iPhone 15 Pro Max (iOS 26.0) Continuity Camera wireless issue with MacOS (Tahoe 26.0 on Studio M2 Ultra)

I have read several other posts that say that iPhone continuity camera will only work when wired to a Mac via USB.

This appears to be a possible bug and I have found it has a workaround as explained below:

I can only get my iPhone continuity camera to work with my Mac wirelessly if I have an external camera connected to a USB port on the Mac. If I disconnect this external camera from the Mac USB port, then the iPhone continuity camera will stop working wirelessly.

With this external camera connected to a USB port, if I open and run FaceTime and select "Video" in the Mac's menu bar it will show both cameras (under the Camera section), my external wired camera and the iPhone camera wirelessly. If I select the iPhone camera the iPhone will show a screen "Connected to Mac Studio" which you can Pause or Disconnect. I can also select the external camera as the video source.

If I close FaceTime and disconnect the external camera and then open and run FaceTime again, selecting Video in the Mac's menu bar does not show any cameras at all under the camera section. The iPhone camera will not respond wirelessly in FaceTime. If I reconnect the external camera to USB then the iPhone camera works wirelessly again with FaceTime.

The same thing happens with Zoom or any another camera application like Photo Booth.

If I keep the camera application open while I disconnect the external camera, the iPhone camera keeps working wirelessly until I close the app. If I reopen the video app the iPhone camera will only work wirelessly with the external camera reconnected to USB.

Now, If I connect the iPhone directly to the Mac with a USB cable, the iPhone continuity camera works regardless of whether or not there's an external camera connected to USB. You have to enter your iPhone PIN to trust the Mac.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? Your responses are welcomed and appreciated.

Thanks for reading

rayjaynj