I just bought the new MacBook Air, noted that the HD camera is so blurry. The photo that captured using this MacBook turns out to be worse than my iPhone 7 front camera. Anyone facing the same problem?
MacBook Air
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.
Nothing wrong with the hardware (camera)
It is exactly the same hardware as the 2011.
However my post (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8627217?answerId=250090914022#250090914022) proves that Apple screwed something with the Facetime app.
It is a 720p (HD) 1280x720
I found out the camera is the same hardware as from 2011- nothing changed there.
It is HD quality but the Facetime Application (software) has a problem, that I hope Apple will fix soon.
see my answer here for detaails https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8627217?answerId=250090914022#250090914022
Looking at what files and drivers the Facetime.app loads, it loads the SD resolution from the Face Time Camera driver, instead using the HD resolution./System/Library/Frameworks/CoreImage.framework/Versions/A/Resources/ci_kernels.metallib
/private/var/folders/xl/fxfqtrn56kb_hn6s2rcns3p80000gn/C/com.apple.FaceTime/com.apple.FaceTime/com.apple.metal/libraries.maps
/private/var/folders/xl/fxfqtrn56kb_hn6s2rcns3p80000gn/C/com.apple.FaceTime/com.apple.FaceTime/com.apple.metal/libraries.data
/private/var/folders/xl/fxfqtrn56kb_hn6s2rcns3p80000gn/C/com.apple.FaceTime/com.apple.FaceTime/com.apple.metal/Intel(R) Iris(TM) Graphics 6000/functions.maps
/private/var/folders/xl/fxfqtrn56kb_hn6s2rcns3p80000gn/C/com.apple.FaceTime/com.apple.FaceTime/com.apple.metal/Intel(R) Iris(TM) Graphics 6000/functions.data
All other apps on my mac do use the HD output (like Quick Time app).
At this moment I do not know why is it using the wrong resolution for Facetime.app.
In my Air 2018:
FaceTime HD Camera:
Model ID: UVC Camera VendorID_1452 ProductID_34068
Also, could I ask you do make 2 Photo Booth photos - with the old and in the new Air (you do not need to publish them here, just comment on them)? For me that is the best demo of the difference. No Facetime involved in that case.
My decision was to keep the MBA 2018. Despite I don't believe that the issue can be fixed with a software update and replacing the camera would be a too expensive task for Apple => I'm not expecting a solution coming from Apple.
Overall the MBA 2018 fits best to my needs and the camera isn't that important for me.
My workaround is using the camera from my iPhone along with a tripod (less than $10).
I'm not happy with this solution. I'm very disappointed that Apple is buying such a low quality parts. The most annoying thing is that Apple support is referencing that the tech specs are kept and that this is an expected behaviour. This is a fundamental change at Apple - they are no longer thinking different. It is just ship it and save costs.
I love the way the text box says “tell us what is on your mind” then censores you when you do. Half the time I have no idea what I said wrong...
Anyhow... this macrumors article is looking for comparisons. I wish I had kept the MBA long enough to have made some.
The article says the iPhone cameras are ‘wildly better’ than the laptop cameras.
I was using a front facing camera from an iPhone 6 - which is 1.2M pixels. I was literally holding the camera next to the MBA with the same lighting and all and the iPhone 6 looked light years better in FaceTime. Even my VGA iPhone 4 front facing camera looked better.
Still pictures don’t really do it justice. The video looks fuzzy and noisy and in motion. A normal camera looks crisp and clean. Maybe ours was worse than everyone else’s - because it was sooo bad that we rejected it immediately.
Maybe I expected too much - but I was hoping for a camera that looked better than a low quality front facing camera from 9 years ago.
I was kinda hoping that it would look as good as my 2011 iMac - is this realistic?
Someone should do a video review using the camera in their 2018 MBA - if it has not been done already.
I am not questioning that there is a problem. Some people actually did a test here hhttps://webcamtests.com/
and it clearly shows they camera is only delivering SD not HD.
On the left is my MBA on the right is the other user MBA.
Clearly they do not deliver the same quality.
Also it is important to know is your Facetime app Version and the OSX version, since the software has much to do with the video quality you see.
I have High Sierra
My Facetime app is version 4.0 from 2017
My Camera sensor is Apple Camera VendorID_0x106B ProductID_0x1570
The MacBooks camera quality is not up to standards of the iPhone and the reason is clear.
While not many people run around with the MacBook taking high res pictures of the world around them they do with the iPhone, so we understand that.
Newer then less a decent quality of as specified HD (720p) 1280x720 and 1 Mega Pixel is not delivered in the 2018 models of MacBook Pro and MacBook Air.
The 2018 models deliver at best 640x480 and 0.3 M pixel which is way bellow HD standard and way below the specifications.
MacBook Models from previous Years did deliver HD quality, so it is possible.
So what happened ?
Until Apple makes a official statement we won't know, is it hardware (the camera) or is it the software or both.
However as loyal consumers we deserve been told why the 2018 Models of MacBook's do not perform in accordance to the specifications.
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.
A comparison of my 2014 MacBook Air FaceTime HD camera versus my new 2018 MacBook Air FaceTime HD Camera, same lighting conditions, same subject.
2014:
2018:
webcamtests . com
Check on this site the supported resolution and not the one checked.
On the top center click on "Detect Resolution".
What do you have on different Macbook/Macbook Air/ MacBook Pro ?
Excellent this is really a poor quality sensor ... all I can assume is that it was a sacrifice priorities due to cost or engineering.
How did you prove it is the same hardware??? Yes they are both 720p (I mean old and new Air) but that not the only parameter (resolution). And the new camera is MUCH worse in sensitivity/noise area.
Try Quick Time video recording
2018 MacBook Air HD camera is in poor quality.
