Over the past few months, multiple reports have popped up on Reddit and Apple’s official product forum regarding an iPhone 14 Plus issue that renders a black screen instead of a frame preview in the camera app. It seems Apple has finally caught wind of the complaints and has launched a servicing program to help affected owners.
“Apple has determined that the rear camera on a very small percentage of iPhone 14 Plus devices may exhibit no preview. Affected devices were manufactured between April 10, 2023, to April 28, 2024,” says the company.
iPhone 14 Plus owners who have faced camera issues can now get their devices fixed without paying any charge. Users can choose to visit a nearby Apple Store or an authorized service provider, or they can send their unit via the mail-in route.
It seems the camera issue raised its head in multiple ways. For some users, only the primary camera was affected, but others report that the main and the ultrawide sensors showed a blank screen in the camera app. A few user reports mention that accessing the front camera also results in a blank preview.
“It’s been like this for a couple [of] days now. The front camera works fine, but the back is not responding. The screen is black when [the] back camera is turned on,” says a report on Reddit. Measures like a hard reset or software update failed to provide any respite.
“I contacted my local shop where I bought the phone. They have an Apple partnership deal, so the phone got sent to [the] Apple workshop and got fixed on guarantee. I didn’t pay anything,” claims an affected user in the same thread.
“Just got the phone yesterday, set everything up … saw the front camera wasn’t working … just a black screen,” writes another iPhone 14 Plus owner on the Apple Discussions forum. From the testimonies that we have seen so far, it appears that Apple was working on a software-level fix but couldn’t execute those plans.
“My iPhone 14 plus front camera has not worked at all since buying the phone. The problem is affecting the camera app as well as [third-party] apps,” claims an iPhone 14 Plus owner on the Apple Community forum.
Going by the language of Apple’s update note, it is evident that this is a hardware-level issue, and only professional repair can fix it. In case your phone has been exhibiting similar woes, you can enter the serial number here and check if your iPhone 14 Plus qualifies for a free repair service.