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swfcdm1

macrumors member
Sep 8, 2016
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Sheffield
When i turn macro lens off my phone doesn't focus until about 5 inches from a computer screen, with macro on it focuses straight away

Looks to be normal behaviour and i have had the shaking effect on snapchat
 

Fred Zed

macrumors 603
Aug 15, 2019
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Upstate NY . Was FL.
GOOD MORNING!


If your iPhone 14 Pro (or Pro Max) camera has gone haywire and got all shakey, you might be wondering if the camera module has been damaged.

How would you know?

Well, that's where this thread comes in.

If you have an iPhone 14 Pro (or Pro Max), PLEASE check and let everyone know if your "auto focus" works for up-close detail. Please note if your camera has gone "shakey" yet or not as well so we can determine if this is breaking the camera OIS.

Let me explain.

_______________

My 14 Pro went shakey when I opened Snapchat. The OIS went insane. Lasted 5 seconds until I killed the app. Hasn't happened since.
Ever since then, if I join a facetime call and I put my iPhone 14 Pro close to a computer screen, it will not focus, I have to let the camera be quite a few inches away before it's "in focus". (6 inches to be exact)

I'd like to know if someone whose camera has NOT gone shakey, if their iPhone 14 Pro (or Pro Max) can focus on a Mac's laptop screen (for example) up close while on a FaceTime video call.

THIS TEST can also be run while NOT on a FaceTime call, you can just use the default Camera app on your iPhone 14 Pro (or Pro Max) and turn OFF Macro mode, and see how close you have to be to a computer screen or any subject before it focuses.
______

I am well aware that the focal distance of the 14 Pro and Pro Max is further than the 13 Pro. But I'm curious if it's really as bad as mine seems to be. Luke Miani also mentioned that he had this issue after his OIS went haywire.

Cheers and feel free to post pics.

______

For now, I will say that my iphone 14 Pro needs to be at LEAST 6 inches from my MacBook Pro's screen to be in focus. It does NOT autofocus closer than this.

My iPhone X comes into focus at 3 inches.

That 3 inch difference is actually huge. That's why I'm thinking that the OIS issue broke the auto focus for up close images on my 14 Pro.


__

Feel free to measure how far your phone needs to be from the Mac's screen before it focuses, and let everyone know if you've had the shakey issue or not yet. This will give us a sample size to let us know if we need to return our phones and get fresh ones.

Cheers,
I turned macro mode off and it won’t focus unless greater than 6-7 inches away from subject. I’ve never had the camera buzz issue.
I just tried it with my iPhone 13 PM and it can focus with macro mode off at around 6-7” away. So in essence the iPhone pro 13 can focus at the subject a little closer with macro mode off as compared to the iPhone 14 PM

Maybe it’s normal. ?

Tried same test on ex wife’s iPhone 14 PM. Same results. She never has camera shake either. So all good.
 
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iPhoneFan5349

macrumors 6502a
Nov 14, 2021
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So all people need to do is hold their iPhone 14 Pro or Pro Max in front of an object (computer monitor with text is easiest) and slowly pull the camera away from the object, and see at what distance the object is clear. Again, this is without MACRO. Using only the Default Camera app.

For example, mine is 6 inches, and I had the shakey camera (OIS) issue so my camera may or may not be damaged. It takes 6 inches away for the camera to come into focus. It's annoyingly far, I think it should be something like 3 inches like my iPhone X.

I'd like to see if someone who HASN'T had the issue, what their focus distance is. If it's also 6 inches, we know that the iPhone 14 Pro focus distance is much worse than older iPhones.
Oh, that’s like the same with the iPhone 13 Pro. You have to be at least 4 to 5 inches away
 
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michael31986

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Jul 11, 2008
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I’m hoping some app can eventually tell us I’d the camera is working correctly. Similar to how we use to have those dead pixel app checks.

Cause focusing on a mac screen in a bit strange
 

iPhoneFan5349

macrumors 6502a
Nov 14, 2021
628
560
Focal length is diff on iPhone 14. Also macro is the reason this exists so you can focus up close.
Yeah, you’re right. I can focus really close with the macro. Like I can almost put my phone down and it would focus what’s underneath. I believe maybe 1 or 2 inches is what I need to focus
 

accordman

macrumors member
Sep 27, 2018
52
53
Last night, I picked up my 14PM and went to Snapchat to show off my new phone. What a surprise/shock. I was about to return it until I saw this. I just tested and with macro mode off - it takes about 6-7inchs distance to focus on text on my computer screen. With macro mode on, it focuses right away.

I am guessing this is normal according to other's posts.
 
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TimmKook

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Sep 1, 2020
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I turned macro mode off and it won’t focus unless greater than 6-7 inches away from subject. I’ve never had the camera buzz issue.
I just tried it with my iPhone 13 PM and it can focus with macro mode off at around 6-7” away. So in essence the iPhone pro 13 can focus at the subject a little closer with macro mode off as compared to the iPhone 14 PM

Maybe it’s normal. ?

