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The min focal distance of the iPhone 12 max main lens is about 4.5”. I never considered it broken. It’s a bigger sensor and different lens elements etc.
 
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I do hope apple adds a Macro type close focus like on the s21 ultra this year as very close up the iphone doesn’t really compare.
 
I actually just noticed that issue and it really bugs me. So some think this is a normal behavior? Here it a comparison b/w my 12PM and my old XR... wtf! Did Apple acknowledge this? Can this be solved with SW. for now the 14.5 beta 3 does not help and I believe not all Pro are affected. Some Pro and Pro Max are...
 

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What does it mean exactly? Is this normal and the user needs to use it differently (I did not find how though...) or not normal/expected behavior.
That it is a physical limitation of the Max's sensor+lens and not a user or software problem. Just did a quick test with my normal 12 pro (in a dark room) and it has no problem focusing at very short distance.
 
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This thread is originally for those with issues with the iPhone 12 Pro not the max. Max has larger sensor. I think issues may be mixed up/lost already in this thread.
 
That it is a physical limitation of the Max's sensor+lens and not a user or software problem. Just did a quick test with my normal 12 pro (in a dark room) and it has no problem focusing at very short distance.
With the 2.5x lens it seems to focus well. Even though it is not the intended use I was expecting...
 
Hello
I received my phone on the 17-18th of march and have been using it now for around 9 days and will be returning it, it is a 256gb Iphone 12 pro in blue. The phone firstly has issues with focusing mostly auto focus in close distance it mostly does not focus and jumps in and out of focus, secondly it starts heating up just from taking pictures and the battery starts going down quite quickly. For a 5 minute picture taking session the phone goes down 2-3 or more percent. I can only imagine taking a 4k video that will overheat the phone LOL. I am running 14.4.1
 
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Is it normal for the battery to go down several percent just for a 1-2 minute of taking pictures ? Its crazy the phone and camera modules start heating up almost immediately.
 
Is it normal for the battery to go down several percent just for a 1-2 minute of taking pictures ? Its crazy the phone and camera modules start heating up almost immediately.
I have not measured it exactly but from my usage of both iPhone 8 and iPhone 12 Pro, using the camera does affect the battery life. For example when I am on a trip and I know that I will take a lot of photos, I know that I will charge the phone every day. In any other case it would be every second day. I would also assume that taking night photos would affect the battery too.

iPhones camera do good because there is a lot of computational photography behind. This is why iPhones have such powerful CPUs and now even neural engine as every photo you see is a result of algorithms that take advantage of machine learning. The more challenging conditions for the photos, the more battery IMO would be affected. The more CPU gets to work, the more heat it might generate. The phone case you use might affect the heating too. The thicker it is, the more heat it keeps inside.

It is difficult for me to measure if you want experience is within the normal boundaries and expectations or not. Maybe provide more info on what you experience and in what conditions - how many photos taken, type of photos (portrait, landscape etc), conditions (low light, direct sun etc), lens being used (front/rear, wide/utra wide/telephoto).
 
Its the 1x main camera, normal light, HDR off, exposure off, view outside the frame off, Scene detection is on. I am taking close hand shots to test the auto focus and manual focus. At the same place and light conditions for the past days. This seems oddly strange that the phone will start loosing several percent for less then a 5 minute session.... I have seen some videos on youtube, most flicker or dont focus, mine basically does not want to make a clear focus or focus at all in the close range. Yes I know about the focusing distance and have tested it, manually focusing does try to focus closer than the auto which just stop entirely at some point or is not sharp at all. When manual focusing it does several things from not focusing to flickering to just not wanting to focus at the same distance every time...

PS there is no way this phone will last 2 days, from my calculations I get around 6-7 hours with light use and no game playing on wifi. I can only imagine on 4G not even 5 this will be 5 hours
 
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Its the 1x main camera, normal light, HDR off, exposure off, view outside the frame off, Scene detection is on. I am taking close hand shots to test the auto focus and manual focus. At the same place and light conditions for the past days. This seems oddly strange that the phone will start loosing several percent for less then a 5 minute session.... I have seen some videos on youtube, most flicker or dont focus, mine basically does not want to make a clear focus or focus at all in the close range. Yes I know about the focusing distance and have tested it, manually focusing does try to focus closer than the auto which just stop entirely at some point or is not sharp at all. When manual focusing it does several things from not focusing to flickering to just not wanting to focus at the same distance every time...
I am not sure if Lidar gets triggered every time you try to focus or only in low light conditions. Is it possible that it gets triggered every time you try to focus and then affect the battery? I am just speculating.

