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oliviaprecious
User level: Level 1 (4 points)

iPhone 18 pro max front camera quality issues

Is anybody else having front camera filming issues when it comes to lighting on the iPhone 18 pro max?

My job is filming on TikTok, I have a room

full of professional lighting and no matter what I do the finished video comes out either too dark, too olive, too yellow and in some cases completely out of focus. I’ve compared this to my partners iPhone 18 pro max and his camera screen is significantly brighter before even pressing record. Every single video I have to edit before I post, I never had this problem with my iPhone 16 pro max. I don’t mess around with my screen or settings before recording, it used to be a case of set it up and go but I’m completely lost. I’ve attached images for a better understanding, every filming day the lighting comes out different and there’s not a thing I have changed behind the scenes. Any help would be appreciated, thank you.

Posted on Oct 30, 2026 2:57 PM

7 replies

Jeff Donald
User level: Level 9 (64,078 points)

Oct 31, 2026 3:54 AM in response to oliviaprecious

OK, you’re recording at 4K/30fps. Do you have a screen protector over your front screen? If so, it might not be installed properly and it’s interfering with the front facing camera. While rare, I have seen this happen in the past. Please visually inspect the screen protector and if necessary remove it and try shooting a scene again.


If possible can you share a link to a short clip that’s unedited so I can what’s going on. Thanks.

Jeff Donald
User level: Level 9 (64,078 points)

Oct 30, 2026 3:55 PM in response to oliviaprecious

Thanks for sharing the images. Please share the EXIF information so we can better understand the settings for each image.


The front facing camera is the selfie camera. Are you really using the selfie camera or are you using the rear facing camera with the three cameras/lenses??

Jeff Donald
User level: Level 9 (64,078 points)

Oct 30, 2026 4:32 PM in response to oliviaprecious

There’s no upgrade when the camera, etc. are exactly the same as the previous model. Nothing on the selfie camera changed between iPhone 17 Pro models and 18 Pro models.


Do you have the EXIF data I requested??


oliviaprecious Author
User level: Level 1 (4 points)

Oct 30, 2026 4:25 PM in response to Jeff Donald

Yep I use the selfie camera, I film 100 videos in one sitting and it’s much quicker to stop start. Like mentioned I never had this problem filming front camera with the iPhone 16 pro max….. this was meant to be an upgrade 🫠

oliviaprecious Author
User level: Level 1 (4 points)

Oct 30, 2026 4:45 PM in response to Jeff Donald

I didn’t have the 17 previously……..


Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max

Front Camera - 20 mm f1.9

4K • 2160 × 3840 • 136.5 MB

Jeff Donald
User level: Level 9 (64,078 points)

Oct 30, 2026 4:54 PM in response to oliviaprecious

That’s your format and file size. Your EXIF data is your exposure information etc. Please see example below.


oliviaprecious Author
User level: Level 1 (4 points)

Oct 30, 2026 5:02 PM in response to Jeff Donald

mine doesn’t say that…the screenshots in my original post are from videos, not images. No information is given on screenshots.


this is the video information from image 1 in my post.

Originally posted at discussions.apple.com/thread/256386141