Apple Details macOS Ventura and iOS 16 Continuity Camera Feature

[DotCom2]

Just ordered a mount on Amazon that I can put on my monitor.

CloudValley Magnetic Laptop Phone Holder, Adjustable Continuity Camera Mount Compatible with MagSafe & for iOS 16 / macOS 13 Ventura, Slim Portable Computer Expansion Bracket for Smartphone, Black

Compatibility: CloudValley magnetic Laptop Phone Holder for iPhone 15 Pro Max / 15 Plus / 15 Pro / 15 / 14 Pro Max / 14 Plus / 14 Pro / 14 / 13 Pro Max / 13 Pro / 13 / 13 Mini / 12 Pro Max / 12 Pro / 12 / 12 Mini and Applicable to MagSafe Cases.

www.amazon.com

I already noticed Amazon has many different mounts available for both monitors and laptops. So they're going to come quickly. It seems like it will be a popular feature... I used it during beta but you really do need a mount because the phone needs to be higher than you the way the camera works. A tripod on your desk will probably not work from my testing...

Please report back how you like it.

 

[Manatee]

I wonder how much of this functionality they could build into the MacBook camera for say… another US$20.

 

[Zacarias5]

Continuity Camera image quality is stunning compared to the MBP camera. Yes it is an odd work around. Yes it feels a bit scary to hang my expensive iPhone 13 Pro Max off the back of the thin edge of the laptop screen with the very thin tab on Belkin iPhone mount. The Belkin magnetic mount does not give a lot of confidence to be honest. But the video quality is Very much improved.

Now I need to figure out how to access these other features like change to Wide Camera on the iPhone to enable Center Stage, Studio Light, Portrait mode, and Desk View.

The answer to my earlier comment: " Now I need to figure outhow to access these other features like change to Wide Camera on the iPhone to enable Center Stage, Studio Light, Portrait mode, and Desk View" :

Control Center then click on Video Effects:

"After choosing your iPhone camera, you can use Control Center to turn on Center Stage, Studio Light, Portrait mode, and Desk View. Or choose a mic mode for your iPhone mic.you can use Control Center to turn on Center Stage, Studio Light, Portrait mode, and Desk View. Or choose a mic mode for your iPhone mic."

Continuity Camera: Use iPhone as a webcam for Mac – Apple Support (MY)

Use the powerful camera system of your iPhone to do things never before possible with a webcam, including Centre Stage, Portrait mode, Studio Light and Desk View.

support.apple.com

Desk View is interesting. It really does work!

 

[Houpla]

Why should Apple include a fancy camera in their laptops?

Why should Apple try to be better than the competitors? Maybe because they position themselves as a premium brand?

 

[_Spinn_]

I forgot all about this feature.

 

[CarAnalogy]

I would argue that this feature is being marketed completely wrongly.
It should not be used for laptops or iMacs (which already have a webcam), but mainly targeted for owners of Mac Minis, Mac Studios, Mac Pros, etc. who use a third party screen and have no or an old webcam. These are the real beneficiaries of this feature.
I for one have an LG 5K Screen hanging on my Mac Studio and will definitely use it.

The fact they are focusing so hard on using it with laptops shows how insecure they are about the criticism of their laptop webcams.

 

[JustAnExpat]

Is there a minimum iPhone requirement other than iOS16? I guess iPhone 11 for the deskview / centre stage feature by way of the ultrawide lens, but will iPhone 8, X, XS, XR, SE (2md/3rd gen) work as a basic webcam?

Looks like any iPhone that can run iOS 16, per

How to use your iPhone as a Mac webcam with Continuity Camera

The new version of macOS has a nifty feature that lets you use your iPhone to run Zoom and FaceTime calls.

www.macworld.com

 

[minik]

I wish Apple ID is not a requirement. Imagine in HigherEd setting and the faculty wants to take advantage of this feature with a shared computer.

 

[wsqW]

anyone know how to recover wireless connect between mac and iphone after i click the dis-connect button. that's total **** bug

 

[JustAnExpat]

It's been a mystery to me why they focus so much on mounting the iPhone to the MacBook. There are a million better ways to position your phone as a camera. The quality is very good, but the connection/disconnect/pause is a little buggy.

It's also interesting that they didn't extend the Continuity Camera to iPads. Sure - who would bother, but then again, why not just include iPads in the mix?

