Macbook Air M1 camera quality

It sounds like it’s a hardware issue and therefore can’t be fixed (hence no response from Apple). Either live with it and just be happy that a laptop as good as good as the M1 Air can be had for as little as $800 on sale or wait until next year’s new model (which hopefully will have a much better camera) that will likely cost $1,100 or $1,200 or so for the base model.

Definitely having the same concern. I just upgraded my macbook from air early 2015 to air M1, and when I checked the camera it was very blurry and grainy. I thought mine has a hardware problem but seeing all these complaints kinda relieved me. Well Apple needs to do something in this era of online and "work from home" thing almost everybody needs a good camera. A good camera is one point that we put in thought before buying an apple product and this is really disappointing. At least it should have the same quality as the latter series like Macbook Air early 2015 and whatnot.

I thought it was me too. I have a zoom court hearing next week with this crap camera. And I originally had the other Air from 2020 and that was messed up so bad by apple they sent this to me.

If everyone starts sending in feedback I'm told they listen. How they think this is good is beyond me.

Here are steps to know what's the issue as per my experience:

Little story first:

I bought Apple MacBook Air M1 2020 on Dec 1 2021, and found 2 days later when I wanted to try a video call with my brother that my video in FaceTime looks awful.

Then I just jumped into internet to see what's going. But couldn't see any answer, may be I couldn't go into so many posts.

Now till almost midnight it kept me worried, there is hardware fault, then in the morning I tried to test in natural light, it performed better but colours were still washed out, not as per a 720p camera, at least not expected from Apple.

Then further it clicked to me, let's try another application so tried WhatsApp, and boom it looks clear, background looks clear, colours are as good as looks like 720p.

So problem for me was FaceTime is not performing well or there is still some options to tune in FaceTime, or may be Apple will send an update later.

And why FaceTime is acting wired could be many reasons, related to how it's guessing your internet speed to decide quality, or how it's processing video effects on the fly like blurring background etc.

Now you have to try couple of video calling apps, and if you still see same problem, then you can try return/repair/replace or just accept as it is. Because it could be poor hardware with your device. If not on all the applications video quality is bad, then you can wait for an update.

I can live without FaceTime or any Apple application but not faulty hardware and OS flaws ! I'm a C programmer I just need terminal, and good display :-P which is best in MacBook Air M1.

If it solves your problem then you know what to do => Let others, know :-)

I purchased a 2021 M1 MacBook Air a couple of weeks ago and from the very first zoom call I noticed that the video quality was significantly worse than enjoyed on my 7 year old MacBook Pro. Very grainy and slightly blurred. Is this a problem that Apple have recognised and are dealing with. Just a quick search seems to suggest that it's not just my particular machine.

I was shocked when i opened face time. It's a shame to have a camera like this. Why even bother putting a camera at all when it's this bad? Who allowed this when they were designing the (in my case) macbook air m1 2020?

I literally just said this to my partner! I feel like I have a snapchat beauty filter on my face! You can't even see my freckles or my green eyes. I look like Japanese anime! My old Macbook webcam camera is better from years ago! This is totally crazy. I was expecting amazing quality. I'm so disgusted and disappointed at the quality.

My partner has been stuck abroad since Covid and I use the webcam all day to communicate to my friends and family as I am disabled, bedridden a lot and they live away from me. Everyone now has had similar online lifestyles with Covid so OBVIOUSLY we're expecting a really good webcam upgrade along with buying a new laptop, IN THIS DAY AND AGE.

But this makes my face look weird, it's blurry, the colours are just bizarre!! I look like I'm in a 1900's saloon western film in sepia. And it feels like Apple is trying to tell us we all are ugly so here's a built in filter for yas.. errr. Nah, I quite like my freckles and wrinkles thanks!

For the money we spend on these new computers this is outrageous. I'd go back to my 2017 Macbook Pro which has a BETTER camera than this 2020 M1 Macbook Air but it's currently in repair for the faulty butterfly keyboard that Apple lost a court case over admitting they sold it knowing the keyboard was faulty. It's been agonising to use that keyboard for a year with my arthritis now finally I get a new Mac with a keyboard that works and my face on the webcam looks like I'm on a vintage snapchat filter.

Arghhh. SORT IT OUT APPLE. This is not pennies! Some of us spent years saving for these computers. So mad.

I've just bought my new MacBook Air and I'm utterly shocked by the quality of the camera. I teach yoga on zoom and the quality of my old mac bought in 2016 is way better. I'm so disappointed to hear others have had the same problem. I spent money on this new mac expecting to have a really good camera for my work. Has anyone had any improvement on their camera or got it fixed? Any advice? Thanks...

I spoke to Apple about this and they gave me a line about it being down to poor lighting where the computer was being used - totally denied any knowledge of this being a problem - also completely dismissive when I made comparison with my old MacBook Pro.

I was asked where I bought it - Apple Store or retailer. I was told my complaint would not be against Apple and I should take it up with the retailer. That’s what I plan to do!

trying to work out why I keep buying Apple products as their customer support and product resilience is really not good….. my MacBook Pro had to go because the letters on the keypad smudged and wore off - Apple had never heard of that happening but somehow I don’t think mine is the only one to suffer with that problem ….

Hey guys,

I had the same problem and sent my mac to apple store...they replaced the whole lid of this. You all should get your screen changed.

I got my MacBook back just now and now it's working good even in normal lighting conditions. :)

Facing the same issue, don't know if it is a hardware defect or a problem with this model. But seriously didn't expect this from apple.

Same issue here. Glad I'm not alone, but I'd much prefer to not have this issue--or at the very least that Apple were to respond to this thread with some kind of support.

Interesting. On 3/28/21 @10:45am I spoke to Eileen a Senior Supervisor. She stated that apple is aware of the situation. I think they are back peddling.

Interested to see if a new computer does the trick. How so if there are so many of us complaining? Let us know, please. Thank you!