Tried same test on ex wife’s iPhone 14 PM. Same results. She never has camera shake either. So all good.
That is good to know! When I'm on a facetime call trying to show someone something on my MacBook Pro's screen, I can't get close enough to show them the detail, it won't focus unless 6 inches away. But then if the website is in dark mode, the camera won't get the white balance on facetime at 6 inches away. So there's literally no way to effectively show someone something on another screen up close.

I feel like I never had this issue on my 13 Pro.
 
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TimmKook

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Sep 1, 2020
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Last night, I picked up my 14PM and went to Snapchat to show off my new phone. What a surprise/shock. I was about to return it until I saw this. I just tested and with macro mode off - it takes about 6-7inchs distance to focus on text on my computer screen. With macro mode on, it focuses right away.

I am guessing this is normal according to other's posts.
Wait til you try to use Facetime and show someone some text on your macbook's screen. The camera won't use macro, so it never focuses, you can't show someone text on a computer screen. It sucks!
 

TimmKook

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I feel this was always the case tho
Weird, I never had the issue on my 13 Pro. I was always able to get closer to the screen it seemed. Just today I was showing someone a graph on my screen and it wouldn't focus for ****. I've never had that happen before. Idk.
 

michael31986

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Jul 11, 2008
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Weird, I never had the issue on my 13 Pro. I was always able to get closer to the screen it seemed. Just today I was showing someone a graph on my screen and it wouldn't focus for ****. I've never had that happen before. Idk.
Maybe someone else with iPhone 14 can help.

This thread was to help distinguish if the rattle effected cameras. We need to know how the 14s work normally.

So far only that YouTuber has had any “focus issues” but he had it rattle for minutes and maybe longer since he made edits of it for his video.
 

TimmKook

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Maybe someone else with iPhone 14 can help.

This thread was to help distinguish if the rattle effected cameras. We need to know how the 14s work normally.

So far only that YouTuber has had any “focus issues” but he had it rattle for minutes and maybe longer since he made edits of it for his video.
This thread was created by me to see if the rattle damaged cameras. This is directly related to that... so I'm not sure what you're talking about. Luke Miani is known for spreading misinformation, so I'm not basing all of this off his sub-par video.
But trying to focus on something, AFTER the rattle, from a few inches away, and it won't focus, that's concerning.
 

michael31986

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Jul 11, 2008
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This thread was created by me to see if the rattle damaged cameras. This is directly related to that... so I'm not sure what you're talking about. Luke Miani is known for spreading misinformation, so I'm not basing all of this off his sub-par video.
But trying to focus on something, AFTER the rattle, from a few inches away, and it won't focus, that's concerning.
Is he really known for that? I had no idea.

I understand the focus concern but I think what you describe is normal behavior for the phone. Did you try in store yet?
 

TimmKook

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Is he really known for that? I had no idea.

I understand the focus concern but I think what you describe is normal behavior for the phone. Did you try in store yet?
Just from my own findings.

It very well could be normal. If it is it's a HUGE downgrade though. Realistically, the only way then to take a photo of something on another screen is to hold the phone pretty far back, and then zoom in a considerable amount. Just clunky. Oh well. I might just buy another iPhone 14 Pro and give it a try but I'll gather more info from folks first here on the forum.
 
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michael31986

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Just from my own findings.

It very well could be normal. If it is it's a HUGE downgrade though. Realistically, the only way then to take a photo of something on another screen is to hold the phone pretty far back, and then zoom in a considerable amount. Just clunky. Oh well. I might just buy another iPhone 14 Pro and give it a try but I'll gather more info from folks first here on the forum.
I did see this.

 

michael31986

macrumors 601
Jul 11, 2008
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Yup so they decided to be dumb and let the camera continue to basically kill itself rather than quitting the app lol. So I could definitely imagine it caused some perma-damage to that camera system. When mine did it, I quit the app within probably 3-5 seconds max.
Yup’ and this is only one of three. I can imagine the rest they did.
 
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Sigvard

macrumors regular
Aug 11, 2008
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Just from my own findings.

It very well could be normal. If it is it's a HUGE downgrade though. Realistically, the only way then to take a photo of something on another screen is to hold the phone pretty far back, and then zoom in a considerable amount. Just clunky. Oh well. I might just buy another iPhone 14 Pro and give it a try but I'll gather more info from folks first here on the forum.

Just wanted to confirm what the Halide devs mentioned on the minimum focusing distance for the wide. I still have my 13 PM so I’m able to directly compare it to my 14 PM with a very unscientific experiment.

I set up a ruler from one of my monitors and it looks like the 13 PM was able to focus sharply at just over 4” while the 14 PM needed around 2” more to get the same sharpness.

Getting another 14 Pro won’t change anything. It’s a physical change in the hardware and there’s nothing we can do about it.
 
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