Very grainy 2018 macbook air facetime camera

There's no resolution, it's a hardware issue (no update will fix it) and apple is not willing to do anything about it. The only thing to do is to buy an external camera. I did everything I could: I complained, Spoke with several people from apple and basically the only thing they can do for you is to take the computer back and refund you the money.

You have 14 days to give it back, after purchase. The time has passed for you but you can complain and complain and complain and get angry and complain more, and at some point apple will get tired of you and accept the computer back.

I know... just got mine a couple of days ago and it's a huge disappointment since I Facetime my parents who live overseas a lot. I didn't have the same problem with the 2014 one. Wish I didn't sell it to get the new one!

Apple, please do something! It's not a cheap device to have such a crappy camera!

Update - after 2 weeks, the crappy grainy quality all of the sudden improved drastically. But then this new mac air turned into a lemon - the usb-c ports stopped working, even after replacing the entire system board. My replacement one started with great video quality, then regressed for a day, and now is consistently high-quality. Bizarre.

Yes, I just got my new 2019 MacBook Air on Friday. I teach online and waiting for my student now. The quality of the camera is appalling. It's grainy and has horrible lighting no matter what I do. This must be fixed ASAP.

I spoke with Apple about this issue. I have a 2019 Macbook Air that I bought on Sunday and the quality is horrific. They said Apple put out an official article stating that the camera may not work well in low lighting. You know....like all poor quality cameras.

This is a trillion dollar company, guys. Cutting corners on quality for profit might be their new motto. FIrst the headphone jack they removed from the iPhone, a poor quality nighttime lense on the iPhone camera and now this.

Don't buy this machine. I'm returning mine and will get a refurbished 2017 Macbook Air. At least it will have a USB port as they so generously got rid of that on the 2019 model as well. The only thing that I like on this new Macbook air is the quality of the speaker. It is pretty incredible, I'll admit.

But now I have to decide--I dare move over to the PC world?

There is nothing they can do to fix this. It's the technology, not a software issue. I had to upgrade to a Macbook Pro in order to get a better camera. And even for that you have to have good lighting in order for it not to be grainy. *sigh*

I have this same exact problem and am in TV studio lighting and the computer is 14 days old. My OLD 2015 air has a perfect camera. This is grainy and awful and if it is a known problem (hundreds of complaints online) there needs to be a fix and FAST - too much money for such an inferior product.

I have been ALL Apple - 19 computers 14 phones 6 ipads - this camera thing is ridiculous and taking away ports is just crazy - for the first time ever I think I will become a PC user and Notebook user and let Apple go.

I have the 2019 MacBook Pro; it's one month old and I am also having this issue. I went back and forth with an apple tech via chat today, and he said it's a hardware issue and I have to take it in to have a repair. On a month old, $3,000 computer! Honestly, my 2013 - which I gave to my hubby, so we still have it - has perfect video and camera quality. I'm really concerned to see how many people have this issue and how little has been done about it, especially as I teach a lot of webinars and shoot a lot of video courses, so the camera is a "must-have" not a "nice to have" for me. Really not happy.

Also not happy about the sheer amount of freaking adapters I need now that they got rid of all USB ports and went to the USB A all over the place. That I can deal with, though - the camera I cannot.

Yep. Same exact experience here - I have TV lighting in my office, so it is NOT the lighting.

I also use a webinar service, and now my webinar replay videos are all pixelated - and not mildly pixelated, like unusable pixelated.

Really not happy about this. Was told they would only replace the computer if it was less than 14 days old. Mine is one month old.

Everyone should make note that this is not something that can be repaired. Its not a hardware “issue” as it was intentionally made this way by Apple. Apple is making an inferior product these days. You have to upgrade to a MacBook Pro to get basically the same quality camera that was on your old MacBook Air. It’s insane. When I saw how horrible and grainy the image was I went back to the store and checked out all of the MacBooks. They just have cut corners w the MacBook Air this time.

My loyalty to Apple is wavering. Less quality.

Forcing is to buy adaptors so they can make a profit. And now the grainy camera that looks like it came from a flip phone.

Hey Smoothspeak, how did your government crafted emails to apple go? Because I just bought the Macbook air and the quality on the front facing camera was terrible. My question is, for a company that has more cash on hand than the US Government, why are they trying to save a couple pennies by lowering the video quality in their Macbook air?

I have the same problem. I got my new MBA while on vacations, came back to Argentina to find out the camera was the worst. I still use my old mac book pro (mid 2011) for facetime calls. But, it seems we won´t get an answer from Apple, right? There´s no Apple Store in Argentina, so if anyone has a software solution to share for me to try it, that would be awesome.

No, there is no solution. Apple has downgraded their technology. Same price, less value. No USB ports and a low grade camera. I spoke w Apple Reps on the phone and in person at the store. Their suggestion was to buy a high quality web cam.

Im losing my faith in Apple.

Hi,

I just got a new 2018 Macbook Air, and I realised that the camera was a bit grainy/blurry. I saw this thread and honestly its shocking how many others have the sam issue. Has Apple done anything so far for this issue? My last Macbook had a much better quality than a brand new one.

Ayla