Camera not working in Big Sur

I had the same experience and they asked for $900 to fix it. THe diagnostics reports no error but they claim that the camera and display screen need to be changed.

We have to do something as this is a major theft

Macbook 2018 (I think lol). Updated to BigSur 11.4 last night and noticed my camera no longer works either. Not happy, have tried all recommended "fixes" and nothing has fixed it. Report says camera is there, no privacy restrictions are on & I have a very important video conference today, that I'll now have to use my mobile for! :(

Hello there again,

has anyone already tried to install the last software B 3 T A? (writing like this because apparently they delete comments concerning this)

Any news? I'm downloading that right now... let's hope that something changed in the firmware but honestly I'm not so confident...

i refuse to believe that this is a hardware issue apple. It’s too coincidental for it to be a hardware issue when most of the big sur users here are having the same problem! Ive updated mine to 11.5 and camera is still not working. Hope you release a fix instead of telling people to go seek for apple service. Not everyone has the luxury of doing that especially now.

Quick update: Just a month after the camera issue, now I face a new problem with MBP 2017 (Touch Bar 4 ports): The Flexgate issue. Basically, my macbook couldn’t open wider than 90* degree or otherwise the screen will go black.

Just happened today, read through a few topics and I felt totally ridiculous.

Anyone has the same problem after the camera issue?

Although, Flexgate issue is definitely a hardware problem, but it’s out of sudden all of them happened after upgrading to Big Sur. How coincidental is that?

FYI: both camera and Flexgate issue will lead to the same advice from apple support: display screen replacement, which costs around $600-700 :)

I've now updated to Big Sur 11.5.1 And still nothing has changed.

Tried the privacy settings, restarting, everything and when getting a report the camera is still showing (as FaceTime HD Camera). Although when in privacy, the only apps in the camera section is messenger, zoom and google chrome. Not photobooth, FaceTime or any other apps *facepalm*

Im also encountering the same problem. I was using my camera for conferencing then suddenly it just does not work anymore. Tried updating to big sur 11.5.2 but still camera is not working.

I have tried allowing the camera to access the app and restarted VDCAssistant but still its not working.

Any workaround for this?

I went through the chat with apple and then took it in to a guru. Neither new of any issue nor could fix it. It is currently back with apple. I am expecting to have to pay for a new screen as the webcam is not replaceable separately.

Same issue with my MacBook Pro 2017 (two Thunderbolt ports), camera stopped working at some point after moving to Big Sur. Current version macOS Big Sur 11.5.2 installed.

Tried various workarounds (e.g. here: https://piunikaweb.com/2021/03/15/macos-big-sur-camera-not-working-issue-and-its-workarounds/) to no avail.

Camera is still listed in the system hardware:

FaceTime HD Camera:

Model ID: Apple Camera VendorID_0x106B ProductID_0x1570

Unique ID: [ID HERE]

I find the story that it is hardware failure (mentioned above) completely unconvincing. Too many people reported this at the time of Big Sur update, which clearly points to software / update as the reason for the issue. I urge Apple to give this proper attention, especially as the camera became an important piece of hardware in recent past (maybe you guys heard of that virus that is on the news every now and then?). This is not so old equipment, also, and I've never seen any break in any of the laptops I was using before.

If Apple cannot fix the software soon and keeps telling us it's hardware without giving good explanation, for me it smells like cover for software engineers not wanting and/or being able to fix the issue that they have created. Then I'll consider my next purchase very carefully. I've heard that competition's cameras work fine.

me asked for nearly $900. They claimed that I closed the display hard so camera broke which is not true

Apple knows the reason of the problem but they want customers to pay for it. We have to take action

Totally agree! I have the same problem. Also a Macbook Pro 2016 (13 inch). In my case not only the camera, but also the backlight of the keyboard stopped working. It just seems as too much coincidence to me. Very annoying. If only there were a good alternative to apple, I would be front row.

I haven't needed a webcam until now... and I updated to Big Sur weeks ago. Imagine my surprise when I found out that through an epic, 'Pooch-Screw' level oversight the something so simple as a webcam was screwed up in their new code.

Umm... it's now 10 months into this mess and it looks like Apple has decided to use Superglue for lubricant, making a bad situation worse.

This is happening just as my last Apple is ready to become the backup computer, and I am shopping.

I have been a steady Apple customer, buying some pretty serious hardware since 2004. On average a 'Rocketsled_On_Rails' every 2-3 years... I was a reluctant Windows convert, singing Apple's praises. It was like Saul to Paul...

However, I now have to question my commitment, since Steve died things aren't the same

Does anyone see a webcam fix on the horizon?

Recently updated my MBP to the latest system after the notification, but failed to use zoom for the video call.

Big Sur 11.6 and my model is MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports). I can see the FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in) in my System Report and when opening up the Facetime, the green light lasts for several seconds and end up showing the error of "No Video" to me.

I found this thread and tried everything i could get from the thread but not fixed anything yet.

Also brought the Mac to Genius Bar before i came across this thread, they wanted to charge me $130 for an evaluation and indicate that it will quote extra $$$ to fix the issue found from the evaluation. I felt this is not reasonable and just took back my Mac and left. Even from their initial diagnosis report, there is nothing wrong with my hardware.

Cannot believe this is how Apple makes money from a 5-year MBP owner and this reminds me of their slowing down the iPhone purposely few years ago just to sell more new devices.

Btw, I am sending this message from the Huawei Notebook 14 I bought just now.

Hope the issue can be fixed with the next patch or release.

Thanks,

BigSurWebCamIssueReporter

Was so excited to see a new iOS update on my Macbook Pro today. Quit everything I had planned, got a cup of coffee, installed Monterey...still broken.

Have a new system engineer at Apple "working on the case". He said he hasn't heard anything about this yet. I told him that I found that impossible to believe and sent him a link to this thread. I also made him look at it in screenshare so that I could prove they saw it. Now that I know for a fact Apple has been made aware, the "plausible deniability" and radio silence seems harder to continue. They're gonna have to own what they did. And if I don't get a new machine, I'm out. To me, the fact that they've said nothing for 9 months is neglect. In my house in the last 10 years I've bought 2 iMacs, 1 Macbook, 5 ipads, and 12 iphones.

Why wouldn't I switch to android at this point?

I've had this problem on my Mac Book Air for year (2018 model). Upgraded to Monterey and was initially happy to see my camera working although was cautious. I was right to be cautious since a few days after it started working fine... I get a black screen when I use any application that uses my camera. Have tried everything including terminal commands etc with no luck. Honestly it is ridiculous.