What Does The Flower Icon Mean On Your iPhone Camera?

José Adorno/BGR

If you have a Pro iPhone or one of the latest iPhone 16 and iPhone 17 models, you probably realized a flower icon on your iPhone camera popping out randomly. Technically, randomly wouldn’t be the right description because the flower icon only appears when you have a subject really close to the camera lenses. This icon means that your iPhone has activated the Macro Mode, and it’s now using the ultra-wide lens so you can get as close as two centimeters from the subject to make a macro shot.

The Macro Mode is available on iPhone 13 Pro and newer devices, but Apple also added this functionality to the regular iPhone 16 and iPhone 17 models; “e” versions and the iPhone Air don’t feature this functionality, as they lack the second camera. Interestingly enough, besides these phones, Apple used to offer some kind of Macro Mode on the iPhone 3GS, as this was the first iPhone to introduce autofocus with a tap-to-focus function. With that, users could get as close as 10 centimeters from a subject. However, when Apple introduced the “true” Macro Mode with the iPhone 13 Pro, it kind of forgot that it promoted this functionality with one of its OG smartphones.