Apple Inc. (AAPL): ‘Purple Flare’ in Photos is User, Not Us

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been getting solid sales numbers out of its iPhone 5 in the last three weeks, but it has also gotten its share of pans by critics and consumers. The most noteworthy in the headlines has been the proprietary Maps application that replaced Google Maps, but there is another issue that Apple Inc. (AAPL) has received some negative reaction. However, this time, CEO Tim Cook is not expected to apologize publicly about it.

Users of the iPhone 5 are now complaining about a “purple” haze that seems to appear in photos takes by the iPhone camera, though Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in response to the claims, says that users need to hold the handset differently, rather than noting any flaw in software of the design of the camera. Users report that when they take a picture facing toward a bright light source that is just off-frame (like a bright lamp or the sun), there seems to be a purple halo that appears in the photo, and that halo seems to remain on other photos that are not facing the light source.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), however, said that the purple flare was common in previous iterations of the iPhone camera in similar situations. On its Web site, Apple Inc. (AAPL) wrote, “Most small cameras, including those in every generation of iPhone, may exhibit some form of flare at the edge of the frame when capturing an image with out-of-scene light sources. This can happen when a light source is positioned at an angle (usually just outside the field of view) so that it causes a reflection off the surfaces inside the camera module and onto the camera sensor. Moving the camera slightly to change the position at which the bright light is entering the lens, or shielding the lens with your hand, should minimize or eliminate the effect.”

However, one Web site ran a test by taking similar photos with the iPhone 5, the iPhone 4S and the Nikon D300. Only the iPhone 5 photo showed a purple halo around the off-frame light source. We report; you decide.

Will this translate into a “purple halo” around the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) sales numbers? Will that affect investors like billionaire fund manager David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital and how they see the company? Do you think this is a big deal?