Apple confirms 'beautygate' fix for iPhone XS camera arriving in iOS 12.1

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iPhone edited October 2018
The so-called "beautygate" may soon be coming to an end, as Apple will be fixing the bug causing the smooth skin effect on photographs taken by the iPhone XS' front-facing camera when it releases iOS 12.1 to the general public in the future.




The release of the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max was greeted by complaints from users discovering an issue when they took self portraits, in that the iPhone appeared to smooth out the subject's skin. The effect seemed like a purpose-made beauty filter or "really poor Photoshopping" according to user comments, with some instances causing a person's skin to change to an unnatural color.

Apple has confirmed to The Verge it will be issuing a fix to the problem in iOS 12.1, specifically by squashing a bug in the smart HDR camera system. AppleInsider was previously informed by sources not authorized to speak on behalf of Apple that the company was looking into the situation on September 28.





The Smart HDR function was selecting the wrong base frame for HDR processing when taking a selfie, according to the report's sources. Rather than selecting a frame that used a short shutter speed, in order to maintain as much detail as possible, the function would sometimes select a frame that had a longer shutter speed that was blurrier.

The issue is made worse by the front-facing camera lacking optical image stabilization, which again caused shots to be blurrier than sensors that did use the technology.

Apple is currently on its fifth developer beta for iOS 12.1. It is unclear when exactly it will ship, but it is likely to be within the next few weeks.





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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    MadtigerMadtiger Posts: 240member
    What will the media and Youtubers complain about now?!  

    Good job Apple. 
    Apple Exposedgilly33bb-15watto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 10
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,877member
    Madtiger said:
    What will the media and Youtubers complain about now?!  

    Good job Apple. 
    Considering the hundreds of thousands of dollars a year of income those youtubers get, they’ll find something...and create new face-palming and grimacing clickbait thumbnails which seem to work so well with their base.  
    lkruppApple Exposedjbdragongilly33bb-15watto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 10
    command_fcommand_f Posts: 422member
    Well done Apple.

    Hopefully there'll be a bunch of similar tuning/bug fixing changes to improve an already excellent camera system.
    Apple Exposedwatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 10
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,727member
    Should be left as an option to toggle on or off, some of us might prefer to be flattered! ;)

    In all seriousness, though I and most photographers own a copy of Portrait Professional or similar ... think about it.
    edited October 2018 zroger73Apple Exposedjbdragonmobirdwatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 10
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,213member
    MacPro said:
    Should be left as an option to toggle on or off, some of us might prefer to be flattered! ;)

    In all seriousness, though I and most photographers own a copy of Portrait Professional or similar ... think about it.
    ...but most of us don't admit to using it for client shots. ;)
    jbdragon
  • Reply 6 of 10
    Apple ExposedApple Exposed Posts: 15unconfirmed, member
    Madtiger said:
    What will the media and Youtubers complain about now?!  

    Good job Apple. 
    Probably #NoMoreBeautyGateGate

    I actually thought about this before. They'll probably complain it's gone for people who wanted to look beautiful. *Facepalm*
    jbdragonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 10
    DAalsethDAalseth Posts: 2,783member
    Any time someone adds -gate to an issue I automatically disbelieve them. Okay there was an issue where some people thought pictures looked too good (really?). That was an interesting observation. But as soon as someone called it "beautygate" I rejected their complaint utterly.
    beowulfschmidtwatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 10
    gilly33gilly33 Posts: 434member
    Yeah more like YouTubers complaints that blew this thing up. It’s great Apple is issuing a ‘fix’. But you know the so-called tech reviewers had to find something and (like an above posts stated) ‘gate it. Which then makes it a deal breaker according to them (I’m thinking of you Unboxed Therapy). Must be nice to make money while you post biased shit. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 10
    ivanhivanh Posts: 597member
    There should be a “fact” mode no matter how many “cosmetic” modes there are.
  • Reply 10 of 10
    vivansureshvivansuresh Posts: 3member
    The new iphone series came up with balanced pros and cons the major drawback is whenever I used to take selfies with my iphone XS. When a photo is taken, it looks as smooth cut of skin and the effect seems like a beauty-filter. I agree it may be because of some malfunction in the HDR camera. In my opinion, iphone camera is far better compared to other phones. The camera has more clarity and options that everyone loves about. Hope the latest iOS version will have a bug fix and i am waiting for the same.
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