There has been an increase in the number of #iPhone6 and #iPhone6Plus camera-related concerns reaching us lately so we decided to publish another post to address the issue. If your iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus camera is blurry and not working properly, you’re reading the right thread.
For any iPhone- or iOS-related question or issue, please contact by using the link provided at the bottom of the page.
Problem #1: iPhone 6 Plus photos are out-of-focus
Hi. I saw your article on the web and would like to take you up on your offer of tech assistance.
I loved the iPhone 4 for the camera, and I was thrilled about getting the iPhone 6 Plus because it was supposed to have such a great camera, but the camera is so terrible i don’t even want to take photos anymore.
Portraits are the worst: they are very grainy, and it looks like a bad watercolor painting. The colors of the skin are really ugly too. I have about a hundred but this one is typical. It was in focus-tapped focus– and i understand the depth of field is smaller, but that isn’t the problem–if it were out of focus, some place in the photo would be in focus, right? I mean not in every photo, but in all the portraits I’ve taken–I think my focus is ok but maybe that is it. I use the focus tap or focus lock though and it is just the same.
Apple said it was a hardware issue and replaced the phone immediately (though I’d spent ten months trying to see what i was doing wrong!). The replacement phone is just the same.
My iphone 4 takes much nicer photos.
Do you know what us wrong? I have done all the regular troubleshooting up to reset and set up as new phone and this is a real whole new phone anyway. Do you think i will ever be able to enjoy my expensive darn camera phone ?
Appreciate any help you have.
The photo below was taken today. It might be slightly cropped but not much if so. To me it is an awful photo of a beautiful girl–grainy, hair melted together like paint, looks like a beard of fuzz. Thank you! — JW
Solution: Hi JW. Apple acknowledged that some of their iPhone 6 devices shipped between September 2014 and January 2015 suffered from camera hardware problem causing photos taken by rear camera to look out-of-focus or blurry. According to Apple, a component in the iSight camera is to blame for the problem, which may very well be the case with your replacement phone.
Because we have no way of knowing whether or not the replacement phone is included in the units affected, kindly go to Apple’s website and check the serial number. Once you enter the serial number on their site, it should notify you whether or not the device is eligible for replacement. If it is, you can go back to Apple retail store or contact their technical support team to have the sight camera replaced. This is an Apple initiative so calling your carrier for a replacement may not work.
The replacement program for iSight camera is up to 3 years starting from the date of purchase. This three-year replacement warranty only applies to defective iSight cameras and not for any other phone issues. It does not change the standard one-year warranty for the device.
Problem #2: iPhone 6 rear camera takes blurry photos
Hello! The back facing camera on my phone seems to be blurry. It will only focus on things an inch or two away. It will not focus on anything further no matter how many times I tap the screen to focus. But the front facing camera is working fine. I took my phone to the Apple Store and wasn’t offered any assistance. Any ideas as to what could be done to fix this? — Laura
Solution: Hi Laura. Please refer to our suggestion for JW above to check if your phone also suffers from the same hardware malfunction. If it’s not covered by the iSight camera replacement warranty, consider doing some basic troubleshooting steps. Below are some of the things you can try:
Make sure that the lens is clear and no dirt or debris is blocking it.
Take out any third party casing you are using (if applicable). Some third party metallic case may interfere with the mechanism of the optical image stabilization feature.
Turn off HDR or simply set it to Auto to avoid double-exposures and bright colors in images.
Learn how to adjust the focus of an object in the preview screen. Keeping the camera steady while trying to shoot is a good way of ensuring focused image. You’ll notice the screen pulse or go in and out of focus as the camera adjusts automatically.
Consider using a third party camera app so you can compare the output from the stock app with a different app. Sometimes, even a subtle change can make a big difference for some users.
Reset your iPhone’s settings to defaults, especially the camera settings.
Try to update the phone’s operating system in case there are software patches applicable for the iSight camera.
Problem #3: iPhone 6 stuck in Apple logo and camera app won’t load
My toddler got a hold of my phone, and I’m not exactly sure what she did. It seems to me, she got into the camera app and managed to zoom waaaayyy in. So now it is as though my phone is trying to focus and process. When I do a hard reset (pushing the sleep button and home button at the same time), I get the Apple logo and the display looks fine. As soon as it reboots though, the display goes black again, with sporadic splotches of light as though it is zoomed in. I’ve tried pushing the home button twice to see if it brings up my open apps so I can close the camera app, but it doesn’t do anything. I tried holding down the home button to see if I can get Siri, but I have the phone on Airplane mode so my toddler can’t make any phone calls. Any ideas? — Amy
Solution: Hi Amy. If your phone fails to load the main menu screen after a soft reset (pressing and holding Sleep and Home buttons), you have no other way to fix it than to restore its default settings via iTunes. Unfortunately, if you haven’t backed up your data prior to the problem, you will most likely lose all of them during the process. If you want to know how to restore the phone via iTunes, here are the steps to do it:
Use a USB cable to connect your iPhone to your computer.
