The Macro mode on Apple's new iPhone 13 Pro models, according to a doctor in the San Diego area, could be beneficial in the monitoring and treatment of eye conditions.
Dr. Tommy Korn, an ophthalmologist and digital health innovation specialist at Sharp Healthcare in San Diego, said on LinkedIn on Wednesday that he's been taking Macro images of a patient's eyes with an iPhone 13 Pro Max.
The doctor illustrates a scenario of a patient who had a cornea transplant and now needs to monitor the healing of abrasion on a regular basis. Together with optometrist Jeffrey Lewis, both doctors feel that this feature might be very valuable in advancing telemedicine forward.
Korn went on to say that the camera's performance had "impressed" him. The iPhone 13 Pro Max could "innovate patient eye care and telemedicine," the eye specialist said.
Despite the addition of a new camera mode, Apple has not included a new Macro lens. Instead, the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max sport a new ultra-wide lens with a bigger f/1.8 aperture and 120-degree field of view, which can capture Macro shots at a distance of 2 centimeters.
The iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max's Macro photography mode has been dubbed the lineup's "strongest advancement in the camera system." Rather than utilizing an extra lens or other components, the Macro mode achieves ultra-close-up photos through computational photography.
This is far from the first case of an Apple device being used in medical or health applications. For example, earlier this month, the crew of the SpaceX Inspiration4 mission used the Apple Watch and iPhone to undertake research on the effects of spaceflight on the human body.
The iPhone 13 series was unveiled at Apple's annual launch event on September 14, with pre-orders beginning on September 17. The iPhone 13 was released on September 24, and unlike the iPhone 12 series from 2020, all of the new handsets could be purchased on the same day.
The iPhone 13 is currently available for $799 for 128GB of storage (up from 64GB on the iPhone 12), and goes up to $899 for 256GB and $1,099 for 512GB.
