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3D Printable Stand Lets You Try Continuity Camera With iOS 16 and macOS Ventura Right Now

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Apple at the Worldwide Developers Conference introduced a new macOS Ventura feature called Continuity Camera, which is designed to allow you to use an iPhone XR or later as the webcam for your Mac.

continuity-camera.jpg

Continuity Camera is meant to be used with a mount that attaches the iPhone to the Mac's display in the right spot for all of the features to work correctly. Apple is planning to partner with companies like Belkin to create accessories for Continuity Camera, but these won't be coming out until closer to the fall, so at the time being, there's no official mounting solution.

If you want to try Continuity Camera as it's meant to be used and you have a 3D printer, Jonathan Wight has created some mount patterns for the MacBook Pro and the iMac Pro. You can print out one of the mounts and attach it to the Mac to hold the iPhone in place.


Continuity Camera works in wired or wireless mode with the Mac, and it is designed to start up automatically when you activate an app that uses the webcam on the Mac. It uses the rear camera of the iPhone for the best possible picture quality, and there are several useful features.

Portrait Mode blurs the background behind you, while Center Stage uses the Ultra Wide camera to keep you centered in the frame even as you move around the room. Studio Light dims the background and illuminates the face to replace external lighting, making it ideal for backlit scenes, and Desk View uses the Ultra Wide camera to show what's on your desk during a video call.

Continuity Camera is available to developers at the current time as part of macOS Ventura, with Apple planning to make a public beta available in July. We'll likely see third-party stand options popping up on sites like Amazon any day now, but for now, the 3D printed options are great for those who have access to a 3D printer.

Article Link: 3D Printable Stand Lets You Try Continuity Camera With iOS 16 and macOS Ventura Right Now
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2022/06/16/3d-printed-mount-continuity-camera/
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How close does the iPhone need to be to the MacBook for continuity camera to work? I get for the desk view feature to work it would need to be up in that position but generally speaking it shouldn't need to be clamped to your display.

A massive benefit of this feature would be to better position the camera using a stand of some sort, not necessarily clamped to the lid of the MacBook.

Somehow I don't think you need a 3D printed magnetic bracket on the back of your phone to try continuity camera. This is a stupid thread.
 
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This is one of those products that I think I would actually have to ‘test’ before I could pass judgment.

It just looks like something I wouldn’t really want to attach to the back of the MacBook, as I would just have to see how stable it really is.

I mean it’s a ‘nifty tech feature’ for sure, but the practicality has to be there as well.
 
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The clips on that bracket look like they just barely hang on. I'd want something that I'd feel comfortable would keep the phone in place even if the Mac is jostled a bit.
 
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oo - I have a friend with a 3D printer, but my phone isn't a magsafe one. Plus, I want to hang it off my (airplay compatible) TV.

I'll wait and see what other designs come up then see if my friend can print one.
 
HorstBockman said:
Really, no such stands are currently available to purchase?
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It's been a bit over a week since anyone knew there was a need to do this, and thus that there was a market for such a device, and it takes some time to produce the molds to cast these out of plastic (you want to injection mold them because that's cheap per-unit, but the required molds are expensive).
 
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I don't understand why anyone with a MacBook or iMac would even need this, given they have webcams built-in.

For Mini and Studio users, I can see a use case I guess, but it seems to me that a decent Logitech webcam only costs a little more and would be much easier to deal with than constantly having to put the phone back in the stand.
 
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MacGizmo said:
I don't understand why anyone with a MacBook or iMac would even need this, given they have webcams built-in.

For Mini and Studio users, I can see a use case I guess, but it seems to me that a decent Logitech webcam only costs a little more and would be much easier to deal with than constantly having to put the phone back in the stand.
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I have a 2020 MBA. My webcam is crap in low light. Sure, I could buy a webcam, but it's more fun to use the phone!
 
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Couldn’t they just add a MagSafe ring there so the iPhone can snap on/off easily?

Same with the iPad?

CarAnalogy said:
I am not clipping my phone to the very expensive screen of my very expensive laptop. WTF is Apple thinking here?
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It’s not a chainsaw. I’m sure your laptop will be fine…
😝
CarAnalogy said:
And on laptops with a notch, where do you even clip it? Right on top of the notch I guess. Notice that example is distinctly missing from any Apple promotional pictures.
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The stand should be offset (as in the first photo in this article) so the camera is centred, but the stand off to the side of the notch.
 
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