MacBook Pro camera not working - FRUSTRATING

Okay. You still didn't say what macOS version you're running, but...

If

• you've applied all the latest updates to your OS version

• given app permissions

• checked your Screen Time settings

• tried other apps

• reset the SMC...

Then try booting your computer in Safe mode and see if the problem still happens.

How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support 

Does the problem persist while in Safe mode?

Exit safe mode by restarting your Mac normally and re-evaluate the issue again after a normal reboot

Let’s get you to do an EtreCheck evaluation of your Mac. Maybe there's some software (anti-virus, malware, conflict) that's going on.

EtreCheck is a diagnostic app that gathers and reports important debugging information about your Macintosh. It is very highly regarded and meant to be used with Apple Support Communities to help others help you troubleshoot and resolve your Mac problems.

Please navigate to EtreCheck.com and download the free version of EtreCheck. Once you’ve run the app and created your report please post it with your reply to this message. Please grant EtreCheck full access to your Mac for the most thorough results. No personal info is collected.

You must upload the full report. For instructions on how to attach your EtreCheck report to your reply, please click  How to use Add Text when posting…

We can use the EtreCheck report to look for the more obvious things that may be causing your problem and advise how to correct them.

Hello, Doogmeister.

We can help you best if you will please tell us a bit more about your Mac.

Which model and model year is the computer and what macOS version are you running?

If you are able, click the Apple () menu > About This Mac.  There you will find the specifics we can use to help you best.

(Note- for privacy and security please do not post your serial number.)

Yes, I think it is pointing to hardware failure. Typically you would see these:

If you followed the advice of @BDAqua's post above re: safe mode restart and other user login and still have the same result, then I'd say the camera has failed or its cable has failed or come loose/unplugged. Laptops by nature take a lot of abuse.

Are you the original owner of the MacBook? It is possible that the camera was disabled by someone using Terminal commands. If that's the case it should be reversible unless certain files or folders were deleted.

This linked article discusses one way to use Terminal to fully disable the software components behind your Mac’s front-facing camera. Because you did not disable the camera in this specific way, there's a very good chance this won't work to fix the problem. I hesitate to put it out here because you could easily cripple a perfectly good Mac. But hey, internet search is our friend. Make sure your backup is up to date before messing about in Terminal.

macOS: How To Disable Webcam on Your Mac - The Mac Observer

EDIT - worst case scenario in case of being software disabled is just to restore macOS from recovery mode.

See if it still KPs after this...

Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at startup), does the problem occur in Safe Mode? Could take 10 minutes.

Safe mode attempts to repair Disks & clears lots of caches & loads safe Drivers, & prevents loading of 3rd party extensions, so if Safe Mode works try again in regular boot.

To find out if it's system wide or user specific, try this...

Open System Preferences>Users & Groups, unlock the lock, click on the little plus icon, make a new admin account, log out & into the new account.

Does it work in the new account?

Great job getting that.

I'll be honest, the report looks pretty clean.

• In the major issues categories it's noted that you have kernel panics going on which could point to hardware failure of some sort. *Maybe* it has something to do with the camera on the USB bus, but I'd be surprised by that.

• Also noted is that you don't have Time Machine backup going on, but maybe you use something else. Always make sure you've got a good backup.

• In the minor category just some unsigned files. Rarely an issue.

Your SSD performance looks okay. Free storage looks good.

RAM is 8GB... that's okay.

Not seeing any particular softwares that would cause problems. No security conflicts (adware, anti-virus, speedups, etc).

• I do wonder though if there might be a conflict between BlueJeans and Skype for control of the camera. I would double check your configuration for those applications and confirm that things are good there. I'm not too familiar with either.

Really looks pretty good. I don't see anything much of concern there. I assume Malwarebytes doesn't flag anything.

I'm wondering if you maybe have a legit hardware failure?

• Do check System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy Camera. See if there are any apps listed there that have request access to the camera and been denied. It may be that Skype or BlueJeans needs to be approved there. (Click their checkboxes if need be.)

Is it possible that the camera hardware has been disable via Terminal command at some point?

• Have a look at System Information and see if the camera is recognized by the OS. Go to  Apple menu > About This Mac > System Report. Look for the camera under the hardware list on the left. Also look at the USB hardware to see if the camera is found on the USB hub.

You're welcome.

Look on the bright side: the newest MacBook Pros are awesome machines! 😉