iPhone 5 users complain about purple photos



Some iPhone 5 users are complaining that a burst of purple is showing up in their photos -- and Apple seems to be acknowledging it's just part of how the camera works.

Since Apple's new smartphone was released just over a week ago, some of the millions of users have reported that, when a strong source of light is present in their photographs, the light takes on a purple hue.

The problem was first noted on the forums of online computer magazine Anandtech, where a thread discussing the issue had more than 180 comments Wednesday.

That user then posted two photos that appear to show the flare.

An e-mail from Apple appears to confirm that the purple haze isn't all in users' minds.

Tech blog Gizmodo quoted an e-mail from Apple support to a reader. He claims Apple support staff first said the discoloration shouldn't be happening but shifted after talking to Apple engineers.

"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," read the e-mail, as reported by Gizmodo. "The purple flare in the image provided is considered normal behavior for iPhone 5's camera."

A comparison by Mashable, a CNN content partner, studied similar images taken with an iPhone 5, an iPhone 4S and a Nikon D300. Some of the 5's images had a purple glow around light sources, while others didn't, Mashable reported. None of the images from the other two devices displayed the flares.

Some have speculated that the problem is caused by a sapphire cover that Apple added to the phone's camera.

"The new iSight camera in iPhone 5 features a sapphire crystal lens cover that is thinner and more durable than standard glass with the ability to provide crystal clear images," Apple wrote in promotional material for the phone.

Other iPhone 5 complaints have ranged from its aluminum casing scratching easily to light leaking from openings on the phone.