iPhone 17 Pro Max Why does the 17PM 48 MP 4x camera only take 12 MP in RAW?

[H_D]

Playing around with the iPhone 17 Pro Max, I tried to take some photos with the 4x Tele. And found that it only took 12 MP images. It is set to 48MP Raw, Night Mode off, Live Mode off. 12 MP every time. Halide takes 48 MP Raw with the »4,5x«-camera. The 1x takes perfectly fine 48 MP RAW with the standard issue Apple camera app, just the 4x not. Does anybody have a clue, what I am doing wrong here? Thanks in advance…

 

[unobtainium]

Sounds like it could be a bug if Halide is taking full resolution photos with the exact same hardware.

 

[DanRO]

It’s usually light related, same happens with my 14PM, I set the primary camera to shoot 48MP Heif and if there’s not enough light it takes only 12PM photos.

 

[Nievepains]

I got a 48mp RAW out of mine testing it today, but I am returning the phone, I think the 4x lens is very soft when you zoom in, and for the price of the phone. I don't think it's bad, but I expected a much greater improvement in comparison to my 15 Pro Max.

 

[DBZmusicboy01]

I got a 48mp RAW out of mine testing it today, but I am returning the phone, I think the 4x lens is very soft when you zoom in, and for the price of the phone. I don't think it's bad, but I expected a much greater improvement in comparison to my 15 Pro Max.

The Pros weren’t updated as well as the regular models.

 

[Nievepains]

The Pros weren’t updated as well as the regular models.

Agreed, some OK stuff, not nothing, but I think they are starting to reach their limit without a major redesign, or much larger camera sensor (as has been used in other phones).

 

[Vermifuge]

Wish I could find it but one of the reviews I watched basically said this was a feature under certain shooting conditions. Sorry I tried to find the source.

 

[H_D]

I think what Apple is trying here is to replace the 4× with the regular 1× lens, maybe due to its better aperture. Which is weird as the Halide image is absolutely okay and it was bright indoors lighting, no HighISO darkness. It’s a bit weird if the 48MP tele is your main selling point and it doesn’t work with the main camera except when you turn off a few features, turn on a few settings and are in bright daylight. Especially with going down to 12 MP (not even 24). So instead of 48 RAW and 24 Fusion, which is what I would expect considering my settings, I get a low res image from a lense I did not choose. Basically makes the Apple Camera App useless (which is bad news considering that third party software often has no access to the 48 ProRAW)…

 

[Puonti]

Did you confirm it's switching to a different camera by physically blocking all cameras except the one you want it to use?

 

[Snot Rox]

I just tested using the telephoto and can confirm it’s based on lighting conditions. In bright/sunny areas it shoots at 48mp but in lowlight it’s 12mp.

It’s unfortunate because you have no control what MP you can shoot at with it and can’t force it.

 

[dizmonk]

I got a 48mp RAW out of mine testing it today, but I am returning the phone, I think the 4x lens is very soft when you zoom in, and for the price of the phone. I don't think it's bad, but I expected a much greater improvement in comparison to my 15 Pro Max.

I'm in the same boat but am wondering if the upcoming camera patch will improve the overall images.

 

[miemo]

Looks like sometimes the device decides on it's own that it's not gonna use the 4x physical camera at all even when that's what you've selected, but instead do a similar crop of the main camera. Guess this is due to the main camera having a much wider aperture and also having a larger sensor, so the logic is that the end results would be better this way in low light.

Saw this myself yesterday. You can see if that was the case in the metadata in Photos app, see attachment.