Have just purchased a new MacBook Air (2020 model). Have bought to use for home working (Zoom meetings, etc) and the image is really grainy when using Zoom or FaceTime. Is this normal with Macs?
MacBook Air 13", macOS 10.15
yes. I had purchased exact same 2020 MacBook Air model and it had worse camera than 2015 MacBook Pro. After a lot of research I figured out that since 2018 Apple changed the MacBook design and made the lid slimmer and put in the same camera they’ve used on older macbooks but made the camera hole much smaller. If you compare both camera holes side by side and look at the size you’ll see the new MacBook has small tiny camera hole which leads to less light and all photos and videos look grainy in low light thus your new MacBook has grainy and low quality camera. It doesn’t actually have a worse camera but due to this flaw in the design the camera sensors get less light and makes it blurry. The only fix is to add more brightness with better lighting but it doesn’t help much or to pay for an app and download it to enhance your webcam to apply filters over it and increase the brightness of the image. There doesn’t seem to be any other fix. Just return the MacBook if you aren’t satisfied and wait for new one or buy an external wireless camera or use your phone as the camera or iPad. A lot of users on here have this issue but on reddit and other places most people have ignored this issue and instead blamed the users for not knowing how to use the MacBook properly and not doing their “research” for calling this a downgrade in camera quality. They’re ignorant of the fact that in 2018 this design change happened. The brand new users who don’t complain are either upgrading from latest macbooks or those who never bothered paying attention to camera quality or don’t care or new MacBook users. Only people with older macbooks like 2015 or 2012 are the ones complaining and if you google 2018 MacBook camera issues or 2018 MacBook low quality grainy camera you’ll find tons of posts and stories and even YouTube videos and some general advice or fixes. That’s the best advice I can give you. Google that maybe you’ll find something there. That’s how I found out about this whole issue. You can even google check my webcam resolution and I compared the resolution and sensor of 2015 MacBook and 2020 MacBook side by side and the 2020 has same exact model of camera same exact resolution just worse contrast and brightness due to low light. But do the experiments to find yourself. Good luck!
That would be like accepting defeat which they would never do. BTW did anyone realise how badly this is designed ergonomically...these edges are so sharp and can cut a finger, and like a clamp when you open the top. I can get a file and smoothen them but Apple must resolve the blurry camera issue
At home office work times, the image from the macbook air 2020 camera is of terrible quality, many users talk about it and complain everywhere and Apple doesn't offer any solution and pretends that everything is normal? What a disappointment!!!
And my blurry grainy camera issues don't end here. I discovered today, that the video recording in Photo Booth does not auto flip, which is further annoying to the core. Even though in the Edit, the auto flip option is clicked, but still it does not. All my old MacBooks are fine but the MacBook Air 2020 M1 has been so annoying and disgusting, don't ask me. Any one, any solution to the flip problem, please helppppppp :(
It’s sad that Apple has not responded on this grainy blurry camera problem. If it’s a hardware issue they may have to recall tens of thousands of these laptops. Besides this issue, I have another problem of ‘Auto Flip’ not working in Photo Booth video, despite being enabled in Edit. It’s so annoying that the recorded video plays as inverse mirror image.
What’s wrong with Apple’s quality systems and processes! One hope that someone soon wakes up and resolves these serious issues before it’s too late and people start shifting loyalties…
I purchased my macbook air 2 months ago, and my fiance is incarcerated and We Video Visit and he keeps telling me my picture is extremely grainy, He's the one who told me to get a apple computer. My HP has a better picture then my macbook. When will this get fixed. Spend this kind of money and expect to be able to use all the qualities and we cant.
Not a very helpful reply. A lot of us travel and need to do remote meetings. Having to pack and plug in external peripherals is not very convenient. You know what is convenient? A notebook with a decent quality camera!! Apple really dropped the ball on this function. I love everything else about this M1 MacBook Air, though.
I have the same problem with my MacAir 2020. The quality of the built-in camera is very very bad. Attached the video taken when I was using Zoom. What can I do to improve it?
I have no such issue for my iPhone 11 and iPad Air 2020.
Ok, I'll try this again since Apple removed the last one for this reason: "We’ve removed your post Grainy Image on MacBook Air 2020 because it contained either feedback or a feature request that were not constructive." Apparently you can't say the word that is defined as "an expression of disappointment". You people are unbelievable. I would like to know if any progress has been made, has Apple taken any responsibility at all for the horrible quality of the camera not he MBA 2020? It is still practically unusable unless I'm sitting in bright, direct light.
Last year I bought the 2020 MBA for Christmas.
Amazing machine, however the camera image is extremely blurry and I have had this problem for almost a year now.
Is there any progress when it comes to fixing this matter?
I am not able to buy myself a new laptop and I am currently working from home, like everyone else.
People in FaceTime or zoom meetings can hardly see me and it makes me mad.
Especially since the fact that I bought the new MBA since I wil be working from home the coming years, I guess.
So Apple, are you working on a solution?
If not, please provide me with some help, since I don't know what to do anymore
Experiencing the same thing. I compared to a Chromebook that was just over $100. The Chromebook image quality for video calls was way better. This is so unacceptable. A horrible miss on key function needed (especially in today's world) makes an otherwise great machine a disappointment. It is so ridiculous that I need to resort to using a cheap Chromebook for calls to get decent quality.
Ikr, I am a student and bought MacBook Pro M1 2020 model for my classes and tuitions and coding, but I face this problem only at night. In the morning, it has the best quality about 720p. But from evening time, it is like painted or grainy picture, mostly around 360p. I tested this for some days and noticed that this happens only at night.
If this is a software issue, I would kindly request to get it fixed at the earliest since most of us are using the camera during this COVID-19 pandemic for calling relatives and friends and also using it for classes and work.
If this is a hardware issue, please inform me if it is possible to repair it or get this MacBook exchanged.
I hope to get a response at the earliest possible.
Regards
I feel the same! I had 3 different ones delivered and it's the same on all. I'm so disappointed. I am looking at working from home for the next 15 months. This won't do!
I have a 2013 macbook air and the webcam is way better than my 2020 macbook air........ WTH is going on Apple? I bought the upgraded i5 16gb version too!
I bought last week and I am in same boat - what really makes me mad is when I called apple support, they kind of act as if i am the first one reporting this. Did anyone find fix for this?
Exactly the same case here. I have 2015 and 2017 models and they both are way better. How could apple let this kind of product even ship? May be that is what makes you 2T$ company!
Grainy Image on MacBook Air 2020
