Do you mount your phone to your motorcycle? You might want to rethink that practice, especially if you have a newer Apple iPhone.
This is because of a new Apple support post that warns that the vibrations from a motorcycle could damage the image stabilization gyros on the iPhone’s camera system.
“Exposing your iPhone to high amplitude vibrations within certain frequency ranges, specifically those generated by high-power motorcycle engines, can degrade the performance of the camera system,” the support page warns.
The issue isn’t a one-time thing either, as the Apple support page suggests that repeated exposure over time could also degrade the camera’s operation.
At the core of the problem is Apple’s optical image stabilization (OIS) and auto-focus (AF) hardware, with each system having its own issues with the high-amplitude vibrations that a motorcycle can produce.
According to Apple, OIS is available on iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s Plus, and iPhone 7 and later including iPhone SE (2nd generation). However, the ultra-wide camera on iPhone 11 and later doesn’t have OIS, nor does the telephoto camera on iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone 8 Plus.
Closed-loop AF is available on iPhone XS and later, including iPhone SE (2nd generation).
The solution? At the very least use mounting hardware that has some vibration damping in its components. However, the only sure-fire way to protect your device though would be to keep it on your person.
Source: Apple via Mac Rumors
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