Apple Will Fix 'Beautygate' Selfie Issue On iPhone XS In iOS 12.1 Update

When Apple started shipping the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, a lot of users criticized the smoothing effect that their front-facing cameras were producing when taking photos. The bug has already been dubbed as “Beautygate” and Apple said that it will fix the issue with the release of iOS 12.1.

Apple confirmed the that the fix will be included in iOS 12.1 to The Verge. Although it’s been dubbed as “Beautygate,” which refers to beauty filters that are optional on other phones, it’s not really beautifying faces. Selfies typically lose a lot of facial details and they appear to have been artificially altered. The issue was found to be due to Apple’s Smart HDR camera system.

Apple’s Smart HDR feature is said to be picking the wrong base frame for the HDR processing. What’s happening here is that the system is choosing the base frame with a longer shutter speed instead of the frame with a shorter shutter speed. A shorter shutter speed should freeze motion and help preserve detail.

Perhaps the Smart HDR system is choosing the base frame with the longer shutter speed to capture more light. The problem with this is that images will lose some details, making people’s faces appear as though they’ve been artificially modified. The front-facing cameras on the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max don’t have optical image stabilization, which may also be another factor as to why selfies don’t look as sharp as photos taken with the rear-facing cameras. The lack of optical image stabilization also explains why selfies tend to look blurry.

It’s very likely that Apple will be adding some tweaks with how its Smart HDR feature works on the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and even on the iPhone XR. It’s possible that the Smart HDR will simply choose the sharper base frame to start the HDR processing to retain detail and produce a more natural form of images taken with the front-facing cameras, according to 9To5Mac.

There’s no release date yet for the iOS 12.1 update, but it’s expected to be released within the next month. Apple will be holding a press event on Oct. 30 to launch new iPad Pro models, so there’s a possibility that the iOS 12.1 update will arrive on that date or later. The iOS 12.1 update is currently on its fifth developer beta and it alsos include Group FaceTime for up to 32 people, eSIM support menus and over 70 new emojis.