2018 MacBook Air HD camera is in poor quality.

I spoke with apple support and they basically said that this is how the 2018 MacBook Air is supposed to work and that by going to the Genius Bar, they won't be able to do anything since the computer is working as its expected to.

That's exactly right; thats why I chose to return it. I think that previous explanation makes sense. These new retina displays offer better definition and the camera is too outdated to keep up with the new screen.

Yes! I just bought mine and was surprised at how poor it is...like 5 steps back from before. Ran across your posting here, I am sure there will be more complaints coming soon. Its like 360p or 480p to be honest :(

Sorry about the problem and yes, you are not alone

Facetime camera has 3 operational modes (preset)

1- QVGA (320x240)

2- VGA (640x480)

3- HD (1280x720)

For some reason on the newer models it is choosing (using the VGA or even the QVGA mode)

Patiently waiting for Apple to provide a fix.

Thank you for the photo, I see it is bad quality.

I was afraid of that.

Do you have Chrome or Firefox browser ?

If you do, go to this web site and do a Camera Test to see the performance results.

Do not use Safari, it wont work.

https://webcamtests.com/

I accidentally clicked "Helpful". :)

Ruskes, what is your point in this thread? You keep giving some failed advice to improve the quality. Do you even understand how cameras work? You won’t get decent image quality from a crappy hardware. This camera doesn’t capture enough image information to make it look solid. You wait for one person to agree that you made him or her get better image quality or what?

This camera is terrible under bright conditions too, I tested myself. The quality is unacceptable. There is no such thing as "you are in too dark room". I guess no one of us lives in a basement. If a video call camera is unable to handle room light then it’s just useless. Please stop deluding people in this thread. We need camera replacement, not "changing rooms" LOL.

I just got the new Macbook Air 2018, and its camera is terrible, it has to be broken when delivered new. The old MacBook Air camera has better picture quality, so i was not happy after using the new MacBook Air 2018

So I clicked on this thread hoping to read there is a simple solution.

Instead I am just number 1xxx.

Got my new Macbook Air 2018 last week. Extremely blurry camera from the beginning in any app and with any user.

Previously I had a Macbook Air 2013. The quality is way better. If I copy the Air13 foto to the new mac it is still way better so the "better display makes it look worse" argument is nonesense.

Also the image received by someone Facetiming or Skyping with me is worse. WAY worse.

I am also having a problem with battery that is doing nowhere near as long as promised (also less long than the 5 year old Macbook Air, whose battery never got changed) and guess I have to return it.

I have exactly the same problem. I have found out that the camera on the 2018 model works fin if its extremely light in the room or outside, but if you have less light then the picture is very bad. The Macbook Air 2013 model has much better camera in normal office light or bad light.

I have started to use a Logitech c922 instead when i am in the office, but i cant runaround with that all the time.

//Pelle

Hi Boris

Thank you for reporting your problems with your MBA.

That is what I call trowing the monkey wrench.

Also the image received by someone Facetiming or Skyping with me is worse. WAY worse.

You are the first to report that the image RECEIVED is also bad assuming the other person does not have bad camera to begin with.

So you are saying not only is the Mac camera bad but the whole video process ?

Can you confirm or clarify your statement or even better use Facetime or Skype between the two Macs you have (call each other), and see what happens.

Hi Ruskes,

sorry for the confusion I caused for not communicating clearly on that one.

The image I receive from the other party is great.

The other party however sees me more blurry than on the old mac.

I wrote this as some people said their Apple contact claimed it only appears blurry because the new mac has a retina display. This is not correct.

All the best

Boris

This is so frustrating to read. I just recently bought the new MBA 18 and i didn't even think to check the camera. I just assumed it would be HD as advertised. I was so shocked when I facetimed my sister and we compared screenshots from her MBA16 and it was clearly better than mine. I should have done more research and read all these comments before but what a scam. Isn't there something that they should do about this? It's blatant false advertisement. they should take responsibility. Not everyone can just wait and buy a new one. My last computer was a mac book pro i got in 2010 and the camera is the same quality...To be honest i saved up for a while to get this MBA 18 and i'm pretty heartbroken that i wasted so much money on it.... I mean seriously with the price were paying they shouldn't be using such low quality cameras...

Same here. I followed all the recommendations to fix it (trying different apps, users, utilities, etc), afterwards I called apple support and after 40min on the phone they told me that this specific computer was designed to have bad quality camera under non-natural light. They said it will only look good during day light and if I'm in a room with lots of natural light. Unbelievable! They said there's nothing they can do from their side to fix it because is not a software issue or a bug. Their only suggestion to "fix it" was that I only use the camera by day in a bright room, I'm speechless!

Unfortunately I can't return the computer because it has been a month since I bought it, but if you are still on time to return it I highly recommend to do so since apple doesn't have any solution and apparently they are not willing to do anything to compensate this fault.

Shame on apple! After 20 years of using mac I'm planning to leave it once and for all.

Thank you for sharing.

apple support and after 40min on the phone they told me that this specific computer was designed to have bad quality camera under non-natural light. They said it will only look good during day light and if I'm in a room with lots of natural light. Unbelievable! They said there's nothing they can do from their side to fix it because is not a software issue or a bug. Their only suggestion to "fix it" was that I only use the camera by day in a bright room.

So now we can only use our Mac's outdoors ? what if it is cloudy or it rains ?? I must have missed that memo !