A new page published to Apple’s Support Communities details the risks of mounting an iPhone to the handlebars of a motorcycle, with the company warning users that the delicate optical image (OIS) system could be compromised due to the vibrations “generated by high-powered motorcycle enginesâ€.
The warning feels rather specific and exceedingly late considering Apple has first utilised OIS on the iPhone camera module ever since the release of the larger iPhone 6 Plus in 2014, on the other hand, however, it is possible that the issue only garnered some sort of noticeable attention until recently.
Using a quick advanced search on Twitter though, we were able to find tweets from 2019 warning about the iPhone permanently losing its ability to autofocus after a brief chopper ride.
On their support page, Apple warns:
"High-power or high-volume motorcycle engines generate intense high-amplitude vibrations, which are transmitted through the chassis and handlebars. It is not recommended to attach your iPhone to motorcycles with high-power or high-volume engines due to the amplitude of the vibration in certain frequency ranges that they generate."
In terms of a solution, there doesn’t seem to be a perfect remedy for the high-powered vibrations a heavy duty motorcycle produces, however, for mopeds, scooters, electric bikes or any other less intense form of transportation, Apple recommends a vibration dampening mount to ease stress on the camera system.