Earlier this year, some owners of Samsung Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus experienced a frustrating issue known as the “banana blur.” Users discovered a permanently out-of-focus area in photos captured with the 50MP main camera, particularly noticeable when taking close-up shots.

Samsung has now acknowledged the issue in a community post written in Polish (as discovered by Redditor NoSeK2323) and stated that a software update will be released to fix the problem. In the post, the company provided an explanation for the cause of the issue.

When testing the capabilities of the S23 or S23 Plus’s camera, you may have been caught by the fact that when you take a close-up photo, the area around the subject looks a bit blurry. That’s because the rear wide-angle camera on the S23 and S23 Plus has a bright aperture, which helps when taking photos in the dark. However, it also means that more noticeable selective focus can make the background of your photos look a bit blurry.

Samsung has announced its intention to resolve this issue through a future software update; however, no specific timeline for the patch has been disclosed. In the meantime, the company has offered a couple of suggested workarounds that can serve as temporary solutions. One workaround involves stepping back if the subject is 30cm (~12 inches) away or even closer.

Another suggested solution provided by Samsung advises users to take photos while holding the phone vertically. The company explains that if the phone is held horizontally or at an angle, the background may appear blurry.

It is worth noting that the issue was initially discovered in March, and it has taken a significant amount of time for the company to acknowledge it and confirm that a fix is being developed. However, it is hopeful that a software update will be able to address this problem, and it is not related to a hardware issue.