Users Are Reporting an Alarming Bug in the New Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max

Let's hope this is patched before too long

The Apple iPhone 14 Pro and Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max on sale at the company's Fifth Avenue store in New York City
The Apple iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone Pro Max on sale at the company's Fifth Avenue store in New York.
Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty

If you’ve just purchased a brand new high-end smartphone, there a few things you’d expect it to do without question — things like making phone calls, sending text messages and taking photographs. But what happens when one of the most commonly used features on a new model of Apple’s iPhone instead results in the device crashing repeatedly?

This is, reportedly, a reality that several people who recently bought the new iPhone 14 Pro Max are contending with. As The Guardian‘s Alex Hern reports, several users have encountered a bug that has caused their iPhone’s camera to break down.

That’s not a metaphor. The bug seems to be causing mechanical problems in the camera itself, complete with industrial sounds that would be more at home in a video art installation than, you know, recording a video for TikTok.

At issue, Hern writes, is the Optical Image Stabilization system, which is designed to offset the shakiness inherent in taking a handheld photo or video. Unfortunately, instead of operating correctly for some users, the devices have been shaking and emitting the aforementioned grinding sound when using apps like TikTok and Instagram.

One bright spot, though: The bug can be avoided if you use the phone’s in-house camera application. One hopes there will be a patch (or patches) available before too long. Whether your phone is brand new or an old favorite, the sound of the camera’s motor grinding incessantly isn’t something anyone wants to hear.

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