M1 13” MacBook Pro Webcam Flickering

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.

Hi tibor72,

You have the same machine and macOS as me (well, I have 8GB memory more, but that should not make a difference).

To repeat my steps, I did the following:

1. open OBS
2. Sources > "+" > Video Capture Device > {somename} > OK
3. Device = FaceTimeHD Camera, preset = 1280x720, use preset = UNTICKED, Frame Rate = Simple FPS 25 > OK
4. open FaceTime > call

after step 3 .. you should see your webcam working in OBS without flickering.

after step 4 .. you should be able to make/receive FT calls.

Note : I did not "Start Virtual cam" .. could that be the difference?

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.

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.

To start with he told me it was 'by design', I pointed out that was a design flaw! The only way we can get them to change it is by building up enough of a case and enough people complain about it. He told me that no-one complains about it! He did decide to send a report to the engineers though. I also pointed out that in the UK you have to use LED light bulbs now, as you can't buy others, so they need to sort it!

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.

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.

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.

THANKS! I have done that. The more people who do it the better. It took me just 2 minutes.

EXAMPLE TEXT TO COPY-PASTE AND AMEND AS YOU WISH:

The webcam in the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with M1 chips flickers when it's used in certain countries where the frequency is 50hz rather than 60hz (UK, Europe, Japan and others).

Please see this thread to get an idea of the extent of the issue: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252075489?answerId=254256107022&login=true

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.

Hi tibor72,

Interesting that the workaround does not seem to be working for you.

Just to be clear, could you please let us know:

1. what device you are using? Is it a MacBook Air M1 / MacBook Pro M1, or some other device?
2. what is the OS version on your device? You can find that by clicking on the Apple > About this Mac. It should say something like : "macOS BigSur 11.x" ..
3. how much memory is in your device? Also to be found in Apple > About this Mac : Memory
4. are you sure that you created a virtualCam in OBS, as per the instructions above?
5. I know it sounds like a cliche, but have you tried to shutdown your MacBook completely and start it up again? Does that help?

• Dec 23 2020, I ordered Macbook Air M1 chip on
• Jan 13 2021, Macbook was delivered, I had the exact same issue . I spoke to customer care executives for hours. In the end Applied for replacement
• Jan 31 2020, I got the Macbook replacement. And guess what it has the same issue. Again I spoke to customer care executives for hours and ended up placing second request for replacement
• And now I am still waiting to get a Macbook without defect..............

A huge disappointment. I am student and taking classes online, Without a laptop I facing lots of difficulties. All apple does it send me another macbook with the same defect.

I had a questions to others who faced similar issues in the past...What did you guys do to resolve? did you send it for replacement? did the replacement work without defect?

I am experiencing the same issue as well. Accordingly I can't really do remote meetings or interviews at this moment since the flickering situation will definitely be difficult to the other end. What is going on with the webcam?

I suppose it really is. And if that’s the case, it is likely to be fixed with an update or simply a button for us to switch between 50/60 Hz given that some apps from App Store allow users to do that. But somehow Big Sur/M1 chip renders those apps useless.

Don’t worry, it’s most definitely NOT A HARDWARE issue. The 50hz/60hz configuration is a SOFTWARE change. So it should be rectified soon :-)

Third party apps like WEBCAM SETTINGS do this for other cameras already, but not for the integrated webcam for some reason.

APPLE should be able to fix this in a software release soon.