M1 13” MacBook Pro Webcam Flickering

samth193 wrote:

Unfortunately this did not work for me. Whatever I put in the fps the flickering ws there. I also did not get it to work in zoom. I'm really so frustrated about this.

The flicker looks like it only occurs when using the webcam under fluorescent or LED lighting in a region where the mains power frequency is 50 Hertz. (USA uses 60 Hz). This is a bug in the software design.

Go to https://www.apple.com/feedback and post a bug report It will not get fixed unless Apple gets reports through the feedback tool.

I have the same problem, however I don't think the problem is 50-60 MHz , The camera has no flickering when I use it in natural light or under my halogen spot lights in the bedroom, the problem is in my main room which has LED spot lights and I believe the LED lights are the problem. Apple support as much as confirmed this today, they have apparently been aware of this since 2018 (that certain type of lights emit a problematic beam for the camera) Apple attitude at the moment is that they see this as normal, they say this camera was upgraded in 2018 from the 2017 (where this problem didn't exist). The only way around this problem at the moment is to replace your LED bulbs with Halogen bulbs as far as I can tell, the web cam works fine in my bedroom under normal Halogen spot lights, I have ordered some for my main room. This is however ridiculous from Apple, they've stuck a camera in which they knew was problematic and now are acting as if it's behaviour is normal 😡 The running costs of halogen lights are much more expensive than LED...

Workaround:

• install OBS (https://obsproject.com/download)
• create virtual camera (Sources - Add - Video Capture Device, choose your webcam)
• untick "use preset" and adjust fps on that virtual camera from default to another level, use appropriate fps when you see no flicker on the video (for me it was ok to change to 25 fps)
• start virtual camera
• you can now minimize the OBS window

As a result, when OBS application is active it changes fps setting on your webcam. So, simply use your regular webcam in Zoom - NO FLICKERING. In Zoom (or another app) in preferences you can choose either physical webcam or virtual one, all will be flicker-free.

After reading all of this I just want to mention that specific LED light sources like fluorescent tubes close to any camera will cause the flickering. I had that a bit with the internal MBP camera, but not as noticable with external higer-end camera's like Logitech and AVerMedia. With the LED tubes off, no problems. In my opinion this has nothing to do with software.

It appears that we have nailed down the problem to the fact that the built in webcam on the new M1 laptops has a framerate that is out of sync with 50hz electricity cycles which causes a flicker when viewed under LED lights in the UK. This problem appears on both the new air and the pro M1 laptops on both 11.0 and 11.12, but does not appear in the intel laptops regardless of the mac os version (which probably indicates that the new processor does not replicate the old processor's behaviour when processing the video input).

As apple does not seem to be monitoring this thread, I would suggest that everyone send their feedback directly by filing a bug report at apple.com/feedback and cite this thread as evidence of the size of the problem. With enough bug reports we can hopefully get this prioritized.

My MacBook Air 2020 (M1) is also constantly flickering when I use the built-in webcam. This is because of the 50hz vs 60hz issue. There's no setting to turn the webcam to work with 50hz. However, when I plug in an external USB webcam it works flawlessly.

Apple, this was not a problem with my MacBook Pro 13in early 2020 (Intel). What did you do to the new ones? Please fix this ASAP. We live our lives in video calls these days, and there's no way to select 50hz vs 60hz for the webcam. In fact, it should automatically detect it and change on its own but if that's not possible then give us a switch to select please.

I've just had a long conversation with Apple Support about this this morning and they told me it was only the Macbook Air! So that is a lie! I'm in the UK and have it with my M1 Macbook Air and I believe it is a 50Hz/60Hz issue. I've created some videos to demostrate the problem which I sent to support, and they are feeding it back to Enginnering.

I recommmend everyone puts in a support ticket as I was told that they aren't getting complaints about it and sending them a video. Explain that it is a 50Hz/60Hz issue and demostrate it in a video with different light sources. Hopefully soon they will do an update https://youtu.be/zrnP-PGcbAM

What I've found is natural light, and my ringlight (as it is USB) works fine.

https://youtu.be/mINhYopCKb4

Here's my update:

https://youtu.be/HH6wUk41LxU

I have this problem too.

