iPhone 17 Pro Lost a Camera Feature Pro Models Have Had Since 2020

Thursday December 4, 2025 5:18 am PST by Tim Hardwick

iPhone 17 Pro models, it turns out, can't take photos in Night mode when Portrait mode is selected in the Camera app – a capability that's been available on Apple's Pro devices since the iPhone 12 Pro in 2020.

iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange
If you're an iPhone 17 Pro or iPhone 17 Pro Max owner, try it for yourself: Open the Camera app with Photo selected in the carousel, then cover the rear lenses with your hand to simulate a low-light environment. The Night mode crescent moon symbol should appear in the top-right corner of the UI, and if you tap the six-dots icon in the same corner, you should see the Night mode button in the options panel.

Now choose Portrait in the carousel and perform the same low-light simulation with your hand – no crescent symbol will appear, and you won't see any Night mode toggle in the options panel when you open it.

Owners of iPhone 16 Pro and other recent Pro models who perform this test won't see Night mode disappear in Portrait mode, and apparently this is all by design, according to Apple's own iOS 26 iPhone User Guide. As spotted by Macworld, the support document says you can only take portraits when Night mode is engaged on the following models:

iPhone 12 Pro
iPhone 12 Pro Max
iPhone 13 Pro
iPhone 13 Pro Max
iPhone 14 Pro
iPhone 14 Pro Max
iPhone 15 Pro
iPhone 15 Pro Max
iPhone 16 Pro
iPhone 16 Pro Max

Users on Reddit and Apple's own discussion forums noticed the omission on iPhone 17 Pro models at least a couple of months ago, but it seems that the change was not widely known (though a DXOMARK Camera test conducted in September does appear to reference the limitation).

Missing Night Mode option in Camera app's Portrait mode (left) vs. Photo mode

The omission is puzzling, since the iPhone 17 Pro's camera hardware should be capable of combining the two modes. It could be that photos taken with Night mode are limited to 12 megapixels, whereas Portrait photos can be captured at 24 megapixels.

Still, Apple has not officially explained why the feature is not available on its latest premium models, nor has it said whether the feature will arrive later as part of a coming software update. Either way, we expect Apple will provide some commentary soon.

Until then, for users who relied on Night Mode portraits on earlier Pro models, it probably feels like a downgrade.

Related Roundup: iPhone 17 Pro

Buyer's Guide: iPhone 17 Pro (Neutral)

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

Apple Prefer Lightning Over USB C Feature

Engineer Brings Lightning Port to iPhone 17 Pro

Wednesday April 1, 2026 1:00 am PDT by Hartley Charlton

The Swiss robotics engineer behind a commercial case that adds USB-C to Lightning iPhones has now built a reverse version: A case that adds a fully functional Lightning port to the iPhone 17 Pro. Ken Pillonel describes the project as a tongue-in-cheek response to reader requests, and says he has no plans to sell it. "It's part hack, part mod, and one of the most cursed things I've ever...

• 39 comments

NASA Shares Photos Shot on iPhone 17 Pro Max During Artemis II Mission to the Moon

Sunday April 5, 2026 6:39 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol

NASA has shared three incredible photos shot on the iPhone 17 Pro Max by astronauts during the Artemis II mission to the Moon. Shot on iPhone 17 Pro Max (Wiseman) In February, NASA announced that the iPhone had been fully qualified for extended use in orbit, with reports indicating that each of the four crew members aboard the Orion are equipped with an iPhone 17 Pro Max for personal photos...

• 206 comments

Apple Highlights Photos Shot on iPhone During NASA's Mission to Moon

Saturday April 11, 2026 8:17 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

As we previously reported, astronauts aboard NASA's Orion spacecraft used the iPhone 17 Pro Max to take selfies of themselves with the Earth in the background during the Artemis II mission around the far side of the Moon last week. Now that the crew members have safely returned to Earth, Apple's CEO Tim Cook and marketing chief Greg Joswiak have both turned to social media to congratulate...

• 73 comments

Top Rated Comments

gumbyhw

21 weeks ago

- Nobody talking about the speakers being considerably weaker than previous gens!

This is a good feature to reduce the impact of ********s who use speaker mode in public.

Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)

sziehr

21 weeks ago

I am sorry , but if it took the entire world this long to figure it out the feature was not accidentally omitted it was just discontinued due to lack of use. This seems to be apple doing a Tesla oh you all did not use that feature and it cost us how much to make it work with every new pipeline, nah nix it our data shows like 5 people use it.

Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)

t0rqx

21 weeks ago

In the past I posted about how Apple will sell you an iPhone without an actual iPhone. These are the first signs of that path.

iPhone 17 Pro models:

- Nobody talks about #Shadowgate? Every picture taken has a big shadow behind the subject due to the repositioning of the flash.

- Nobody talks about how iOS26 generate more typos because of faulty registering touches.

- Nobody talking about the bottom speaker emitting static noises when plugged into USBC charger.

- Nobody talking about the speakers being considerably weaker than previous gens!

Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)

JokoWidodo

21 weeks ago

Probably due to the LiDAR sensor positioning now too far from the lenses

Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)