The iPhone 17 Pro appears to have quietly dropped one of Apple’s long-standing camera features, as users have discovered that Night Mode Portrait is no longer available on this year’s Pro models.
The change was first spotted across Reddit and Apple’s support forums, and Apple has since confirmed on its website that the feature simply isn’t supported on the iPhone 17 lineup.
Portrait Mode itself isn’t new; Apple introduced it with the iPhone 7 Plus, using depth data to create artificial background blur. Since the iPhone 12 Pro, LiDAR has also enabled Portrait shots in low light with the help of Night Mode’s longer exposure times. But on the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max, the two features no longer work together.
Night Mode still activates as usual for regular photos, producing longer exposures between one and 30 seconds depending on the scene. And like previous models, the Camera app continues storing depth data in the background so standard photos can later be converted into portraits. The issue is that Night Mode and Portrait Mode can’t operate simultaneously on the iPhone 17 series, meaning night shots won’t contain the depth information needed for conversion.
Attempts to manually force the combination don’t work either. When Portrait Mode is enabled in low light, the Night Mode toggle disappears entirely. Comparisons with older iPhones running iOS 26 confirm that the limitation is unique to this year’s hardware.
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Apple hasn’t provided a reason, but there are a few likely explanations. Combining Portrait and Night Mode requires longer exposures, which can lead to missed moments if the phone or subject moves. Apple may also be prioritising cleaner image quality; while Night Mode portraits look brighter, they typically introduce more noise and more aggressive processing.
Night Mode itself isn’t going away. It still works across the standard camera modes, and Apple continues to update its low-light algorithms each year. But for iPhone 17 Pro users, the trade-off is clear: brighter portraits at night are no longer possible unless Apple reverses course in a future update.
For now, anyone upgrading will have to choose between better detail or a brighter shot, a decision that previous iPhone owners didn’t have to make.
