iPhone 12 Pro Max minimum focus distance is very long

Thank you Dhugal for taking the trouble to confirm that...lack of focus at close range in such a situation is certainly a handicap. In favour of the phone camera I find that in fact when you compare the image on the screen with the object being photographed at closest range that permits focus, it is greater than 1:1, so is truly macro and an enlargement of an image of your TV cables should still be sufficiently detailed working at a greater distance with autofocus. For artistic closeups however, a good quality macro lens makes the iPhone 12 Pro Max with all of its image processing enhancements, still very useful and exciting in its results.

I think we've all had the experience of speaking to an Apple "support" rep who seems to know nothing about Apple products and is simply following some sort of script--that would seem to the case here. The "software issue" theory is easily disproven: If this were a software issue with autofocus, then the camera apps which provide full user control of manual focus would work. They don't. Manual focus has the same close-focus limit as autofocus.

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.

[Image Edited by Moderator to Remove Personal Information]

Agreed this is disappointing. My partner’s iPhone X does much better at macros. Until there is a real solution, it helps to use 2.5 zoom, put your finger at the subject, wait til the camera focuses on your finger, use AF lock, then pull your finger away and shoot.

I have the same issue with the iPhone 12 Pro Max and found out recently trying to take a photo to sell a record player stylus on eBay. I spent hours of time trying everything I could to get the shot in Focus. I regularly use the Phone to do macro photo's. I traded in my iPhone 6S for the iPhone 12 Pro Max and it was capable of a better macro photo than the new Pro max's.

I only hope that Apple can address the issue and let us know the outcome soon.

I have spoke with Apple support in length about this issue as it is very frustrating fault in my iPhone 12 Pro Max. Support has assured me this is a software issue and not a hardware issue but I don’t know how it could be. They also assure me this has been escalated to the engineering level of Apple and it is currently a known problem. I hope I can believe this. But I believe it is a limitation of the Camera hardware :(

I just bought the iPhone 12 Pro Max and the closeup distance is about 3-1/2 inches using the 2.5x lens. It is running 14.4.2 if that makes any difference.

The iPhone 12 series is the biggest selling phone that apple have made. Only a small percentage of us have realised this problem. It is people that use the phone to zoom in on record needle styluses to see what condition they are in. It is people that collect bank notes and want to zoom in on the note to read the microscopic writing on the note, etc ,etc. More people will become aware of it over time, and some will just accept it. It really annoys me as I upgraded from my iPhone 6+ which was perfectly good, however had the same problem with the zoom/focus as the 12 Pro Max but was actually better for zooming. My iphone 4 was extremely good with zoom shots and they were in focus. The new Samsung my daughter has does not have the same problem. Lets hope the problem is addressed. After All I have spent $2,000 on this phone upgrade and I did have the expectation that the incredible camera on my iPhone 12 Pro Max was going to be able to do an in focus macro photo shot!

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.

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. :(

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.

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.

I wouldn’t count on any solution ever considering that Apple has never acknowledged a problem or even confirmed that the MFD is different on the 12 Pro Max. In fact, Apple has never given a spec for MFD on any iPhone model.

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I changed to the Pro and it works fine for macro shots

I am reading the forum as I face problem in focus range of macro shots in my 12 pro. I would suggest not to invest anything in 12 series for now and wait for some major software update.