iPhone 14 Pro
⬤ From £1,099 ⬤ apple.com/uk
The iPhone 14 Pro features a triple-lens array, comprising standard, ultrawide and telephoto (3x) lenses. The main lens has 48 megapixels (standard output thanks to pixel binning is 12 megapixels), while the two additional lenses have 12megapixel sensors. If you prefer a larger phone, the iPhone 14 Pro Max has exactly the same camera array as the non-Max version. A non-Pro version of the iPhone 14 (and previous generation) is available, but they do not have macro functionality.
Apple is now in its second generation of smartphones with macro capability. The mode enables you to get super-close to the subject by automatically switching to the ultra-wideangle camera. You can record both video and still images with the iPhone’s macro mode, and you can also shoot in Apple’s ProRAW format when it is engaged too.
If you’re finding image quality to be low – such as if light levels are poor – you can switch off the macro focusing and switch back to using the standard camera. You can still get fairly close with the standard camera, so if the subject isn’t particularly small it can still work fairly well.
Another method with the iPhone is to switch to Portrait mode to create a shallow-depthof-field effect. Again, this will work best with subjects which aren’t super-small, but perhaps are still typical macro-type subjects, such as larger flowers. Note there’s no macro focusing capability in this mode, nor can you shoot in raw format.
If you fancy the idea of an iPhone with macro focusing but want to save a bit of cash, skipping back a generation to the iPhone 13 Pro/Max is a sensible idea. You might also want to look into the second-hand market as there are some great deals to be had.