Very grainy 2018 macbook air facetime camera

No reply from Apple after three , so its getting returned under the holiday return program.

The current MacBook Pro does not have the problem so it must be hardware.

Plus dictation doesn't work on the MacBook Air (with 16GB of RAM).

AsB

I was researching a little bit in the International Consumer Protection:

https://www.icpen.org/resolve-dispute#cross-border-disputes

I think this needs to be taken outside of apple because they are simply giving different excuses about the problem. The last excuse from a store manager in Berlin, was that basically it's my fault for believing in fake advertising from apple and for not doing my research before buying.

In the meantime we can complain in the official apple feedback site although I doubt this helps: https://www.apple.com/feedback/

This feels completely unacceptable - like many others I use my laptop for virtual meetings and calls all the time, and was part of the reason why I updated my laptop to a 2018 MacBook Air. I can't believe they've released models that have such poor Facetime HD camera quality. Will go to the Apple store to see if they can do something.

I got 4 different replies from 4 different apple employees_

Version 1 from apple support: It's a bug but it will be fixed in the next update

Version 2 from a apple technician in a higher "status": It's a hardware issue, apple designed the computer on purpose with this horrible camera, Supposedly because is more sensitive to light and it should work properly if you are in a VERY bright environment with tons of natural light.

Version 3 from an apple store staff: It's a hardware issue, they admit the camera is very bad, nothing to do about it

Version 4 from an arrogant apple store manager: I'm stupid for buying that computer without checking reviews about the camera. It's our fault.

My conclusion is that apple somehow made the very stupid decision to lower the quality of the camera and advertise it as "HD". This is fake advertisement and they don't want to respond to it. No one is offering a solution.

I keep getting all of these complaints about the face time video on the new MacBook Air retina and related products. Can we just call a duck a duck? Its pairing with Quicktime and the resultant video quality is noticeably sub par. In a word - it sucks. If I had known this I would not have purchased this Mac. My 2013 MacBook Pro Retina had better resolution. and now with everyone working on Zoom or the other platforms, they must be seeing the issue. And this is not acceptable. I haven't heard or seen anything from Apple - what are they doing? They keep improving the iPhone and it seems the only money they are making on Macs is to introduce new models that require more accessories and adaptors. We need to take action.

Same problem here. Obviously not a dirty lens on a brand new laptop.

Here is pic from 2013 Air:

And here is one from 2018 Air:

MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2018)

I went to the Apple Store in Birmingham today. They said, "All models look the same. So, it's okay."

No. This isn't okay!

If we want to band together, this thread is more active: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8627217

I doubt it.I was at bestbuy today and compared old model to new and old one has better picture quality.I think they replaced the camera with low quality one on new model. Very nice job!!

I returned my already guys.I think this is best response to Apple.And we are making noise.See below article;

https://www.macrumors.com/2019/01/03/2018-macbook-air-facetime-camera/

MacBook Pro have same problem, because all Mac Books have same camera.

Apple removed huge thread about that issue. 1100+ people having that problem. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8627217

It is almost guaranteed to be hardware. No hope really...:( The only hope was recall, but that is not realistic either...

Also to illustrate the difference, here are screenshots taken in the Apple store with the Quicktime camera running on respective devices.

Macbook Air 2013:

MacBook Air 2018:

You’re wrong. I’ve got them sat here side by side and they are both bad. 2015 and 2019.