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Which iPhones have Night mode, front and back?

Updated October 20, 2026 by madebykamal

Every iPhone from the iPhone 11 onward has Night mode on its rear camera, up to the iPhone 18 Pro, 18 Pro Max, 17e and Duo, but neither iPhone SE model is on Apple's Night mode list. On the front camera it began with the iPhone 12 family, so the iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max have it on the back only. Night mode is a low-light photo feature, not an infrared camera.

iPhones with Night mode on the rear camera

Apple's Night mode support article puts it in one line: you can use Night mode with iPhone 11 and later. Apple's iOS 27 User Guide lists these models, and the iPhone Duo's specifications list it too:

iPhones with Night mode on the front camera

Night mode selfies start with the iPhone 12 family. Apple lists Night mode for the front camera on:

Kamera Pro app icon

Kamera Pro: LiDAR Night Vision

Night vision camera with a LiDAR lens

Get it on the App StoreAbout the app
QR code for Kamera Pro: LiDAR Night Vision on the App StoreOn a computer? Scan this with your iPhone camera to open it in the App Store.

Which iPhones do not have Night mode

To check your own phone, open the Camera app somewhere dim. On a supported model, Night mode turns on by itself in low light and its icon at the top of the display turns yellow while it is active.

How to turn Night mode on, off and up

Night mode turns on automatically in low light, and a number beside its icon shows how long the shot will take: a moment or several seconds, depending on how dark the scene is.

Does the iPhone have an infrared or night vision camera?

Not for taking pictures. Apple describes Night mode as brightening photos and capturing more detail in low light, with the iPhone setting the exposure time. Apple's specifications for the iPhone 17, 17e, 18 Pro and Duo list their cameras and sensors, and none lists an infrared, thermal or night vision camera.

The infrared imaging Apple does describe is part of Face ID. Apple says the TrueDepth camera projects thousands of invisible dots to create a depth map of your face and also captures an infrared image of it, and that Face ID is designed to work even in total darkness. It is used for facial recognition: apps are told only whether authentication succeeded and can't access the Face ID data for your enrolled face. The iPhone Duo uses a Touch ID fingerprint sensor instead.

The iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max also list a LiDAR Scanner among their sensors; a separate page here covers which iPhones have LiDAR.

Seeing in the dark with Kamera Pro

Kamera Pro is a night vision camera app for iPhone. Its fourteen night lenses, including classic green night vision, noir, amber and the Ember and Magma heat-look palettes, are rendered live as gradings of the ordinary visible-light image: they are looks, not infrared or thermal imaging, and the app does not measure temperature. On Pro model iPhones, its LiDAR lens reads real depth from the scanner instead, drawing the room as measured distance in complete darkness and measuring between two points in meters or feet. Its capture modes for the dark are Night Photo, Light Trails, Astro, Night Timelapse and Glow selfies lit by the screen.

Questions people ask

Does the iPhone 11 have Night mode on the front camera?

No. Apple's list of models with Night mode selfies starts at the iPhone 12 family, so the iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max have Night mode on the rear camera only.

Does the iPhone SE have Night mode?

Not for photos. Apple's list of models that support Night mode leaves out both the iPhone SE (2nd generation) and the iPhone SE (3rd generation), though its iOS 27 User Guide covers both.

Does the iPhone 17 have an infrared camera?

Not one you can take pictures with. Apple's iPhone 17 specifications list Night mode on its rear and front cameras and no infrared or thermal camera. Its Face ID is enabled by TrueDepth technology in the front camera, which Apple says captures an infrared image of your face to recognize you.

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