Apple has now removed the Night Mode Portrait shots on the iPhone 17 Pro series, which allow users to take shots even in poor lighting, especially at night.
iPhone 17 Pro Loses Night Mode on Portrait Shots
Users have started noticing that their iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max devices no longer have the Night Mode feature on the Portrait mode camera setting when they try to find the feature.
Since then, users have brought up their concerns to the Apple Community forums and Reddit, with many complaining about why this feature was removed from the Camera app.
It was later confirmed by Apple via a support document that they have indeed removed Portrait's Night Mode feature on the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max smartphones. According to DigitalTrends, this only happens with the iPhone 17 Pro series.
The publication also did side-by-side comparison shots, and they tried taking photos in Portrait Mode in dark lighting, with the latest smartphone series no longer saving the depth data to blur the images' backgrounds. At first, it was revealed by the publication that users thought that it was only a bug in the feature, but it was later confirmed by the Cupertino tech giant that it is not.
For now, users who want to use Night Mode on Portrait shots would have to use an older iPhone Pro model to enjoy the feature.
Why Did Apple Remove The Night Mode Portrait?
According to the report, Apple did not share any reasons behind their decision to remove the iPhone 17 Pro series' Night Mode on Portrait, with the support document also avoiding addressing the matter at hand.
However, there are several speculations as to why Apple removed the Night Mode on Portrait.
DigitalTrends said that Apple may have removed Night Mode on Portrait because of the motion blur that may happen as it banks on long exposure shots, and even slightly moving may lead to these results.
Next, it was speculated that it offers lower quality shots that have soft and grainy qualities. Lastly, Night Mode Portraits only uses 12MP, but the iPhone 17 Pro series want to shoot at a sharper 24MP.
The Night Mode feature on Portrait mode was made available in 2020, with the iPhone 12 Pro series offering a LiDAR scanner at the back to fully maximize the feature for users.
Since 2020, Apple has added the Night Mode feature to Portrait shots on all iPhone Pro series models until the 2025 iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max.
Originally published on Tech Times
