Apple has removed the ability of the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max to take Portrait shots in the Night mode, and that too, without any accompanying explanation or justification.
Since Apple launched the iPhone 12 Pro back in 2020, it has allowed users to combine the Night mode and the Portrait mode to brighten dark shots , replete with the ability to blur backgrounds.
Yet, this feature has suddenly disappeared for the iPhone 17 Pro and its Pro Max sibling, and that too, without any formal notification from Apple. In fact, people are just finding out about their missing Night mode Portrait shots from .
Interestingly, older iPhone models running iOS 26 continue to retain the ability to take Portrait shots in the Night mode.
Meanwhile, as stated earlier, Apple has remained mum on the issue. What's more, Apple's support pages continue to tout the ability of the recent iPhones to take Portrait shots while in the Night mode, with the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max .
So, what is causing this confusion? Well, there are only two possibilities in play at the moment:
- Either the disappearance of the ability to take Portrait shots in the Night mode is the result of a temporary bug, one which will be ironed out soon enough.
- Or, Apple has decided to wean its users off this feature, especially given the fact that the resulting shots often suffer from increased noise and motion blur problems.
Right now, if you want to take Portrait shots (those with depth) in darker environs, the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max do not activate the Night mode, resulting in darker shots, albeit those with a lot of detail.
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