iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro have a 'rare' camera glitch — but Apple has promised us a fix

by · tom's guide

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

The iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro may not have been released yet, but Apple has already confirmed there's a problem with the camera, which causes black boxes and white lines to appear in photos. Thankfully, Apple will be fixing the issue with a future software update.

The issue in question was spotted during the testing for CNN Underscored's iPhone Air review. When snapping photos at a concert, roughly one in 10 images came out with "small blacked-out portions, including boxes and parts of white squiggles." All the affected areas seemed to be in front of the event's LED board.

Apple has said that this issue can occur in "very rare cases when an LED light display is extremely bright and shining directly into the camera." Apple told CNN Underscored that it has "identified a fix" and will be fixing it in an "upcoming software update."

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There's no word on when that update might be released, or what the actual problem is. Needless to say, it's something to keep in mind if you plan on taking your iPhone 17 series phone to a gig like this.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide / John Velasco)

Bright lights and phone cameras don't always mix well, especially if there are lasers in use. Lasers are high-powered beams of light and can permanently damage your phone's camera sensor if you're not very careful. They don't even need to be particularly powerful lasers, either.

In other words, it's always worth being careful when using your phone camera at a concert or event. There have been plenty of occasions when the lighting they use doesn't really agree with your phone's camera — and in ways that can't be fixed with a software update.

Thankfully, this situation doesn't seem too serious, since Apple has identified what needs fixing. While we're hoping it won't take too long to start rolling out, it is something you need to be aware of if you have pre-ordered one of the new iPhones.

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UK Phones Editor

Tom is the Tom's Guide's UK Phones Editor, tackling the latest smartphone news and vocally expressing his opinions about upcoming features or changes. It's long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He’s usually found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining about how terrible his Smart TV is.

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