Doctor uses 5G iPhone 13 Pro’s Macro mode to examine patients’ eyes

The Apple iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max are the first handsets delivered by Apple that have the ability to shoot Macro photos. These are photos that are snapped just two centimeters away from the subject or closer. This is the mode you would use to take pictures of insects, and things of that nature (no pun intended).

Using the Ultra-Wide camera on the Pro variants of the iPhone 13, Apple says that “users can capture sharp, stunning images where objects appear larger than life, magnifying subjects with a minimum focus distance of 2 centimeters. Macro also extends to video including Slo-mo and Time-lapse.”

According to a post on LinkedIn (via 9to5 Mac), the Macro mode also has some use in the medical field. Dr. Tommy Korn, an Ophthalmologist, wrote that he has been using the iPhone 13 Pro Max to take Macro photographs of his patients’ eyes. Using this feature, Dr. Korn is able to review detailed images allowing him to make observations about the health of his patients.

In his LinkedIn story, Dr. Korn discusses a patient who had a cornea transplant which resulted in a painful corneal abrasion. The photos that he includes with his post are used by the doctor to monitor the healing rate of the abrasion. Dr. Korn wrote, “Been using the iPhone 13 Pro Max for MACRO eye photos this week. Impressed. Will innovate patient eye care & telemedicine. forward to seeing where it goes… Photos are from healing a resolving abrasion in a cornea transplant. Permission was obtained to use photos.”

Together with fellow Opthalmologist Jeffrey Lewis, the docs say that the Macro mode on the iPhone 13 Pro models will help the new and growing telemedicine field. Unlike Motorola, for example, whose Macro cameras are dedicated to that type of photography, Apple is adding Macro photography capabilities without having to add an additional lens. The upgraded Ultra-Wide camera on the 2021 Pro models features an f/1.8 aperture with a 120-degree field of view.