Cameras bricked on iPhone 13 series after iOS update

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Following the iOS 18 release on September 16, 2024, many users of the iPhone 13-series of products noticed that their rear-facing-cameras were no longer functional. One user filed a BBB complaint and Apple actually responded; claiming that according to the Und User Agreement, they were not responsible for hardware failure due to issues with their own provided software or software update.

No responsibility was taken, and no resolution was ever reached with this incident.

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Many users of the iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro/Pro Max, and iPhone 13 Mini, report widespread camera issues after updating to iOS 18, and some later iOS 18 updates. This is not only limited to Consumer Releases, but also releases that were distributed as part of the iOS 18 Beta Testing Program. These issues can range from visual glitches on the camera, "part not recognized" warnings, one or two of the 3 rear-facing-cameras not working, or total rear camera bump failure, with absolutely no camera usability or image output. Some example photos of what this error might look like appear below:

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Camera Blackouts:

One of the first widespread reports of this incident was made by a reddit user on r/iPhone. They reported in September of 2024 that their iPhone 13 Pro Max rear-facing-cameras were completely unresponsive after updating to the brand new iOS 18.0 release. This post received over 250 replies from other users who had the exact same problem after updating their iPhone. Another reddit post just a few months later shows a screenshot of the same issue the first poster was experiencing.

Visual Glitches & Unrecognized Part Errors:

One reddit post from a r/iOS user in May of 2025 shows vertical lines spreading across the camera viewfinder in the iOS camera app. An error showing an unrecognized part on an OEM phone camera can be found in this reddit post from a user on a beta version of iOS 18.1

Another post from a phone repair shop owner can be found, where he claims to have recently starting seeing this issue on a regular basis among customers with not only the iPhone 13 line of models, but also the iPhone 14 line as well.

Through such a large response, we can eliminate the possibility of this being a contained one-off issue.

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