I was advised to reset the SMC (can't be done on a macbook with M1 chip); then advised to reset the NVRAM (also can't be done on a macbook with M1 chip). Clearly the service desk is not up to dealing with the MacBook Silicon yet. I reinstalled OS Big Sur, did not help. Wiped the disk and completely started over, also did not help.

I submitted feedback here: https://www.apple.com/feedback/

I think everyone should. This should be a software issue and it should be addressed ASAP. It is completely absurd that Apple is not responding to this especially now that everyone is working from home.

A replacement won't work it is software related in Europe, Apple have attempted to fix it in the new software release 11.2, however they only half fixed it, it now flickers every 5 seconds for about a 1 second, which is just as annoying. Best thing you can do is report the problem to Apple support and the also Apple feed back page, hopefully if enough people complain it might get fixed properly in 11.3

I just changed my 50 Hertz lighbulb to a 50/60Herz bulb and now I have no problem.. I am in Europe , I think we have the problem with the 50 Herz bulbs.. anyone also fix it this way? No OBS etc....

Had the same problem on my new MacBook Pro 13. Rang Apple support who talked me through a software update from Bigsur 11.1 to 11.2. Problem solved.

Thanks Apple Support

Hi joaoriomartins,

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities. We understand you're experiencing an issue with the camera on your Mac. We're happy to provide some information to help.

We recommend starting with the steps to resolve camera issues here: If your built-in camera isn't working on your Mac

If those steps don't help, try recording a video using the built in camera and test if you're seeing the same behavior on playback. Let us know how that goes.

Thanks.

My brand new M1 MacBook Air has the exact same issue. FaceTime Calls, Photo Booth previews, Zoom Meetings, recordings - everything has a flickering self-view thanks to the camera.

I followed all suggested support steps, chatted with and called Apple Support at least 4 times, followed all their instructions to diagnose, and even reinstall the OS. Finally both the Support Advisor and I gave up, and I was told to go to the Authorised Service Centre.

Upon going there, the technician found that this is not an issue with my MacBook device only, but with all M1 MacBooks. He even showed me at least 3 demo pieces in his adjacent store, and all 3 have the same issue. What's surprising is that older MacBooks did not have this issue at all. It is presumably something to do with the changes made to the camera in the M1 MacBooks.

I was told it is a hardware issue, and that he could not do anything from his end to rectify the problem. I am thus constrained to join the many others in this forum to raise this issue to Apple. Please solve this issue on our existing devices, or replace our devices at the earliest. And please realise that it is extremely unfair on all of us M1 MacBook buyers to be stuck with such a pathetic camera experience after spending so much time, effort and money to get the latest Apple device.

Thank you very much Sles5 for your advice. I have followed your instructions and the webcam flickering disappears. So the hypothesis about 50Hz/60 Hz (25 fps/ 30 fps) is true. Just change 30 fps to 25 fps to fix the flicker problem. Thank you very much Sles5. Great solution awaiting solution from Apple.

I’m not seeing the strobing since I installed the 11.2 update. If you are getting it reappear intermittently I can think of a few potential causes. Whatever, it appears there is a brief scan when the camera is first activated, then it probably checks again at intervals (I guess 5 seconds).

The light source where you noticed the 5 second cycle might not have a fully stable frequency. This might be more likely if it has electronic control (LED and similar sources) rather than fluorescent which is driven directly at the frequency of the public supply. A fluorescent with electronic dimming would also be a contender for this.

Another possibility particularly with LED lighting is a source which operates with high frequencies (much more than the usual 50/60Hz mains) and it is at the limits of the auto adjust capability.

A mixes light source like fluorescent + LED on different frequencies could also provide a confusing signal for detection.

The quick and dirty test is to try with a similar but different light source, and see if the problem has a different appearance.