Apple Confirms iPhone 5 Camera Flaw; Suggests You're Holding It Wrong

Oh brother, here we go again. Quick history lesson before we dive into the hoopla surrounding the iPhone 5. When the original iPhone 4 model launched (not the iPhone 4S, mind you), users reported issues with dropped calls, spotty connections, and weak signals when talking on the device. It turns out the internal antenna was poorly placed, a design flaw, if you will, only Steve Jobs famously suggested users were holding the phone wrong. As in, with your hand wrapped around the chassis as you hold it up to your ear. Well, here we go all over again.

The recently launched iPhone 5 doesn't have the same problem (and nor did the iPhone 4S), but it does have two annoying issues of its own. For one, the anodized aluminum back has a tendency to scratch way too easily, and now it's coming to light that the built-in camera has a problem with purple flare. Guess what? Both are "normal" in Apple's eyes, and the latter is the result of users holding it wrong!

iPhone 5 Camera

Gizmodo posted an email response one of its readers received from Apple, which at first denied there was a problem with the camera, and then acknowledged it while shifting the blame. A portion of the email reads:
"Our engineering team just gave me this information and we recommend that you angle the camera away from the bright light source when taking pictures. The purple flare in the image provided is considered normal behavior for iPhone 5's camera."
iPhone Pictures
Image Source: Mashable

One of the theories floating around as to why this is happening is because of the sapphire glass covering the iPhone 5's camera. The effect is highlighted in a series of comparison photos Mashable posted, such as the ones above, but as evidenced by other iPhone 5 photos posted around the web, the problem doesn't just manifest itself when aiming the camera at or near a bright light source. It's a shame because the camera was one of the things we liked most when we reviewed the iPhone 4S last year.

If you own an iPhone 5, have you noticed any purple haze?