one. I took some photos right out of the box (without restoring the old phone back up) and everything was fine. Issue came up with the replaced phone after updating to iOS 14.3. We tried screen share, screen grab, and screen recording but it wouldn't replicate when they could see my screen. I thought I was going crazy until the rep at the Apple store saw it in person with me. At that time though, they thought the issue was with my phone and exchanged it. I now know it wasn't just my phone...

 

[SergioRZ]

If it is confirmed that the phone isn't displaying full HDR photos (as it seems in my case) it is a pretty big issue

I noticed because it was behaving differently in photo view and photo editing modes. If the behavior was the same in both modes, it could be displaying non-HDR photos all along and I wouldn't even notice it (not something I would expect so I wasn't really paying attention to that).

I wonder if there are other cases of iPhones not actually showing HDR photos, and users not being aware of it... I mean, how does one know for sure if the photo is being displayed HDR or not?

 

[SergioRZ]

In any case, this procedure I'm going through is a bit annoying (resetting all my stuff, lots of minor tweaks and configurations here and there) and will take a long time... I plan to go out of town in a couple of days and I'm afraid this could still be ongoing until then and I'll be away probably without a computer or proper wifi for some days...

Not the best of times to work on this, but oh well... now it's happening.

 

[newphone12]

I believe I've gone through all of that with Apple too, @SergioRZ. I've easily spent over 5 hours on the phone with them over the last couple of days and I had to deal with the return and exchange in person too. The most frustrating part of the experience was that no one I spoke with at any point had an iPhone 12 Pro Max with them to try and replicate what was happening. I had to show them in person at the store. I understand they are probably working from home due to the pandemic and under normal circumstances would have access. Everyone I've spoken with was helpful and concerned about what was going on. They told me it was elevated to their engineers but not sure what that means for time on a fix.

 

[SergioRZ]

I believe I've gone through all of that with Apple too, @SergioRZ. I've easily spent over 5 hours on the phone with them over the last couple of days and I had to deal with the return and exchange in person too. The most frustrating part of the experience was that no one I spoke with at any point had an iPhone 12 Pro Max with them to try and replicate what was happening. I had to show them in person at the store. I understand they are probably working from home due to the pandemic and under normal circumstances would have access. Everyone I've spoken with was helpful and concerned about what was going on. They told me it was elevated to their engineers but not sure what that means for time on a fix.

Ok, so to be clear, you have the same HDR not displaying issue?

You can actually replicate the photo edit/display issue I described above?

And after all the efforts with apple, the problem isn't fixed?

 

[newphone12]

@SergioRZ Yes, exactly. I was relieved to see your original post because now I know I'm not the only one. We are experiencing the same issue.

 

[SergioRZ]

Well, good to know we are not alone

 

[SergioRZ]

I have just tried and the brightness stays the same for me, regarldless if the "View full HDR" is turned on or off.
I have the iPhone 12 Pro Max and I am on iOS 14.2.

And have you noticed any difference in the way photos are displayed, if "View full HDR" is turned ON/OFF? I mean, can you tell if HDR is actually being displayed on the screen?

 

[newphone12]

I didn't see an issue in 14.2, but also not sure if I was seeing the photos in HDR while editing there. I only started seeing issues after updating to 14.3

 

[newphone12]

Thanks @Aero-25

I'm puzzled by this issue... I was trying to take print screens to better show what I see on my phone, so I took a photo, tapped on "edit", I can see the immediate brightness increase a notch, and took a print screen... but when I do that even the print screen does not show the brightness, it displays with normal brightness just like it does outside of edit mode.

So, the print screen could not capture the brighter version... or even keep that information in the capture, if I edit the print screen, brightness does not change.


This seems to be some HDR issue.

The increased brightness I see in edit mode is probably just the HDR version of the photo, it certainly looks like it, it's most obvious if I shoot a scenery with blue sky and white clouds and something darker down below, it makes everything "pop" and looks really great.

The problem, it seems, is that I can only see the HDR photo in edit mode, if I just open the photo to see it normally, it does not seem to show me the HDR version.

I think I'm going to contact support about this... it's very weird.

You explained it really well in this post. I spoke with one of the senior Apple support techs today and pointed to this thread so he could see I'm not the only one.

I went out to take some sunrise photos the other day and the "pop" you described is really apparent in the photos with the sun and clouds while I'm editing, but once I hit done all of the fun disappears from the photo. They look great while I'm editing though, just wish I could retain the look.

If anyone else reading this with an iPhone 12 Pro Max who has also updated to iOS 14.3 - please let us know if you are experiencing this problem too.

 

[Aero-25]

If anyone else reading this with an iPhone 12 Pro Max who has also updated to iOS 14.3 - please let us know if you are experiencing this problem too.

I have upgraded my 12 Pro Max from iOS 14.2 to 14.3 this morning and I still have no issues with HDR. The picture I see, in edit mode or not, is exactly the same for me.

 

[SergioRZ]

Could be some setting causing the HDR display issue (view/edit modes being different)...

I still have doubts concerning what everyone is seeing, if even those who don't see a difference between view/edit modes, are actually seeing HDR at all.

 

[newphone12]

That's interesting @Aero-25. I'm assuming you have "View Full HDR' turned on in Photo settings and "Smart HDR" turned on in your Camera settings too? Are these photos you took after the update? The photos where it's most pronounced on my phone are ones I took outside with some sunlight. The indoor shots aren't as obvious.

@SergioRZ I would love to find out that this is some setting!

This is my second iPhone 12 Pro Max having the same issue (from two separate stores too) so I'd be surprised if it's just the three phones that @SergioRZ and I have had but it's possible that only some phones have the problem. If that's the case I'll keep returning my iPhone 12 Pro Max until I get one that works right!

 

[newphone12]

Is it possible that phone capacity makes a difference? I'm on a 512 GB.

 

[Aero-25]

That's interesting @Aero-25. I'm assuming you have "View Full HDR' turned on in Photo settings and "Smart HDR" turned on in your Camera settings too? Are these photos you took after the update? The photos where it's most pronounced on my phone are ones I took outside with some sunlight. The indoor shots aren't as obvious.

Correct, I have both settings turned on. I took photos after doing the update and I still see no difference in edit mode or not.
I can't guarantee it at 100% but I'm pretty sure HDR is working on my phone when I look at my pictures.

Is there any way for you to share a video of your issue?

Is it possible that phone capacity makes a difference? I'm on a 512GB.

I'm on a 256 GB.