Lidar is great for cars, but it can permanently damage cameras

PSA: Lidar and high-powered lasers, increasingly common in cars and at entertainment venues, can cause permanent damage to smartphone cameras – even those built to withstand everyday wear. Users should be aware of this hidden risk and avoid direct exposure to these beams to protect their devices.

Modern smartphones can survive drops and even take a swim, but they may have met their match – and it's not what anyone expected. The lidar equipment used in cars and stage shows can silently and permanently destroy a camera sensor. Redditor Jeguetelli learned this the hard way.

While filming a brand-new Volvo EX90 with his iPhone 16 Pro Max, the phone's camera caught more than just the sleek SUV. A burst from the car's roof-mounted lidar sensor – designed to emit near-infrared laser beams to detect its surroundings – hit the lens directly, leaving behind a permanent cluster of fried pixels in red ...