iPhone 13 camera not focusing when capturing a photo 8-10 cm away

I recently upgraded to a new iphone 13 purchased directly from Apple (3 weeks ago). The camera is not nearly as good as the camera on my old 6s. I can not take closeups of small objects (mainly what I need the camera for) and get any kind of focus. The blurriness is absurd. It has been that way since it came out of the box.

• Not only can I not get the camera to focus at macro distance (2cm)...I can't get it to focus from a distance of even 16cm.
• Low light is not the issue
• Regular (distance) photos are fine, with normal ability to focus.
• I have read various things about accessing Macro mode. Some instructions say to go into camera settings and at the very bottom there is a Macro toggle. There is NO OPTION in my settings menu for Macro.
• Other sites say that Macro is engaged automatically if you just bring the camera that close to the subject. This does not work. Another site says you can force Macro by entering wide angle (0.5) mode. This also does not work.
• The camera will not focus on its own. In my old 6s, if you held your finger on the focus point, the camera would focus. That does not work. Some sites say to tap once, or tap repeatedly on the image. That also does not work.

What do I need to do to get my new iphone camera to take focused photos of small objects from a distance of 6 inches or less?

The official documentation you need is the actual camera specifications you can find at: www.apple.com > iPhone. There you'll see that iPhone 13 Pro Max lists Macro Photography and iPhone 13 does not. That's really all that should be required.

Anything else is nice for discussion, but won't change anything. I don't work for Apple. I didn't design the cameras in iPhone 13 or 13 Pro. Apple chose to bring Macro abilities to iPhone 13 Pro, not iPhone 13. There is nothing anyone here on this forum can do to change this reality for you.

Since you are however, clearly not happy with this reality, let Apple know how you feel, by providing feedback to them, not me, via this link --> Feedback - iPhone - Apple

Try taking a document that you need to capture and send in an email. Grab an iPhone 6 and an iPhone 13. The iPhone 6 can take the shot clearly at a reasonably close distance (a distance that would be appropriate for capturing a document). The iPhone 13 cannot, it just won’t focus. This is what OP is talking about.

Now when you say macro photography, I imagine that you mean the ability to see every pore and detail inside of a close up flower. The ability to focus clearly on a document is different than trying to capture a beautiful close up detailed shot. Does this make sense?

The iPhone 13 shouldn’t lack the ability to capture a clear document from close range, that isn’t much to ask for.

I found this discussion because I also was very annoyed with the lack of up-close photos on my iPhone 13 mini. One app I've found useful for scanning documents is Adobe Scan, and it seems to work fine with the non-macro 13.

It has nothing to do with your point of view. It has EVERYTHING to do with what your iPhone 13 is capable of. And what you want and expect it to do, it can't. I didn't design the new cameras. I don't work for Apple. No one here works for Apple on this user to user only forum.

But I was well aware of the difference between iPhone 13 and 13 Pro cameras and I chose the Pro because its cameras are more advanced than iPhone 13. There should be advantages to paying more for a product. And this is one area the Pro's outperform the standard 13.

I understand you're hoping it's a software thing. I can assure you it's not. iPhone 12, 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max did not have Macro photography abilities. People complained and Apple added Macro to the 13 Pro models this year. It's just not going to come to a standard 13. Sorry.

See this link and compare the features between iPhone 13 and 13 Pro. You'll notice the 13 Pro specifically says Macro Photography, which the 13 does not --> https://www.apple.com/iphone/compare/

I'm not going to argue with you. iPhone 13 does NOT have Macro Photo capability.

This a direct quote about the cameras on iPhone 13 vs iPhone 13 Pro Cameras:

• Macro photography is available only on the iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max models. That means the regular iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Mini don’t offer this feature. How to Use Macro Mode on the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max For the most part, Macro mode works automatically.

Again, if you want Macro Photography on your iPhone, you bought the wrong iPhone If you're not happy with your iPhone take it back. But it's NOT defective. End of discussion. At least I won't respond to you further.

