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Second iOS 15.2 beta adds macro toggle in Camera app for iPhone 13 Pro

Using Macro Mode to focus on a second iPhone. Notice the yellow flower icon, that's the new toggle (source: Zollotech)

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The much-awaited manual control for turning macro mode on or off in the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max camera app is now in the beta for iOS 15.2.

It's only since iOS 15 that iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max camera users have had a macro mode, but as good as it is, it was immediately recognized to have a feature missing. Originally, the iPhone itself would assess when a user had moved close enough to an object that they probably wanted to take a macro photo.

One problem with this was that it could well be wrong. Another was that users couldn't then always be certain whether they were in macro mode or not.

But then a third issue came up when shooting video. When the lens switches to macro mode, there would be a noticeable shift in the image frame, composition and even lighting.

Apple announced that a manual control would be added in the future, and it has now been included in the latest beta of iOS 15.2.

As first spotted by YouTuber Aaron Zollo, the new control has to be enabled, it is not a default. To enable it, users must first go to Settings, Camera, and tap to turn off Auto Macro.

That doesn't complete the job, however. Next users must go into a new Preserve Settings. Within that section, there is a second Auto Macro option that must be turned on.

Then whenever the camera is brought close enough to an object that it triggers macro mode, a flower icon appears. Tapping that on or off manually sets whether a macro photo will be taken.



1 Comment

maciekskontakt 15 Years · 1168 comments

That is great. Does it solve issues with Spotlight indexing taking 500% of CPU on MacPro overheating chipset so its USB, Thunderbolt and Ethernet fails (yes Apple own - not aftermarket) especially on Intel based computers? Even Apple's own large USB keyboard is not recognized many times (just because it has USB hub built-in?) That is what people report on other than Apple forum because they are frustrated with  Apple no action since 2018 when first reports to Apple showed up. Two cases for me in last two weeks just days after installation of Monterey. Not many problems on Big Sur (also installed this year) and definitely none of problems before Big Sur on the same hardware (January 2021). Who is developer genius who gave system high priority to daemon thread re-indexing? What was his grades on OS management during university times? I would not give him high - we were taught better in old times.