2018 MacBook Air's FaceTime HD Camera Quality Issue

[MadDawg2020]

Why do people expect a broadcast studio quality camera built into a laptop computer that cost $1000 ?!

 

[Kabeyun]

1) it is a face time camera, not a selfie camera, 2) face time is limited to 720. period. As far as I know, only Skype can utilize 1080 cameras (ooh, ooh, that is not 7 MP front facing selfie cameras either). so all the usual haters line up in a row and say the same stupid stuff they always say and try to create yet another fake scandal. Old

Agree in principle (it’s not like we’re out there taking selfies with a laptop, ie. this “issue” is not an issue) but there’s a difference between a moron and a malcontent.

 

[Pepe4life]

For the sake of thinness they’ve sacrified keyboard quality. Also presumably magsafe and useful ports. Front facing camera is not so strange in comparison.

This is what happens when Jobs isn’t around to supervise Ive’s work. This guy is sacrificing function for his endless pursuit of thinness.

 

[legmar]

I was shocked at how bad the 2018 MacBook Air FaceTime camera is! It's incredibly grainy and lacks any detail at all. It legitimately looks like a webcam from 2007 (at best).

 

[frenetic]

Count me amongst those disappointed. My 2018 MBA camera has the quality of a 2008 sony ericsson phone: you recognise who's on the other side, but it's grainy and dark. Subpar quality. Too bad for an otherwise well-designed laptop.

 

[antrock]

Honestly, the camera on my 2018 MBP is so laughably bad I'm not even sure why Apple included it.

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I was shocked at how bad the 2018 MacBook Air FaceTime camera is! It's incredibly grainy and lacks any detail at all. It legitimately looks like a webcam from 2007 (at best).

agreed. Like bad enough that I would not be surprised to be some sort of class action motion against Apple for nearly unusable camera quality.

 

[9081094]

Too thin for a functioning keyboard, too thin for an adequate webcam. This makes me wonder what they will break next time they make their laptop 0.1mm thinner.

To thin to handle the heat of the processor and the list goes on

These days all Mac hardware is faulty by design

 

[gnomeisland]

The resolution isn't the issue, it is the poor quality of the camera "module". I suspect no component manufacturer (Sony, Samsung, et. al.) makes a module that resolution/size/price point that incorporates anything close to state-of-the-art. The step back is surprising but suggests that sacrificed for cost.

My guess is that they needed a thinner module and that, in the size they needed, it was spend more or go with an older/worse component for less. Despite charging more for the laptop, they went with the cheaper component. That stings.

 

[marcg007]

I have not used the camera on the MacBook Air that much. However, I have found it to be superior to the camera on my 2015 MacBook Air. I will also say that people on the other end of my video conversations have not complained about the picture quality. However, I also acknowledge that I sometimes use my external webcam if I need the camera to be at a different angle.