FaceTime Camera Images Look Poor on New Macbook Pro Retina Models

I just compared my husbands 2013 macbook pro that he purchased two months ago with my computer (identical) but purchased earlier this year.

My camera is HORRIBLE. Its embarassing. When you're on a call and call and is asking you "what kind of computer do you have? I answer with "mac" like Im ashamed. Cause I am. Horrible.

Is iglasses the only solution?

Guys. We're screwed.

Just the way it goes.

Euroraver, you're right. It's not the Retina Display. This was obviously something that was either 1.) Made up. 2.) Over herd from fellow employees or some shop rumors.

The truth of the matter is, it's a defect that is burned into the board on the display and there is no way to fix it. If there was, they would of posted here already. If there was a fix we would of had a firmware update a LONG time ago.

Solution.

Go by the Logitec HD Pro Webcam C920 and stick it on the top of your Mac. Yes it might be "old school" but it's the way it goes.

Without going into too many details, I will provide this update: after 4 separate trips to 4 different Apple stores and 4 separate calls to Apple Care (all of which were less helpful then the last) I finally was able to get someone on the line that was willing to help. After a senior advisor from the Apple Care gave me his contact info and advised to call him from the Apple store should my next visit prove to be unsuccessful, I took to the Apple store (Soho, New York) yet again. I guess planets lined up just so that night that I got checked in into the Genius Bar by the store manager himself. After reading copious notes from my case and comparing video qualities of both mine and a store floor model machines he did concede that there was "negligible" difference. Granted, lighting conditions inside Apple stores are a LOT better that in my house, so the difference was not as drastic as before, but it was still very noticeable. The manager did offer to replace a screen of my rMBP FREE of charge as a one time courtesy. This repair should be done next Fri. I will provide an update if it made any difference. I have my doubts, having replaced screen once myself already. But we'll see.

UPDATE: Got my rMBP back from the Apple store today, after Apple replaced a screen on my machine. The "fix" did not solve the problem - video quality is as crappy as ever. I am really at the end of the road. Short of Apple replacing this machine alltogether I don't know what else can be done. I am still pushing for them to replace my machine.

To say that I am dissapointed and extremely frustrated would be a huge understatemtent. Through this entire ordeal the "magic" of Apple and any good will that Apple had with me is now officially gone. I really did not think that the day would come where I would seriously consider replacing my entire Apple ecosystem with Google/Samsung products. That day is today.

Cheers Apple for losing one of your most fierce and loyal supporters!

After reading so many comments and suggestions on this thread, I also thought of taking the bull by its horns and went to the Apple service centre in Singapore. I also took my non-retina notebook with me so that I can tell the service centre guy how different the two cameras are. The guy saw both the cameras and agreed with my take that the picture quality on the retina MacBook is very poor and suggested to replace the retina LCD, which contains the camera unit. Before giving my MacBook I took the screenshot of the camera specification listed in MacBook system properties.

After two days I got my retina MacBook back. I compared the camera specifications with the one that was there on my old LCD screen. Unfortunately, the specifications were the same :(. So, I did not expect any drastic difference in the camera quality. I then checked the quality of my retina MacBook camera again. I can easily say that it is still bad and not at all at par with my non-retina MacBook camera.

I told the service centre guy that the quality is not up to the mark, and he told me that they can't do anything as quality is controlled by Apple, if I have any issues, I should call Apple. I will probably do this, but I don't expect any miracles to happen. He also told me that the LCD screen that they replaced belongs to the same part number as my original (early 2013) MacBook. So this means that even if the new (late 2013) MacBook has a better camera (which some claim on this forum), then we cannot get it!

I guess I have to live with this now. It is safe to say that retina MacBook pros have poorer cameras, may be because of thinness of the screen?

Hi. Did you see my previous post? There is nothing apple can do until they come out with a new Macbook Pro. I find if ironic that you guys would replace your screens. People, stop replacing them its not going to make a difference. You must live with it. Go buy the Logitech c920. It's a better then any built-in webcam will ever be.

hi everyone.

I just want to contribute with my own experience.

I just bought a 15" MBP retina and I completely agree: the video quality ***** big time

my girlfriend has a macbook AIR and the difference is quite evident. we even tried to facetime to each other in the same room, with exact same light conditions, again a lot of difference.

the little story about retina display outweighting the camera is pointless and untrue. in fact I check my image as seen on the macbook air, and, again, the quality was terrible.

I noticed this immediatley and today I went to the apple store @ Westfield (London) and compared to other macbook pro retinas. same thing also on those. terrible quality on all the retinas.

