iPhone 5 Red Flare Camera Issue, Apple Says We’re Out Of Luck

Almost immediately after the iPhone 5 was released for sale, many customers began to complain about a purple flare or halo image showing up on their iPhone 5 camera photos. Shortly after those reports began to surface, Gizmodo posted a less than stellar response to the issue, which was sent to a customer by Apple support.

The original message stated:

“Our engineering team just gave me this information and we recommend that you angle the camera away from the bright light source when taking pictures. The purple flare in the image provided is considered normal behavior for iPhone 5’s camera.”

While Apple was quick to respond officially following that support message, the response barely differed from the support team’s original response with the exception a simple recommendation:

“Most small cameras, including those in every generation of iPhone, may exhibit some form of flare at the edge of the frame when capturing an image with out-of-scene light sources. This can happen when a light source is positioned at an angle (usually just outside the field of view) so that it causes a reflection off the surfaces inside the camera module and onto the camera sensor. Moving the camera slightly to change the position at which the bright light is entering the lens, or shielding the lens with your hand, should minimize or eliminate the effect.”

The camera used for the iPhone 5 is similar to the option found on the iPhone 4S, with the big difference being a 20 percent reduction in its thickness. The biggest changes are a sapphire lens cover, better image signal processing, and a dynamic low-light mode.

Have you been experiencing the purple haze issue with your iPhone 5 camera shots?