Camera on Thunderbolt display disappears

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Level 1

9 points

Camera on Thunderbolt display disappears

I have a MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018) with an attached Apple Thunderbolt display. The display has a camera. When I start up my Mac (after having powered off the MacBook and Thunderbolt display and waited 10 minutes or so), I can "see" both the two cameras (Builtin and Display). However, when I start up zoom/facetime/etc, and attempt to "use" the Display camera (which shows up in the list of cameras), the camera light on the Display turns on very briefly and then turns off, and the Builtin camera light turns on and starts showing, and the list of available cameras reduces to just the Builtin camera. In other words, the Display camera "disappears". It remains "gone" until the next time I disconnect the Display, power it off for 10 minutes, power it back on and reconnect. Then, it is "available" again, until I try to use it. As soon as I try (as above), it disappears again. What's going on and how do I fix this? This started happening after macOS 11.X was installed. I'm currently running macOS 11.3 and all software and App Store updates are installed.

MacBook Pro Retina

Posted on Apr 29, 2021 9:19 AM

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Answer 1

Ben_Z1

Community Specialist

Apr 30, 2021 11:15 AM in response to eswenson

Hi there eswenson,

We understand that the built-in camera on your Thunderbolt Display is not working as expected. We’d like to help however we can.

Does this happen when using the Thunderbolt Display with multiple devices or only when you use it with your MacBook Pro? Let’s also follow the steps outlined here to see if they help with what’s happening:

If your built-in camera isn’t working on your Mac

Cheers!

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Answer 2

Ben_Z1

Community Specialist

May 6, 2021 9:16 AM in response to eswenson

eswenson,

Understood. Even though the article we provided is used to troubleshoot the built-in camera of your Mac, we would still recommend following the steps it mentions to see if it helps with what’s happening with the camera of your Thunderbolt Display.

Specifically we would advise updating the software of your Mac and resetting the system management controller (SMC).

Best regards.

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Answer 3

Ben_Z1

Community Specialist

May 16, 2021 9:46 AM in response to eswenson

eswenson,

Got it. Since this issue is continuing after performing those troubleshooting steps, the next thing we would advise doing is to reach out to Apple Support to get the best assistance going forward.

Get Support

Take care!

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Answer 4

eswenson Author

Level 1

9 points

May 4, 2021 5:33 PM in response to Ben_Z1

Sorry, was away from my home and setup for a few days. I've only used this Thunderbolt Display with my MacBook Pro -- no others, so I can't answer your first question.

The article you provided talks about the built-in camera. That is not the one that I'm having issues with. The built-in camera works fine. But I don't want to be looking at my laptop, but rather my large Thunderbolt Display when in meetings!

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Answer 5

eswenson Author

Level 1

9 points

May 15, 2021 1:22 PM in response to Ben_Z1

Hi Ben,

Sorry it took me so long to try this out again. I had processes running on my Mac that I didn't want to abort by rebooting.

I made sure my macOS software was up-to-date -- running macOS 11.3.1. And I reset my SMC, by following the instructions for Macs with the T2 security chip (I have a Macbook 15" 2018).

But it is still the case that the camera on my attached Thunderbolt display is not available as a choice of camera (only the builtin camera is available).

What do you recommend next?

Thanks. - Eric

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Camera on Thunderbolt display disappears

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