Today saw the news that the brand new M1 iPad Pro is quite the macro photography whizz thanks to the new camera system used up front. That's excellent news for anyone wanting to walk around with an iPad as their camera, but what about those of us who want to just use our iPhone to get the job done? Unfortunately, it doesn't look like we can expect iPhone 13 to pull off a similar trick.
The folk behind Halide noted that the new ultrawide camera used in the new iPad Pro allows for some astonishing macro shots to be taken. But developer Sebastiaan de With also noted that the only reason this is possible is likely to be down to the extra room Apple's engineers have to play with. Basically, the iPad Pro is a chonky boi and our itty bitty iPhones likely don't have to room to spare. He's probably right, too.
Writing about the photos coming out of the new iPad Pro, de With said:
I was pretty astonished. Lots of detail, despite iPad's smaller sensors. One of the reasons iPads might focus closer than your iPhone is that Apple doesn't have to worry about the device fitting in your pocket. Having such flexibility with the layout of the camera module might be the difference allowing for this splendid little superpower. Sadly, this also means we are guessing this is not coming to the iPhone anytime soon.
And that right there is a shame, even though it makes tons of sense. Other companies already offer macro lenses of some sort and it's possible Apple could still come up with something special for the rear-facing cameras in a future iPad. But in the meantime, it's good to know that Apple does have what it takes to build a great macro lens. Even if it did happen sort of by accident and you'll need to lug a giant slab of glass around to use it.
Oh well. Beggars can't be choosers, as they say.
All that being said, the humble iPhone 12 Pro Max is still the best iPhone for photographers that you can buy today.
