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

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newphone12

macrumors newbie
Dec 19, 2020
25
12
Aero-25 said:
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?



I'm on a 256 GB.
Click to expand...
That would make this so much easier! I spent hours on the phone with Apple support techs trying to replicate the issue so they could observe it. Unfortunately the issue would not occur during the screen share with them, a screen recording, or even a screen grab! The only way I was able to show them was in person at the Apple store where they agreed it was obvious and exchanged the phone. Unfortunately, once I got home with the second phone, the issue arose again after updating to 14.3.

Thanks for looking into this on your phone, @Aero-25. Your info helps!
 
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newphone12

macrumors newbie
Dec 19, 2020
25
12
@Aero-25 got me thinking... None of the other ways worked BUT, I was able to capture the issue just now using Quicktime recording on my MacBook with the phone in front of the camera!

@SergioRZ you should be able to capture the issue this way too. I'm back on with Apple support to show them with this method.

THANK YOU @Aero-25!!!
 
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A

Aero-25

macrumors newbie
Nov 22, 2020
17
117
newphone12 said:
@Aero-25 got me thinking... None of the other ways worked BUT, I was able to capture the issue just now using Quicktime recording on my MacBook with the phone in front of the camera!

@SergioRZ you should be able to capture the issue this way too. I'm back on with Apple support to show them with this method.

THANK YOU @Aero-25!!!
Click to expand...

I'm glad you managed to capture the issue via Quicktime! Do you mind sharing the recording so I have a better idea of your issue ?

I hope this will be fixed soon for you :)
 
N

newphone12

macrumors newbie
Dec 19, 2020
25
12
Aero-25 said:
I'm glad you managed to capture the issue via Quicktime! Do you mind sharing the recording so I have a better idea of your issue ?

I hope this will be fixed soon for you :)
Click to expand...
Just uploaded. I had to play around with some levels so it could be seen on screen but you should be able to catch what's going on in the clip.
 
A

Aero-25

macrumors newbie
Nov 22, 2020
17
117
newphone12 said:
Just uploaded. I had to play around with some levels so it could be seen on screen but you should be able to catch what's going on in the clip.
Click to expand...
Thank you for sharing! That's indeed an annoying issue. I'm often playing with edit mode on my photos and I never noticed anything like that.
I'm very curious to know what could be the origin of the problem.

Have you tried erasing the phone completly, set it as new and play with it for a few hours to see if the problem is still present?
 
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newphone12

macrumors newbie
Dec 19, 2020
25
12
Aero-25 said:
Thank you for sharing! That's indeed an annoying issue. I'm often playing with edit mode on my photos and I never noticed anything like that.
I'm very curious to know what could be the origin of the problem.

Have you tried erasing the phone completly, set it as new and play with it for a few hours to see if the problem is still present?
Click to expand...
You're welcome! Yes, I've done that with two phones now. Problem was still present on both.
 
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H

hashsi99

macrumors regular
Jul 7, 2011
216
72
Completely normal. Just checked on 5 pros. Lol

it doesn’t do it on portraits. But does it on all pictures taken with the new phone (hdr or not). Previous photos from my photo library (taken with X) do not do this when viewed.

Edit

also if you take a picture, then click bottom left to view picture you’ll notice something is going on to adjust picture.
 
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newphone12

macrumors newbie
Dec 19, 2020
25
12
Hi @hashsi99 - are you saying that my phone's behavior is normal? Or are you saying that @Aero-25 's phone is behaving normally? They are acting differently while editing photos but are both iPhone 12 Pro Max.

I just want my photos to save the way they appear when I'm finished editing.
 
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newphone12

macrumors newbie
Dec 19, 2020
25
12
@hashsi99 The issue doesn't occur while in screen share, screen recording, or during a screen grab.

Are you saying that my phone is behaving normally or that @Aero-25 's phone is behaving normally?
 
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hashsi99

macrumors regular
Jul 7, 2011
216
72
newphone12 said:
@hashsi99 The issue doesn't occur while in screen share, screen recording, or during a screen grab.

Are you saying that my phone is behaving normally or that @Aero-25 's phone is behaving normally?
Click to expand...

did you try taking a picture , then clicking bottom left to view? It’s doing some adjustments. trying to verify if yours does.

I tried on 5 phones and all behave like yours. So I think ours are normal. Aero is defective.

mine doesn’t have raised black issue either (all 5). Be interesting to know if yours has raised blacks or not. My bet is yours doesn’t (which is good) and Aero does have raised blacks.
 
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newphone12

macrumors newbie
Dec 19, 2020
25
12
@hashsi99 Yes, I am able to make adjustments to a photo (after clicking bottom left) that I took while screen recording. The problem is that the issue does not appear while I'm screen recording. If I go back to that same photo once screen recording is off, the issue appears again. On top of that, I prefer the edit I made on the photo after screen recording was finished. I would like to retain that look but am unable to currently.