I have noticed with my iPhone 12 Pro indeed that manual focus can do it from closer distance compared to autofocus. So indeed if I see that autofocus struggles and I do not want to compromise the distance I try to force it to focus with manual focus.

PS there is no way this phone will last 2 days, from my calculations I get around 6-7 hours with light use and no game playing on wifi. I can only imagine on 4G not even 5 this will be 5 hours
I am light user. I don't do more than 1 hour screen time per day. Also my phone is not connected to the outside world constantly. I trigger Mobile data from time to time to check what's going on. Otherwise it is off. This is why I can but I am not the usual case ;).
 
Its the 1x main camera, normal light, HDR off, exposure off, view outside the frame off, Scene detection is on. I am taking close hand shots to test the auto focus and manual focus. At the same place and light conditions for the past days. This seems oddly strange that the phone will start loosing several percent for less then a 5 minute session.... I have seen some videos on youtube, most flicker or dont focus, mine basically does not want to make a clear focus or focus at all in the close range. Yes I know about the focusing distance and have tested it, manually focusing does try to focus closer than the auto which just stop entirely at some point or is not sharp at all. When manual focusing it does several things from not focusing to flickering to just not wanting to focus at the same distance every time...

PS there is no way this phone will last 2 days, from my calculations I get around 6-7 hours with light use and no game playing on wifi. I can only imagine on 4G not even 5 this will be 5 hours

Check your screen brightness. It makes a world of difference for battery drain.

If the battery is really having issues let Apple check it out. It may be defective.
 
Check your screen brightness. It makes a world of difference for battery drain.

If the battery is really having issues let Apple check it out. It may be defective.
you must be joking right ? you guys do realise that this is a phone that costs over 1000 euros. I keep the brightness always at low. I have been using apple products since 2007. I got my 3gs in 2009 I believe and I have been using the 6 up until recently as it was good enough for me, now I got the 12pro and things are far from perfect. I will return it, but I am yet to decide what to get instead of the 12pro I am currently leaning towards the same phone, but if it also has these issues that would be sad.
 
you must be joking right ? you guys do realise that this is a phone that costs over 1000 euros. I keep the brightness always at low. I have been using apple products since 2007. I got my 3gs in 2009 I believe and I have been using the 6 up until recently as it was good enough for me, now I got the 12pro and things are far from perfect. I will return it, but I am yet to decide what to get instead of the 12pro I am currently leaning towards the same phone, but if it also has these issues that would be sad.


I couldn’t care less about all that history. I was just offering advice. If you don’t like it you can kick rocks.
 
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you must be joking right ? you guys do realise that this is a phone that costs over 1000 euros. I keep the brightness always at low. I have been using apple products since 2007. I got my 3gs in 2009 I believe and I have been using the 6 up until recently as it was good enough for me, now I got the 12pro and things are far from perfect. I will return it, but I am yet to decide what to get instead of the 12pro I am currently leaning towards the same phone, but if it also has these issues that would be sad.
I see your frustration! I would not be happy to pay that much for a phone and not feel satisfied with what I get!.
Can you post picture of your battery statistics over day? I just wonder what is the screen time your phone can get. Also I want to see the battery usage per apps if possible. What are your expectations in terms of battery life and what do you get currently?
 
Just got off Apple support about this focussing issue. If its expected behavior, Apple support has no idea of this. At this point they're treating it as out of ordinary so if Apple themselves aren't aware of this, who am I to say its "expected behavior" of a new lens system.

Also, isn't a new camera system supposed to be better than its previous iterations? Clearly it can't perform certain tasks when compared side to side with my old XS Max. For example a new bread maker which just launched can make more types of bread (foccacias, baguettes) compared to an older model. But if it fails to make a simple old loaf of white bread, its not an improvement, its just a different product.
 
I noticed something different today I was on my balcony and tried to take a picture of a watch from far it was okay the focus and the manual, but when coming close to the minimal focusing distance the photo got really exposed and strange. It was sunny and I had switched off exposure anyway. Strange behaviour all the way.
 

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