I have the same issue with my regular iPhone 13 (non mini or pro) and have already given Apple feedback. My 8 and regular 11 could get TWICE as close as my 13 before image quality degraded. I had my buddy compare his regular 11 with iOS 14.8 and my regular 13 with iOS 15.1and it is clear as day the closeup capability of the 11 is much better. Hoping it's a software issue that Apple can resolve quickly. I can't see why Apple would put out ANY newer phone that is less capable than comparable older model.

This isn’t the issue. I just got my iPhone 13 two days ago because I wanted the camera upgrade for an upcoming trip. Every picture I take is crap. Grainy, soft and incredibly disappointing. I’ve tried the extreme close up, trash. I’ve tried taking the picture from further away and then cropping the pic to a close up, trash. I also see so many forums of people with the same problem.

I can’t believe I’m saying it but I want my iPhone 7 S plus back.

Yes, that’s what macro photography is.

Lenses can only focus so close to the camera.

To allow good photos of something closer than the minimum focusing distance of the main lens, by default the 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max will switch to the ultra wide lens at short distances, which can focus closer than the regular wide lens can, providing a better photo.

However, some people are annoyed by that, so Apple added the ability to shut that behavior off in iOS 15.1 (Settings -> Camera -> Auto Macro.)

Just remember if you do, at the point the lens switch would have occurred, the focus will start to blur as you are now too close for the wide lens to be able to focus properly.

About the Camera features on your iPhone - Apple Support

Comparing an iPhone 6 to iPhone 13 is a worthless comparison. So no, I won't be grabbing an iPhone 6 (which I don't even own, and haven't for more than 7 years) to compare. It doesn't actually matter what an iPhone 6 did. iPhone 13 and 13 Pro are vastly different phones with vastly different camera systems. And no, I'm not speaking of getting to the pore level in photography. I'm talking about close up photos, which an iPhone 13 is incapable of taking.

The simple fact is iPhone 13 can NOT focus as closely as iPhone 13 Pro. It wasn't designed to do so. Only iPhone 13 Pro phones were designed and actually possess an extra camera to take close up photography. Now, there is a workaround to this. And that is to take your phone as close to the subject as you can get in focus, take the photo, then edit the photo to crop in closer and you can get closer to what an iPhone 13 Pro is capable of doing. It is using digital zoom at that point, but is pretty effective.

If you're not happy about that, let Apple know. But don't have any expectation they will be adding Macro capabilities to a phone which wasn't designed to have it. And if you needed a camera system on your iPhone which can take close up photography, you should have spent the extra money for the 13 Pro or 13 Pro Max.

Feedback to Apple goes here --> https://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone/

If you believe there is something wrong with your phone, have it examined:

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

If you are that unhappy with it and purchased it between November 1 and December 25, you have until January 8 to return it for a refund; you normally have 14 days.

There have been few to no other reports of the phone app freezing or other apps "shutting off," so it sounds like it could be a memory issue in your specific phone.

iPhone 13 lacks the same Ultra Wide camera iPhone 13 Pro has. As such, iPhone 13 cannot focus as close as the Ultra Wide camera on iPhone 13 Pro or 13 Pro Max. It has nothing to do with software being disabled. The two phones simply do not have the same camera hardware.

iPhone 13 Camera Specifications:

• Dual 12MP camera system: Wide and Ultra Wide cameras
• Wide: ƒ/1.6 aperture
• Ultra Wide: ƒ/2.4 aperture and 120° field of view

iPhone 13 Pro Max Camera Specifications:

• Pro 12MP camera system: Telephoto, Wide, and Ultra Wide cameras
• Telephoto: ƒ/2.8 aperture
• Wide: ƒ/1.5 aperture
• Ultra Wide: ƒ/1.8 aperture and 120° field of view

They are simply NOT the same cameras.