I also looked at other Macbook Airs and the quality, again, was noticeably better (I literally put my retina side by side with an 11" Air, a computer costing less than half mine!!!). I tried to make the point to the apple guys in the store but they were pretty vague. I have a genius scheduled on Friday and let's see. but I suspect there is just a question of bad hardware, hence nothing we can do.

but I am tempted to return it and get my money back: how the **** a top of the range laptop can have a worse camera than an ipad mini worth 1/6 of the money???

so much for having finally decided to move to Mac computers....

I think this *****

UPDATE: GOT MY rMBP REPLACED TODAY!!!

After 5 separate trips to the Apple store and more calls to Apple Care than I care to count this saga is finally over. I would not say that my faith in Apple has been restored, but it definitely took turn for the better. I will say that there are some people on this earth that are geniunely good people to their core. I was lucky to find 2 such people under Apple's employment. 1 is a Lead Genius at the SoHo store in New York and the other is senior advisor at Apple Care. Each of them were working with me (together and separately) to resolve this.

The Apple Care's senior advisor had me email him screeenshots of images that my Facetime camera was producing. He also asked for images from the newer rMBP models. He then took it to his engineers to show them that there were clearly different. He also called a manager of one of the Apple's store's that I have been to prior. The manager brushed him off by saying that there was a "perception issue" on my part. This was especially infuriating, as the guy haven't even seen my machine or the video quality of it.

At that point I decided to make one final trip to the Apple store, since the Apple Care guy told me that both him and any Apple store do have the power to replace the machine if the problem persists after several repairs. So I went back. I located the Lead Genuis that was helpful on my prior visit and asked him to compare video quality on my machine versus the floor model's. He acknowledged that my machine's video was "staticy". I then asked them if it's a "perception" or the real difference. He agreed that it was definitely not my perception. After telling him the entire story one more time, he went back and came back with another (I am assuming) manager. They both examined my machine again, by comparing it to the floor model and by connecting it to some other store's computer. After that was done, they huddled up and the Lead Genius has informed that it would be just easier to replace the machine alltogether. Finally...

I will be callng the Apple store tomorrow and singing praises about the Lead Genius who finally took enough interest and heped me. I wish more Apple's employees were like him, but alas. And he did it with such ease that I wished that I came to that store from the very beginning.

Moral of the story - find someone who is willing to listen and help. Have Apple repair your screen. I know it's not the screen issue, but at least you can then take it back to Apple with the same issue, which puts you in the driver's seat.

Good luck to all!

Hi Euroraver

Are you getting the late 2013 retina Macbook Pro ? or just "new" early 2013/2012 retina MacBook Pro ?

I just want to stress that mine is a late 2013 model (Haswell), so the crappiness of the camera is not solved in this last edition

I am still waiting for someone from Apple able to explain me intelligently why the Air camera works (way) better than the one on their top of the range retina MBP

I got Late 2013 model. Video is significantly better on it, compared to my old machine which was Mid 2012. It did not occur to me to compare it to MacBook Air as I was comparing "apples to apples"

euroraver that's the whole point I am making. even on the latest MBPr version, the quality is poor compared to the Air and in absolute terms. it's worse than the iphone 5s, it's worse than the ipad mini retina. just to give some perspective, I find the image on-par with what I was getting on my Ipad 2!!!!

if you say it's significantly better than the previous MBPr I wonder what kind of image you were having before. ok there's always room for improvement but this is ridiculous.

go take a minute to check

even if significantly better than a mid-2012 machine, I find the quality unacceptable for a >£2000 laptop

I finally took my MBPr to the Apple Store Brisbane on Monday to have them look at the camera of my 2012 MBPr which I bought last year. The genius I spoke to agreed straight away that the camera quality was very low. He then took the machine out back to run diagnostics to confirm there were no faults with the camera. Upon return he advised he would like to replace the screen in order to replace the camera. I told him I had read on forums that the problem is standard on all machines. He said by replacing it we would be able to confirm whether this was the case or not. I received my computer today with the brand new screen and camera however there was absolutely no change in quality! I went with the Apple staff member to compare my MBPr with the latest machine. The quality difference was instantly recognizable! We then compared the quality with my iPhone 4s front camera... the phone quality is also much better. I told him I wasn't happy as this is Apple's top of the line laptop and I bought it less than a year ago bla bla bla. He agreed with me and advised me to book in another appointment with another genius to discuss. I made my appointment for next Tuesday and will keep you all updated. I'm hoping for a decent resolution such as @Euroraver had in NY. I would be happy if they just replaced my screen with the new 2013 part.

i was having hard time trying to fix this issue too , i have the higher end 15" mbp non-retina , hmm i'll give you the free fix (a software fix) , yeah the free fix , for those who don't wanna spend money on softwares like iglasses like me , u can use this free app , it does the job to me , play with settings and you'll be satisfied , i'll post a tutorial on it later, try it and give me feedbacks , regards