iPhone 7 Plus users are reporting issues with one of the smartphone’s biggest features: The dual-lens camera. Several users are reporting that opening the native camera app gets a color-tinted image, followed by a message saying the iPhone needs to cool down.
While Apple has yet to confirm the issue, several Reddit users reported the problem, with some saying that a local Apple store either replaced the camera unit or the iPhone entirely.
The issue appears to affect only the iPhone 7 Plus’ camera — users are reporting that when they open the camera app, the image is tinted either green or blue. Several users have had the emergency overheating warning pop-up, when the phone wasn’t hot to the touch.
If the user claims are true, the issue could lie in the smartphone’s hardware, which means the issue isn’t something a simple software update can fix. One Reddit user suggested that a loose flex connecter could cause the discolored image by affecting the data’s connection, while damage to the iPhone’s temperature monitor, called a thermistor, could be to blame for the overheating warning without actually overheating.
The iPhone 7 Plus isn’t the only high-end smartphone camera to report problems this year either — Google confirmed a lens flare issue with the Pixel and Pixel XL. While a lens flare is a hardware issue, Google corrected the problem by creating an algorithm to automatically remove the flare from the image.
The larger version of the iPhone 7 is the first Apple-branded phone to use dual lenses. Along with allowing for a slight optical zoom, the setup allows the camera to artificially create background blur by comparing the view between the two lenses with the software introduced in iOS 10.1. Apple offers a one-year limited warranty for the smartphone, which first launched this fall.
