Level 1 (6 points)

Camera focus issues in photo mode on iPhone 16 Pro Max and 18 Pro Max

Photo focus issues with the iPhone 16 Pro Max and 18 Promax.

In video mode, one can shift the focus point in Cinematic mode by touching different parts of the screen. There doesn't appear to be a similar feature for photos. I have hummingbird feeders and many times when trying to focus on a bird, the focus will lock onto the background, such as the grass about 5 feet below or my fence about 30 feet away. I asked about this at an Apple store when I got my 16 ProMax and was told I could buy an app for that. It seems this would be easy to include in photos since it is already in videos.

Posted on Sep 29, 2026 8:41 AM

3 replies

harris270 Author

Level 1 (6 points)

Sep 29, 2026 9:16 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

Thank you so much! The Forced Restart seems to have fixed it. I now see the ability to double-tap the screen to enable focus tracking in Photo mode.

Richard.Taylor

Level 7 (25,466 points)

Sep 29, 2026 9:03 AM in response to harris270

The touch to set the focus point thing is really cool, and I like using it. But I'm taking stills, not videos very often, and it works just fine for my pictures. I'm still in iOS26, but I don't see anything that indicates that this has changed in iOS27. It's troubling that it doesn't work for you, even though you clearly have used it with videos and know what you're doing.

First thing, try a forced re-start of your phone:

Force restart iPhone - Apple Support

This is different from a simple Power Off. For me, the logo appears 5 or 10 seconds past the "slide to power off" message. Wait for the logo; don't do the slide thing.

Let us know if that works…

Richard.Taylor

Level 7 (25,466 points)

Sep 29, 2026 9:26 AM in response to harris270

harris270 wrote: Thank you so much! The Forced Restart seems to have fixed it. …

Great-- I was hoping that would do it!

Originally posted at discussions.apple.com/thread/256367312