Press and hold Home and Power buttons for 10 seconds.
After 10 seconds, release the Power button but keep don’t let go of Home button.
Once an iTunes popup shows saying that a device is in DFU mode, release Home button.
Tap on Restore iPhone option to begin the restoration.
Problem #4: iPhone 6 front camera not working
I have an iPhone 6 and my front facing camera has stopped working. When I take a picture and turn it to front facing it’s just a blank screen. When I FaceTime, a blank box shows up in the corner where I would usually be and nobody can see me. The camera itself works when not in front facing mode. Please advise. — Shannon
Solution: Hi Shannon. If restarting your iPhone does not make any difference, the front camera on your device may simply have failed. If that’s the case, there’s really nothing that you can do on your end other than go to an Apple retail store for assistance or call your carrier for replacement (unless you want to risk voiding the hardware warranty and replacing the front camera yourself).
If you want to replace the camera yourself, please use Google to look for online resources and guides. iFixit website offers helpful tips in doing things like this so you may want to visit their site.
Problem #5: iPhone 6 front and rear cameras are not working
I’ve been having trouble with the camera on my phone. It won’t work when trying to take a photo from the front or back camera and won’t work with apps such as SnapChat. However my phone camera will work when FaceTiming but I can’t understand why or how. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. — Dani
Solution: Hi Dani. We need more information aside from the problem description you provide here to be of help. Are you getting an error message when trying to take a photo using either or the cameras? Do you have enough storage space left to allow saving of photos? Can you take photos using other third party apps (other than SnapChat and the stock camera app)?
Please answer these questions and we’ll try to see what we can do to help in our next post. Note: make sure to indicate that you are trying to follow up on a previous query so we’ll be notified to update this post as well. Thanks!
Problem #6: iPhone 6 rear camera stopped working
My rear camera is not working, although I can see the screen. It just does not take a picture. However, quite interestingly the video option is working, so I can shoot videos with the rear camera but cannot take pictures! Also the front camera(selfie camera) is perfectly working. I first thought that something happened to my rear camera, then I realized that I can shoot videos with the same camera. I took my iPhone to the Apple store they told me that the memory is full that is why I cannot take pictures, although their answer does not satisfy me (if so, how I could shoot videos?) I emptied the memory, but still I cannot take picture with the rear camera. If you have any idea to solve this problem, I will be soo happy. — Gulenay
Solution: Hi Gulenay. There may be a firmware glitch causing this rare camera issue. If you know how to reset or restore your iPhone, now is the best time to do it. If you haven’t tried it before, here are the steps:
How to reset all settings in an iPhone 6
We recommend that you reset all your iPhone’s settings to factory defaults to ensure that everything is back to stock setup. This is especially useful in the event that you have changed some camera settings inadvertently.
Go to and tap Settings app.
Tap General.
Go to the bottom of the screen and tap Reset.
Tap Reset All Settings to restore the default settings for everything (keyboard dictionary, network, home screen, location and privacy, among others.
If a reset won’t make any difference, proceed to restoring your iPhone.
How to restore an iPhone 6
Doing this procedure will delete everything that’s saved in your phone’s internal storage. Make sure to create a copy of all your important files (photos, videos, contacts, music) before proceeding. Now, here are the steps to restore your iPhone:
Pick a backup method (iCloud or local backup on your computer)to save your personal files.
If you want to choose iCloud, simply go to Settings>iCloud>Backup.
To save a copy to your local iTunes app in your computer, open the iTunes app>File>Devices>Backup.
Unlink your Apple/iCloud ID from your device by going to Settings>iCloud>turn off Find My iPhone. This process is useful if you’re planning to sell your device afterwards. Otherwise, you can just skip this.
Under iTunes, click on Restore iPhone option.
Note: If these solutions won’t work, you can assume that you have a camera hardware failure. Consider calling Apple technical support or visit their retail store for a repair or replacement request. You may also want to contact your carrier for any assistance.
Engage with us
If you happen to have a problem with your own iPhone, let us know about it and we will do our best to post them and their solutions in our upcoming articles. You can use this link to contact us for assistance. We can’t guarantee an answer to every question but rest assured that we will exhaust everything on our end to help you.
Be as detailed as possible when describing your problem to help us diagnose your issue easily. If you can include error messages, popups, attempted troubleshooting steps, and circumstances leading to the problem, that would be very helpful.
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