iPhone 12 Pro Max minimum focus distance is very long

Yes, JamesMMcArdle what you say is true but it does not answer the fact that the amazing camera which is raved about that is supposedly almost as good as an SLR cannot do a macro photo in focus. The Iphone 12 Pro Max 256G phone cost over $2,000 there is a lot of people out there that want to take a photo of something small and in focus. I only hope that it is fixable in an IOS patch but I really don't think so as it would have happened already. Maybe next upgrade will be a Samsung that by the way does a lovely in focus close up shot of a beetle or a bug or the writing on a $50 note or a record stylus.

A shame that Samsung phones run on Android spyware created by a company that ruthlessly compromises consumer privacy and data in pursuit of profit. But I’m happy you’re so pleased with yours—perhaps better to be trolling the Android boards, no?

At the very least, it WAS an issue with the 12 Pro, but now debated as to whether the focus issue was fixed in an iOS update or not. I have a 12 Pro Max, not a Pro, so I'm not the one to say, but I've read it both ways from owners who've posted--some say it was fixed, some not.

What I do know, for a fact, is that the main lens/sensor system on the 12 Pro Max is totally different, and there is an optical science-based reason to explain why the move to a larger sensor and faster lens would have resulted in the increase in minimum focusing distance that exists vs previous iPhones. The fact that this exact issue cropped up with Samsung when it moved to a larger sensor supports this reasoning. I wish Apple would have just said it--or would say it now--so we would know for certain that this was the compromise Apple decided to make in its move to the new hardware that in most ways IS an improvement over previous iPhones.

Can't you buy a relatively cheap macro lens attachment to solve this issue if it's such a problem that it's affecting your life so negatively? If taking pictures of small things is a prevalent part of your life, I don't know if buying a 12 Pro Max was the best way to meet that need. Additionally, this issue is either fixed, a software issue with your individual phones, or you all have the shakiest hands ever. I just took this picture one handed in low light without any effort at all of the tiny info panel on the back of my TV with my 12 Pro Max.

Rant aside, minimum focus distance would be a nice piece of information to have on a spec sheet.

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This camera “flaw” also ruins an excessive lift feature. As a wheelchair user I take pictures of things I can’t get to ( a serial number in a tight spot, a thermostat up high) not possible with this phone without numerous tries.

I switched from Samsung to this phone for the fancy camera I kept hearing about. No more pictures of flower petals for me. :(

Huge disappointment that the 12 Pro Max does NOT take macros anywhere near as well as my 8 Plus... and when you purchase an extenal lens, well, there goes the pocket-ability of your very expensive new phone. Going to return the Pro Max for a 12 Pro. Just went to local Verizon stoe and took macro shots with their 12, 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max; 12 Pro is DEFINITELY better. Sheesh... wish I'd have known about the macro issue. Just purchaed the 12 Pro Max for the battery life but the guy at the Verizon store said his wife can't see any dif in battery life with the 12 Pro Max.

I just went to the Local Verizon store and took macros with the 12, 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max. 12 Pro definitely took better shots. I wish I had brought my 8 Plus to compare its photos as well. Returning the Pro Max and getting the Pro.

Yes! This is so incredibly frustrating and disappointing. I'm a pro photographer and use the iphone for some of my work - both still and video. I recently traded in my iphone 8+ because there were issues with the video jumping. Was very excited about what was supposed to be the best phone camera ever made. The first thing I tried to photograph were coins. I photograph a LOT of coins, and artifacts. Oh my god. By the time I realized what a nightmare this really is, the exchange period had ended. All that money wasted, when a different model would have worked just fine. I had told the salesman at the ATT store that I used it to shoot professionally. Clearly he had no idea about the limitations of this camera.

CVal321, to be fair to your ATT sales rep, this change in min focusing distance spec for the 12 Pro Max has gotten zero mention online outside of several message boards like this one. It's nowhere in the Apple-focused media, and none of the reviews that were done at the time of the 12 Pro Max's release mention it either, including those by pro photographers. I think I've seen one video review done on YouTube where it was mentioned by a guy who sold watches online, and he had to use workarounds to get the kind of macro close-ups of watch faces that were easy with previous iPhones. (It's worth mentioning that in his video, he decided to keep the 12 Pro Max anyway because he felt other improvements in the camera system outweighed the compromises he had to make to get macro shots.)

And... get ready for the problem to be even WORSE with the 13 Pro Max. From what I've read, Apple is rumored to be bumping up the sensor size again, which is the most likely reason that minimum focusing distance changed on the 12 Pro Max. The 12 Pro, which does not have the larger sensor of the Pro Max, shoots macro just fine.

The increased sensor size, the lens and the use of sensor shift stabilization on the Pro Max gives it the hardware potential to deliver better quality shots in low light. I say "potential" because the difference you see will depend on just how low the light level is. The lower the light, the more of an advantage that the Pro Max has over the Pro. However, since the 12 Pro is already pretty good with low light photography don't expect significant differences in quality in "average" low light situations.

anche per me una profonda delusione! Ho comprato, usato di tre mesi, un iPhone 12 pro max. La distanza di messa a fuoco, da vicino, è elevata come voi scrivete. Non è più possibile realizzare le macro che ero solito scattate con l’11 pro max!! Questo per me sarebbe già un buon motivo per cambiarlo... come è possibile ciò?!? Spero vivamente che sia un problema risolvibile con un aggiornamento software e che Apple ascolti le lamentele e faccia qualcosa! Spero anche che altri acquirenti italiani rispondano in questo forum. Rimango in speranzosa attesa!

The Same here bro, I was excited with the new Lidar spec-sheets and disappointed to find this issue on the third day. My "Oneplus6" takes much clearer picture. Truly disappointing and useless upgrade from Apple

Disappointing if close-up photography is a big part of how you use your camera? Absolutely, as I have posted to this thread previously. But "useless" upgrade from Apple? Not even close to true. The 12 Pro Max is very significantly upgraded for lower light photography. The wide lens (a/k/a the "normal" lens on iPhone) is now faster, the sensor is nearly 50% larger, the pixels gather almost 90% more light and stabilization is achieved through the superior sensor-shift technology. Now, if you do most of your shooting in normal/outdoor light, then the Pro Max upgrade may not make a noticeable difference vs other iPhones. But in lower light, pics are noticeably better, especially if you shoot RAW.

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Yes, Tom... 4 inches seems to be roughly the new minimum focusing distance. (Of course, it would be wonderful if Apple would actually tell us the spec... but no.) And for a shot like this, that's a close as you need to get. But if the photos you shoot a lot require something more like macro close-ups of flowers, food, coins, jewelry, etc., the 12 Max can no longer get close enough to give you those frame-filling shots of your subject. The work arounds are to shoot from further away, and then enlarge, which degrades quality, or to shoot "macro" with the zoom lens, which involves other compromises that make it less than ideal. With my iPhone 11 Max, I regularly printed 13"x19" images of flower close-ups of astonishing quality... same for food macros that I also shoot a lot. Can't do either of those things any longer... not prints at that size, anyway.

I bought the iPhone 12 ProMax instead of the iPhone 11 to get the upgraded camera. It's incredibly disappointing that the 12 ProMax can't take decent close up pics. I would not have bought it if I had known in advance. Like others, hope this issue can be fixed by Apple. Soon.