Similarly, I wish Universal Control worked with iPhone. It's very handy to just swipe over with my mouse to my iPad to click on something - it would be equally handy to do it to my iPhone sitting here on its charging stand.

Interestingly when I use my BT keyboard and mouse paired to my iPad, Universal Control seems to work in the reverse where I can originate on the iPad with paired devices, and move them to the MacBook. Have to experiment more with this to confirm, but it doesn't seem to matter which device your mouse/keyboard are connected to which is cool and perhaps an obvious idea, but not all these sharing mechanisms are bidirectional.

With Universal Control and Continuity Camera, it feels like we're in the very early days of a perfectly seamless sharing experience across Apple devices - they're 10 years (at least) ahead of Android/Windows in this space.

The front facing camera on iPads is pretty good. According to Mactracker, iPads have a 12MB front facing camera. Of course, if you're asking why the iPad's Camera can't be used as a continuity camera, I have no idea

 

[JustAnExpat]

After some thought I realized this could be useful for meetings where I use a monitor without a built-in camera.

Can I use Continuity Camera with something other than a laptop?

Any Mac that meets the requirements can use Continuity Camera.

 

[svish]

Continuity camera is a good idea. Hope the Belkin mount does not cause any damage to the Macbook.

 

[JustAnExpat]

Why should Apple try to be better than the competitors? Maybe because they position themselves as a premium brand?

And how can Apple put a better camera in their computers without making the screen larger? I don't think the technology exist. Can you show me a laptop computer with an iPhone-like quality camera?

 

[wanha]

All this because they were too cheap to put decent built-in cameras in their laptops or iMacs

Hi Nicole,

there's a physical reason why no laptop in existence has an amazing webcam - the laws of physics simply don't allow anyone to build a better quality camera in a lid so thin.

That's why this workaround was created in the first place.

 

[wanha]

This is so dumb. Why the heck would anyone use this over the built in cameras?

Is this a serious question????

Because the quality of the iPhone camera is WAY better than the built-in camera.

Many users will probably not care about the difference, but many do.

This feature is for the latter group, and let me tell you, we are grateful.

 

[wanha]

And how can Apple put a better camera in their computers without making the screen larger? I don't think the technology exist. Can you show me a laptop computer with an iPhone-like quality camera?

Exactly.

You can't fit a better camera into a lid that thin.

It's not a choice by Apple - it's a physical inevitability, at least for now.

 

[Zacarias5]

anyone know how to recover wireless connect between mac and iphone after i click the dis-connect button. that's total **** bug

Use a cable to reconnect the iPhone to the computer and answer prompt to allow wireless connection. Back in business.

 

[ksnell]

I cannot think of a single thing that would make me hang my phone off the back of my laptop.

So you're saying this feature is not for you.

 

[usvi4me]

As a “one on one” teacher I use a second iPad as a “desk view” camera. I installed Ventura on an unsupported MacBook Pro just for continuity camera desktop view. It appears continuity camera isn’t working “yet” on unsupported Ventura Macs.

 

[torontotim]

IMHO the real value of continuity camera is the ability to move the camera from the fixed position of the MacBook lid to anywhere you want. Pick it up and move it around, mount on a tripod etc.

Like many home-office workers, I have a large external display which is my primary monitor, and I often use a secondary webcam sitting on top of it. I'd just as soon have my iPhone as that secondary webcam, mounted in a holder pointed at me. Not even necessarily sitting on top of my display - in a mount I can have it at eye level in the middle of my 27" 4K monitor with the meeting window to the side to be unobscured but still in line of sight.

The fixation on mounting the iPhone to the MacBook lid almost made it look like you had to do this to use Continuity Camera when in fact the range is limited only by either BT or WiFi - whatever they're using to connect with.

 

[lemat]

Anybody knows why it's limited to devices using the very same Apple ID? My Macbook and my iphone use 2 differents ID's, the iphone being my professional mobile. Looks like I won't be able to use this feature

 

[Jony Mac]

I decided to do a test since I work from home and compare how continuity camera actually looks. I figured it would look better than the 1080p on my MBP 14” and I was right. What I wasn’t expecting was it to be better than my Logitech Brio (4K).

 

[fwmireault]

Does someone know if/how to disable the chime when the iPhone is connecting to Continuity Camera? It is quite annoying

 

[Jony Mac]

I’m not sure that you can. I wonder if it’s some sort of privacy feature to let you know the camera is on.