I'm curious - what is the capacity on the five iPhones you attempted to recreate the issue on?

If this is "normal," I don't like it. I want to be able to save the photo the way I see it in editing. I've given all the information to Apple support, including the link to this thread. The tech informed me that I will be receiving communication from them later this week. If there is anything new to report I will definitely share it here.
 
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hashsi99

macrumors regular
Jul 7, 2011
216
72
Newphone12,

All are 128gb.

My question was if you hit the bottom left, you’ll notice the photo is automatically adjusted after it’s opened without intervention

Edit:
Maybe a quick test.
Edit the picture to your liking. Then after you’re done. Send it to your email. Does it keep your adjustments / edits true?

maybe the brightness is just a “convenience” feature to see more while editing? I’m also on auto brightness.
 
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N

newphone12

macrumors newbie
Dec 19, 2020
25
12
hashsi99 said:
Newphone12,

All are 128gb.

My question was if you hit the bottom left, you’ll notice the photo is automatically adjusted after it’s opened without intervention

Edit:
Maybe a quick test.
Edit the picture to your liking. Then after you’re done. Send it to your email. Does it keep your adjustments / edits true?

maybe the brightness is just a “convenience” feature to see more while editing? I’m also on auto brightness.
Click to expand...
That's good to know! So the issue doesn't appear to be specific to 512 GB models. Thanks!

I do not know if mine has raised blacks or not.

I appreciate you trying to be helpful with the screen recording and bottom left adjustments but I'm having trouble understanding the question or what the result should be.

Regarding the other test - after emailing, unfortunately it does not keep the adjustments true to the way I saw them while editing.

With the brightness as a convenience, that's a possibility, but if that were the case I would suspect that one of the many senior techs I've spoken to would know about it. It's possible that they do not, just not something I would expect to be likely.

I am not on auto brightness.

If it is a convenience feature, I don't like it. If that were the case I would return this model for one where it doesn't occur.
 
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A

Aero-25

macrumors newbie
Nov 22, 2020
17
117
I could believe this would be a "convenience" feature if only the screen brightness would go up in the edit mode (like it does in Wallet) but this wouldn't affect the final result when saving the changes. In this case, the HDR effect is disapearing as soon as the picture is saved which is not normal.

@newphone12, have you tried editing your photos with a third party app like Lightroom mobile and see if you have the same problem?
 
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newphone12

macrumors newbie
Dec 19, 2020
25
12
@Aero-25 I agree. It feels like the photo loses the HDR effect once edited and saved. It looks great while editing, I'd love to be able to keep it!

I have tried editing in Lightroom but I do not get the "pop" of the photo like I do while editing in iPhone Photo. It has the same appearance as it does during a screen grab or other form of capture (sans the Quicktime clip).
 
A

Aero-25

macrumors newbie
Nov 22, 2020
17
117
Thanks for the feedback. If you disable "Smart HDR", take a photo and try to edit it, do you also see a difference ?
 
S

SergioRZ

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 24, 2020
61
49
hashsi99 said:
But does it on all pictures taken with the new phone (hdr or not). Previous photos from my photo library (taken with X) do not do this when viewed.
Click to expand...

This is interesting, I looked at photos taken with my previous iPhone 11 Pro (in the current 12PM library) and it seems like it doesn't do the HDR shift thing when going into edit mode.

Strange...
 
S

SergioRZ

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 24, 2020
61
49
Disabling Smart HDR makes no change here. Still get HDR shift when editing...
 
S

SergioRZ

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 24, 2020
61
49
I've probably tried all the possible settings ON and OFF... the only one I found to eliminate the HDR shift when editing was to disable the "View Full HDR" setting in Photos.
 
S

SergioRZ

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 24, 2020
61
49
By now I'm very sure that this is not just a "brightness" issue. It is indeed showing "full" HDR when I enter edit mode (and it looks amazing). For some reason, it's not showing the same when out of Edit mode :(

Also, everything else around the photo stays exactly the same, only the photo changes... if it was related to phone display or light sensor or anything like that, the change would affect the entire screen, not just the photo.

I can't imagine this HDR only when editing is by design or intended behavior, wouldn't make sense...
 
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newphone12

macrumors newbie
Dec 19, 2020
25
12
SergioRZ said:
This is interesting, I looked at photos taken with my previous iPhone 11 Pro (in the current 12PM library) and it seems like it doesn't do the HDR shift thing when going into edit mode.

Strange...
Click to expand...
Same here with my old photos from my last iPhone. No HDR shift.

Another point to add - I just had a friend send me an unedited photo from an iPhone 12 Pro (not a Max and has not updated to 14.3 yet) for a test. The photo taken with the iPhone 12 Pro on 14.2 is exhibiting the same HDR shift for me while trying to edit on a iPhone 12 Pro Max with 14.3.
 
S

SergioRZ

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 24, 2020
61
49
The plot thickens... and does your friend with the non-Max 12 Pro see the HDR shift?
 
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