iPhone 15 Pro Max iPhone 15 Pro Max - Photos take 3 seconds to sharpen in gallery

[ExploRichie]

Hello,

is it normal that the photos take 3 seconds to sharpen?

If it shot a photo and immediately go to the gallery the photo takes about seconds to be sharp and clear.
The time before its blurry and unsharp.

Is this a normal behauvior?

After the 3 seconds the photo stays sharp and clear.

 

[Flowstates]

I'd expect you are using the optimizing storage function of iCloud, meaning that in most cases the device will only store a reduced quality snippet with the full image being stored on the cloud.

This delay would be the time needed for the system to retrieve the original.

 

[ExploRichie]

No the photos are staying on my storage. If have disabled the iCloud Storage function only.

 

[ExploRichie]

Tested a phone in the store. Same behavior.
Is there a way to disable this?

 

[Shirasaki]

It is normal behaviour. Photo library in iOS is always consist of original photo and thumbnail database. Thumbnails are usually loaded when not viewing the individual picture to improve scroll performance and whatnot. Then system will load the photo when you tap one.

If the image is small enough to the point thumbnail is as big as the image itself, then there would be no blur effect you see when opening a photo.

 

[Deifie]

Could be the deferred processing introduced with IOS17. To get the best performance during camera usage some of the image processing is deferred to a later time.

 

[Jackbequickly]

I doubt there is a way to “disable” this. It is just the way it is.

 

[ExploRichie]

It is normal behaviour. Photo library in iOS is always consist of original photo and thumbnail database. Thumbnails are usually loaded when not viewing the individual picture to improve scroll performance and whatnot. Then system will load the photo when you tap one.

If the image is small enough to the point thumbnail is as big as the image itself, then there would be no blur effect you see when opening a photo.

I think that is not right.

The 3 seconds unsharpness are only the first time opening the picture.
After that the photo stays clear and sharp.
Also if I close the gallery and open it the photo is directly sharp and clear.
I think it has to do with something like iOS 17 @Deifie said.

 

[Shirasaki]

Could be the deferred processing introduced with IOS17. To get the best performance during camera usage some of the image processing is deferred to a later time.

In this case, this is probably not an iOO 17 feature, but was introduced sometime ago.

 

[Berti10]

i have the iPhone 13PM and it is the same, especially when taking multiple photos.

 

[ExploRichie]

Okay thanks so it is normal behavior 😝
Yes I have tested another 15PM and it is normal …

 

[antiprotest]

This has always been how it works. However, it takes half a second on my iPhone X and half a second or less on my iPhone 14 Pro. I am not sure if you meant "three seconds" precisely. If so, that's longer than usual in my experience.

 

[vatter69]

Same when i take a pic with camera app and then open Whatsapp to send it from there.
Always an annoying delay.

 

[Marswarrior462]

That's always been the case on my iPhone 13 Pro Max. I think it's because the image is still processing and applying all the computational "magic" such as Deep Fusion and Smart HDR, and the computational photography features are Apple's way of making up for the small sensors in the iPhone cameras. iPhones, at least since the XS, don't take a single picture. They take a whole suite of pictures at different exposures and shutter speeds and intelligently select the best parts of each one to merge them into the ideal photo. If it weren't for that, iPhone photos would have terrible noise, crushed shadows, blown out highlights, artifacts, and other problems that would make them look like a total potato camera

 

[djcerla]

It's not 3 seconds. Not even close.

 

[ExploRichie]

It is about 2-3 seconds. Before it is unsharp

 

[ExploRichie]

Here look for it

In 00:07 it is sharp
Before unsharp
I know not the best photo quality because dark room

It is the same with every 14PM and 15PM I tested 😳

 

[eilavid]

12 PM, it's normal behaviour. iOS needs a second to do its processing.

 

[schnitzel-pretzel]

I'd expect you are using the optimizing storage function of iCloud, meaning that in most cases the device will only store a reduced quality snippet with the full image being stored on the cloud.

This delay would be the time needed for the system to retrieve the original.

No, this is not it. The Deep Fusion and other algorithms take a few seconds to run. This happens even without iCloud Photos enabled.

Some people don't notice it.

@OP, this has been discussed for years now. It's actually interesting that you describe it as blurry and soft for a few seconds, since most people who bring this up actually prefer the pre-processing photo. The processing you're seeing happen is HDR, among other things.

 

[schnitzel-pretzel]

That's always been the case on my iPhone 13 Pro Max. I think it's because the image is still processing and applying all the computational "magic" such as Deep Fusion and Smart HDR, and the computational photography features are Apple's way of making up for the small sensors in the iPhone cameras. iPhones, at least since the XS, don't take a single picture. They take a whole suite of pictures at different exposures and shutter speeds and intelligently select the best parts of each one to merge them into the ideal photo. If it weren't for that, iPhone photos would have terrible noise, crushed shadows, blown out highlights, artifacts, and other problems that would make them look like a total potato camera

iPhones have been taking multiple exposures for a long time, before the XS. The problem is that nowadays the processing has gotten way too aggressive in some people's opinions (including mine), and there's no way to disable it.

 

[svish]

Used to take a second on my 12 Pro Max. After upgrading to 15 Pro Max, definitely noticed that it takes longer.
3 seconds is probably right. Becomes annoying when trying to view a photo immediately after clicking it.

 

[Flowstates]

Is the increase compute time a function of the increased sensor size ?

 

[ExploRichie]

Used to take a second on my 12 Pro Max. After upgrading to 15 Pro Max, definitely noticed that it takes longer.
3 seconds is probably right. Becomes annoying when trying to view a photo immediately after clicking it.

Thank you, you know what I mean

 

[Mikeske]

I have noticed this a few times after taking a picture. It really does not matter to me as long as the picture is good then it does not matter to me if it is blurred for a few moments.

 

[nortonandreev]

As others have said – this is normal.