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Apple Will Let iPhone 13 Pro Users Disable Auto Switching to Ultra Wide Lens for Macro Photography Later This Fall

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iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max reviews were published today, with the devices receiving praise for their smoother ProMotion displays, longer battery life, and improved cameras, but there was one consistent complaint among the reviews.

iPhone-13-Pro-Light-Blue-Side-Feature.jpg

On the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max, a new feature is the ability to take macro photos. As noted by Input's Raymond Wong, however, this new capability results in the device automatically switching from the Wide lens to the Ultra Wide lens when you place an object or a subject within 5.5 inches of the rear camera. (The viewfinder still shows "1x" framing, but the camera relies on the Ultra Wide lens for autofocus.)

The automatic camera switching is easily noticeable in the iPhone's viewfinder, as Wong demonstrated in the video below.


"The viewfinder keeps jittering as it tries to choose between a regular wide or wide-macro shot," he said. In his review, he expressed his opinion that "the framing should never change from what you compose and never automatically."

Apple initially told Wong that the automatic camera switching is intentional to help users better capture close-up details, according to his review, but the company has since issued a statement to Wong and others that says iPhone 13 Pro users will gain the option to turn off the switching in an iOS update that will be released later this fall.

"A new setting will be added in a software update this fall to turn off automatic camera switching when shooting at close distances for macro photography and video," said Apple.

Apple said the ability to turn off the automatic camera switching will apply to macro video recording as well, but as Wong noted, there is a "Lock Camera" option under Settings > Camera that appears to prevent the switching for video already.

All four iPhone 13 models will begin arriving to customers and launch in stores this Friday, September 24 in the U.S. and over 30 other countries and regions.

Article Link: Apple Will Let iPhone 13 Pro Users Disable Auto Switching to Ultra Wide Lens for Macro Photography Later This Fall
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2021/09/21/iphone-13-pro-macro-auto-camera-switching/
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One software update and this will be forgotten. This happens, even on an iPhone that costs more than my Macbook =)
 
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firstapple said:
Depends on what the user feels is the "better camera for the shot". It's been a pretty large complaint for most reviewers so far.
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I had not realized that some many people were doing macro photography, or does this apply to basic choose up pictures too?
 
MacRumors said:
A new setting will be added in a software update this fall to turn off automatic camera switching when shooting at close distances for macro photography and video," said Apple.
Click to expand...
I’ve seen the example of this in MKBHD’s video.

From the description above I’m not clear on how this will work/help, because if you turn off the auto-switching wouldn’t that stop you from shooting macro shots?

I wonder why Apple didn’t add a ‘Macro’ option to the horizontal modes menu.

And won't Apple also need to do something to get out of the ultra wide and back to 1x (as noted in the MKBHD video) if auto-switching is disabled?
 
DeepIn2U said:
Crazy right?! It's like we all entered the twillight zone. I don't think Apple has EVER THIS quickly responded to public feedback in a positive way.

Next up ... continue the mini series beyond 2021-2022 year!
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yea, of course not so much in quick response time to the feedback I have provided :p:rolleyes:
 
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4jasontv said:
Probably not because it's just another overlooked detail in iOS. Put it between the inability to reorganize the App Library and disable the widget page.
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The whole point of the App Library is that it’s automatically organized. If you want to manually do it, just use folders like you’ve been able to do for years.
 
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Mr. Awesome said:
The whole point of the App Library is that it’s automatically organized. If you want to manually do it, just use folders like you’ve been able to do for years.
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How do I disable the app library and only use folders? Don’t tell me I can’t disable it, because that’s also the issue with the widget page.

Also, why is it so terrible at organizing apps? Google voice isn’t a financial app, and why isn’t steam link listed in the games folder? Might it be because it's using the marketing directives of the developer rather than actual app functions?

If it was any good at auto organizing it would allow apps to be in two different folders. The Athletic is a sports app, news app, and entertainment app. Browzine is a subscription journal reading app so why is it stored in the same folder as t-mobile Tuesday and the hue app, but not in the productivity or shopping folders? Why is echo360, a video streaming educational platform in the same folder as my electric car app and the app for my bathroom scale? Is it because the App Library fails at it's only job?
 
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You're telling me in all their testing not one QA employee spotted this?
 
firstapple said:
Depends on what the user feels is the "better camera for the shot". It's been a pretty large complaint for most reviewers so far.
Click to expand...
But this was also the case in prior ultra-wide iPhones as well so I guess I’m confused why it’s an issue with this particular phone?
 
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