iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max users were surprised to find that one feature they'd grown accustomed to since 2020—Portrait mode or "blur" mode—was missing from Night mode. Complaints first surfaced on Reddit and Apple forums, and Apple officially confirmed in a support document that the feature had indeed been removed from the new generation of devices.
What exactly happened?
Portrait mode has revolutionized photography since its inception, but the real breakthrough came with the iPhone 12 Pro thanks to the LiDAR sensor. This sensor enabled the iPhone to capture portrait photos with a blurred background, even in low light. The iPhone combined Night mode (which relies on longer exposures) with depth data for portrait mode to produce a clear image with beautiful background isolation.
This feature was available from the iPhone 12 to the iPhone 16, but it disappeared completely with the iPhone 17 Pro. When shooting in low light, the Night mode icon doesn't appear in Portrait mode, and the phone doesn't save the depth data needed to add bokeh later. Even cross-device testing confirmed this: an older iPhone running the same operating system supports the feature, while the new iPhone 17 Pro Max does not.
According to Apple, this is not a software bug… but a deliberate decision.
Why is this important?
For many users, this feature was the only way to get good photos in low-light conditions, whether with friends, at parties, in restaurants, or at event venues. Its removal has drastically changed how iPhone cameras are used at night.
As for the possible reasons behind Apple's decision, there are several possibilities:
◉ Camouflage due to Vibration and movement: Night mode required a longer exposure time, and any slight movement by the subject during the shoot would ruin the image.
◉ Noise and particles: Combining heavy noise processing in night mode with isolation sometimes resulted in blurry or grainy and noisy images.
◉ Low resolution: Portrait photos in night mode used to come out at 12 megapixels, while the new camera wants to stabilize the shooting at 24 megapixels, which is a much higher resolution.
Apple may have felt that the quality of this feature no longer met the standards of the new iPhone camera and its high specifications, so they decided to remove it. Alternatively, they may have felt it wasn't being used enough and its use was very limited, so they decided to remove it to reduce the burden on the device and system, similar to other technologies that Apple was forced to remove due to their limited use, such as 3D Touch.
But the problem is that this cancellation came quietly and without any announcement, which angered many, especially those who bought the new phone to improve the quality of its photos.
What might happen next?
So far, there's no indication from Apple that the feature will return. However, Apple has previously reversed similar decisions after user pressure. Currently, if you're using an iPhone 17 Pro, you only have two options when shooting in low light:
◉ Either a bright and clear image using night mode without isolation.
◉ Or a portrait photo with isolation, but without night mode.
You can no longer combine the two as before. Until Apple decides to reinstate the feature or find an alternative solution, users will need to change how they take photos in low-light conditions.
Night mode on the iPhone 17 Pro delivers clear and good-quality images in terms of lighting and basic details, especially when the iPhone is stationary and the scene is still. However, the lack of Night Mode means the absence of the blurred background that gave photos a more cinematic look, and some noise may appear in very low light. The end result is still good and functional, but less visually appealing than the Night Mode and Portrait modes of previous generations.
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