MacBook Air 2020 shows blurry when doing FaceTime

I have now received a new MacBook Air 2020 but the camera quality is the same. The MacBook Air 2020 has just an incredibly bad camera. I think we are left with 3 options:

1. Get a different computer
2. Use your iPhone camera which needs to get connected to the MacBook Air with the help of a supporting App
3. Buy an external webcam

I had the same experience with my new MacBook Air. The first support person told me use my video in better ambient light. However, when I called again, ready to return my laptop, the support person had me download the latest update of the iOS that became available 24 or 25Sep. Once the download was complete, the video was perfect just as good as my previous MacBook Air. The iOS I am running is Catalina, version 10.15.7.

I’m assuming that when you say blurry, you mean grainy. Normally, to fix a grainy photo or video, you have to get lots of light. Since Mac has no camera settings as of now, you can’t adjust anything. And the cameras on laptops and desktops normally aren’t that great.

another cause, would be that you have s slow WiFi connection. To fix slow WiFi you can connect to the 5G WiFi network, restart the Mac (tap on the apple in the top left of your Home Screen and press restart), or you can update your internet speed.

I have spoken on the phone, chat, and in person about this issue. They are well aware of how crappy the camera is and all suggested I buy an inexpensive external web cam. They even showed me suggestions on Amazon. If anything, they should mail every customer of this computer around $50 so they can buy a camera that doesn't suck so much.

Unfortunately, after much research and calling, there is no fix for the problem other than buying a more expensive camera to mount onto the computer to use instead of the low quality camera that is built in. It is unacceptable. I love my MAC computer because it is a workhorse. I am hoping that Apple does the right thing and do some sort of recall and fix. According to CNET, the computer is built to accept an higher quality camera, Apple just choose to cut cost and go with the same camera that they have used since at least 2011.

I went in person for tech support. I was told that they have poor quality cameras. And I should buy another camera to put on top. The claim that they are the same as my 2017 MBA Cannot be true. I did various tests with both computers and a PC. The only one that looked a poor quality was my brand new 2020 MBA.

Also try and go into a well-lit yet not too bright room, as a dark room can cause the camera to lose focus and the sun shining will probably blind the person looking at you.

UPDATE: I spoke to Apple customer services. They said that this is the "expected" quality of the MacBook Air from 2018-2020 apparently, so it is not a warranty issue. They said that Apple do not class this as a fault. I said that if this was the "expected quality" then as a customer I would have expected to know what it was actually like.

The customer services agent told me that as I purchased it from PC World, there was literally nothing he could even try to do, which really annoyed me as they are a supplier of your product and my issue is with APPLE. He did mention that if I purchased from Apple they MIGHT have been able to exchange it for a different model, but that was a slim chance. Really disappointed and feel stuck with this very expensive laptop.

Its the terrible quality of the macbook camera overall. I literally just received my MBA 2020 today and I am absolutely astonished about how Apple has the audacity to advertise this as a 'HD camera'. I just stopped using my old MBA from 2014 and even that had a MUCH better camera quality. Camera quality is important to me as I engage in many online videos and meetings so tomorrow im going to give apple a call. This is absolutely not right and almost a scam as its so falsely advertised. Had I known this I without a doubt would have gone for another laptop. I'm not even expecting crystal clear webcam, I would have been content with the same quality as my 2014 model. But this is just far below that which is saying something.

I hear you. I recently just purchased a $50 webcam on Amazon to supplement mine because I can't be looking crazy on online meetings. It works so much better. My old MacBook Air (2014) had a much higher quality camera than this, and the new one was ”supposedly” an upgrade from that. Apple dropped the ball on this one.

Its true. while using zoom it is embarrassing as the video quality is so low. Checked with the apple store that I bought the macbook air 2020 in July 2020, they said apple has reduced the quality of webcam in 2020. Earlier generation had better quality. So it is not a technical fault and nothing can be be done about it! I am not sure if really nothing can be done about it or can it be rectified. Feel like giving back the machine.

I have now arranged to send my MacBook back to John Lewis. They were very helpful when I rang them today. I have also spoken to 3 reps from Apple, all very polite, and was told by the last one that the poor quality of the internal webcam is 'standard'. I truly cannot understand this. I wanted to use the computer for webinars I am now having to do as part of my work due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Taken ages over this and feel very disappointed.

I have the same problem. And I have an older MacBook Air that I tested it against. The evidence was clear in a variety of lighting and other settings.

I can't believe that Apple is hiding from this. Please produce a software update.

P.S. I bought a Logitech 920c camera and it also looks terrible all the same. Something is very wrong with the camera and it is perhaps related to Catalina - and bizarrely, when you use the 920C's Camera Settings tool it has a little window that shows the input is actually very good and the image in the tool is perfect....but at the same time, the image coming from the camera as shown in Zoom, or other apps is terrible.

This suggests that we have a software issue that is leading to very poor video playback.

Please Apple.....can you create a software update to solve this problem? I really don't want to send my MacBook Air back.

I updated. There was no improvement. The rep at the Eaton centre store in Toronto told me flatly that the cameras are poor quality and have not been upgraded in years. However, she could not explain why my three-year-old computer had a better camera than my 2020 computer.

I just looked at the camera from my 2011 Macbook Pro vs my 2020 Air. Its very simple, the camera lens is smaller. So it doesnt let in enough light.

Its just absolutely shocking that my 10 year old Pro has a better webcam than my 2020 Air.

This is just a hardware design failure, and you barely read reviews about this. If the camera of the IPad would be on the horizontal side......