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Does anyone know of a workaround for blurry depth map data being returned by the iPhone 13's TrueDepth (front) camera?

Earlier iPhone models produced sharp, unfiltered depth maps but iPhone 13 models look like they have had some kind of post-processing filter run over them.

This can be reproduced with any iOS version using the Apple sample app: Streaming Depth Data from the TrueDepth Camera

iPhone 12 vs 13 Example Here

Note: I have asked the same question on the Apple Dev Forum.

stuart-h3d
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  • iphone 13 one provide better information to me, i can say it's ear based on 13's image. personally I think 13's image will provide much accurate depths. maybe it's because of hardware and processing power it has. – Blind Ninja Feb 16 '22 at 05:15
  • Yes, it's a human ear. The white areas are NaN shadows - there's less on the iPhone 13 because the IR sensor is closer to the emitter. – stuart-h3d Feb 16 '22 at 05:38
  • in that case consider it while you are processing the depth image. – Blind Ninja Feb 16 '22 at 09:23
  • @stuart-h3d Did you manage to find a workaround or got any reply from Apple. I have the same issue and observed issue still exists even on latest iOS 16.2 and even on latest generation of iPhones (reproduced on iPhone 14 pro and iphone 14 pro max) – pzo Dec 21 '22 at 13:19
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    @pzo The unofficial response from Apple was that we shouldn't expect it to be fixed in an iOS update. Instead try using the back camera - I would guess they meant the dual back camera depth data which is also quite poor. – stuart-h3d Feb 18 '23 at 00:58
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    My guess would be it's an issue in the TrueDepth firmware but whoever made the HW + firmware for them is no longer willing to fix it or provide the source code to them. – stuart-h3d Feb 18 '23 at 01:00

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