Apple has quietly stripped a popular camera feature from its latest iPhone 17 Pro models. The company removed Night mode from Portrait photography, leaving users with fewer low-light shooting options than older iPhone generations. The change affects only the Pro and Pro Max variants, creating an unusual situation where newer hardware offers less functionality than its predecessors.
Apple just did something unprecedented with its flagship phone - it took away a feature that users love. The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max no longer support Night mode when shooting in Portrait mode, creating an unusual downgrade scenario where older phones actually offer more functionality than the newest models.
The discovery came through Apple's own support documentation, spotted by 9to5Mac, which quietly lists the compatible models for various Night mode features. While the iPhone 17 Pro maintains Night mode support for standard photos, selfies, and time-lapse videos, it's conspicuously absent from the Portrait mode compatibility list.
What makes this particularly striking is the lineup of phones that still support the feature: iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro models all maintain Night Portrait functionality. That's five generations of Pro phones that can do something the newest can't.
Users started noticing the absence last month, with iPhone 17 Pro owners posting about it on Reddit. The Verge's Tom Warren initially thought it was a bug when he couldn't find Night mode in Portrait shooting on his iPhone 17 Pro. But Apple's documentation confirms this is intentional.
The removed feature specifically affects low-light portrait photography, where users could previously combine the artistic depth-of-field effect with enhanced night processing. Portrait mode creates that professional-looking blur behind subjects, while Night mode brightens and sharpens images taken in dim conditions. Together, they enabled stunning portraits in restaurants, bars, or outdoor evening settings.
This isn't typical behavior for Apple, which usually adds features with each iPhone generation rather than removing them. The company has built its reputation on iterative improvements, where new models consistently do more than their predecessors. Camera capabilities especially tend to expand year over year, making this regression stand out.
