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
i've just taken delivery of my MBA 2020 and the camera image is so terrible I am not sure what to do about the machine now. I paid to have a ton of upgrades so overall this was a £1800 machine. The camera is about the worst i have seen since laptops started coming with in-built cameras. I hope, Apple, you find that damning... but i suspect you won't care. The web is awash with similar complaints. To see someone commenting saying wipe the screen and check your internet connection; it's just offensive. The camera quality is so bad in low light that i can barely even recognise myself. I joined a video call the other night and everyone was commenting about how bad it was, unprompted. I genuinely don't know if I will keep this macbook... i feel like it will be my last, at least, if this is the type of thing we can expect. Apple support were meant to call me back this evening to discuss it but what a surprise, they didn't.
My 2020 MacBook Air camera is worse, yes worse, than my 2014 MacBook Air camera--which was fine. I can't even believe this is happening. Camera technology hasn't gotten worse in those 6 years, quite the opposite. This is a BIG PROBLEM, Apple. Very big. Especially when I'm trying to do business over Zoom and Facetime. Come on! Now, I'm trying to get a refund, but they're refusing. This shakes my faith, Apple, which I've had in you since the early 1980s.
I have the same problem with my new MacBook Air (2020 model) too. My internet connection is definitely alright and no fingerprints on my screen. I even placed my old MacBook Air side by by side to the new one. The old one is a lot sharper.
I thought it was something wrong with the camera too, so I brought it to the Apple support to get it fixed. I was informed that it is normal for MacBook Air 2020.
Don't expect anything in terms of a fix. Apple seems uninterested in doing the right thing. If it's not too late you can return it, or buy an external webcam, which is ridiculous when a person pays so much for a small laptop. I also suggest going to support.apple.com/feedback and telling them how bad it is. Hopefully, someday they'll make it right and if you've shown that you had an issue, even if it's past the warranty date they should honor the fix.
honestly overall just to set it in stone, and also the person i'm replying to is very non specific and it really honestly applies to everyone who thinks their computer has this "problem". this (bad MacBook camera's) is very normal and if you want to know how i know and why i am saying this with so much confidence, it is because if you actually run windows on your MacBook with BootCamp you will notice that actually in windows the camera is even WORSE, like, honestly by far, and i would show you but i can't because i'm a little busy right now but honestly i may later if i remember, and i personally declare this as the final decider because actually considering how much i use my camera "unfiltered" in apps like discord, zoom (without the filters on), etc, i can most definitely say that the camera i saw in windows compared to MacOS was definitely worse and in fact MacOS seems to actually have built in "filters" itself, for example, open an app that uses your camera on MacOS and stand ABSOLUTELY still, it will start to denoise until you move, now in windows, do the same thing and well, if you don't want to check yourself lets just say not only is the camera slightly darker, it also doesn't have denoise (in windows), and honestly just overall the noise is by far 10x worse in windows and also don't worry, yes, i am noticing after posting this that this ending is very odd and abrupt, idk what to do about it and gave up
TL;DR, bad cameras with the MacBooks is actually not only expected, but honestly normal sadly, and if you didn't read above but still want to know why i have this conclusion, if you go into windows to get the true, ACTUAL raw camera feed you will notice that it is actually much worse than the already bad camera you see in MacOS, and if you want to check for yourself you can use the built in app called BootCamp and set up windows and see for yourself just how much processing MacOS does to the camera that you aren't really told about, and even i myself have never found any article, Apple official or not, that has the same discovery which is kind of surprising
just upgraded my MacBook Air 2015 to new MacBook Air 2020, laptop is super fine but the camera in the new one is worst, I have never seen any web cam with such low quality image and grains by comparing the 2015 model I feel that its camera is actually better. should I replace it or is it like this with every MacBook 2020
as i personally stated above (sorry to budge in), i personally think this is perfectly normal sadly and overall no matter what you get it'll be like this and overall its just kind of sad considering it'd be pretty simple if i'm going to be honest to just simply include at least a camera from the iPhone 6 or somethin, honestly it'd be better than this terrible camera they gave us, but basically its not just your computer, its everyone's, and honestly i think a lot of things are very unfair and stupid because as i stated above and from what others are inputting, i think apple's getting cheeper with their camera and just covering it up with software (as you can see with the point i make about how the camera honestly changes completely if you run a macbook in windows and turn on the camera, its somehow 10x worse than it already was on MacOS), but, overall, no, this is not just a you thing, and sadly from what i found no, there are no fixes or workarounds besides software or an external webcam
Nothing new to add, but another confirmation of the horrible quality of the camera on the MacBook Air 2020, that Apple support knows about it, and that there is no recourse if you don't return the laptop within the 14-day return window. I even asked about upgrading to a MacBook Pro, but no luck there. The only answer the support person gave me was to provide feedback on their site. I did that, but it doesn't help me at all. I am stuck with poor hardware and have to go buy an external camera.
Anyone hear anything about potential class action lawsuits around this? That will not really compensate us, but it will be more likely to force Apple to fix the problem in the future.
I recently purchased a 2020 Macbook Air and the camera is a disgrace. It is worlds worse than my 2017 Macbook Air. In low light the camera is a big blur. You need to be sitting in front of a bright light source to see anything, and even then it is severely pixelated. A fix needs to be made ASAP.
Just bought the new macbook air 2020. Extremely disappointed with its camera. My children both have macbook pros that are 5 yrs old and my new laptop cannot top the quality of their old laptop. If anyone is reading this and you plan to buy it, please do not. Until they find a solution because you dont want to waste your money on this. With everything going online, a good quality camera is essential in doing our work. Apple has failed in this aspect. I hope they fix this and recall all the laptops. Been an apple user for years and this time, ive regretted my decision for the first time.
Dudettes and dudes, not wanting to reign on anyones parade here, if you get a refund please say so. BUT, all reporters and tech articles were bitchin about the camera since Jan/Feb of this year about the front camera. Still, it doesn't make up for the low quality but since its for all models... I doubt there can be anything done about it...
Found this on Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/applehelp/comments/j74hp7/2020_macbook_air_camera_worse_than_2015_macbook/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
We should all Tweet at Apple too.
So I didn’t get it resolved - Apple told me at the store they are an inferior camera. I ended up going back to where I purchased it and basically told them I asked specifically for a good product as I do a lot of Zoom meetings. I said either give me a good webcam for half price or take the Apple back. They didn’t want to return the Apple so they sold me a webcam for half price. That was my choice and I’m really happy now. I got a Logitech webcam with a small tripod and it’s brilliant.
I don't think the camera's problem will be resolved or improved, so I already returned the MacBook Air to Apple store. So I will wait and see the new M1 MacBook Air if comes wth a better front camera.
I agree. I just bought mine two weeks ago. This is my first Mac and I didn't know how the camera was supposed to look. I'm gonna call apple care and see what Apple can do but their next thing needs to either be a software update or a recall. Soon.
Just got my new apple air Mac 2020 the The camera is horrible it is very grainy These are not fingerprints it’s a bad camera my fire tablet have a better camera than this is showing me endurance is very poor I am very upset with this this is my first Apple Mac book I needed that camera for zoom and FaceTime and I thought this would be a good notebook to get now I can’t even use it to do the FaceTime or zoom my Internet is great it shows Netflix and Disney+ fine but the pictures are horrible that it takes what can I do to fix this
Grainy Image on MacBook Air 2020
