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kissu
Participant
September 12, 2026
Question

iPhone 17 Pro Max Exposure Change After Exporting As sRGB

  • September 12, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 31 views

I upgraded from iPhone 14 Pro Max to 17 Pro Max. For some reason when I put my photos taken with the new iPhone through Lightroom (mobile version) to export them as sRGB for socials they come out much darker in exposure. This happens to all of the photos. I tried again my old photos taken with the 14 Pro Max and I don't have this issue. How do I fix this and what is going on? This is driving me insane.

 

Thank you very much!

1 reply

Anshul_Saini
Community Manager
Anshul_SainiCommunity Manager
Community Manager
October 6, 2026

Hi @kissu,

Thanks for reporting this. I understand how frustrating it is when the exported image looks noticeably darker than what you see while editing.

This is related to how newer iPhones handle HDR photos. Starting with the newer iPhone generations, particularly the iPhone 15 series and later, HDR capture and display have become more integrated into the imaging workflow. Apple also no longer provides the same option available on older iPhones to simply disable Smart HDR for photos.

Lightroom can therefore display the additional HDR range while you’re editing, but when you export using standard sRGB, you’re creating an SDR version. That conversion can make the exported image appear darker compared with the HDR image displayed on your iPhone.

Please try disabling HDR editing/display in Lightroom before making your final adjustments for an sRGB export and compare the result.

If you still see a significant exposure difference, please let us know, and we’ll be happy to investigate further.

Best,
Anshul Saini

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