Hands-On With Belkin's New iPhone Continuity Camera Mount for Mac Desktops and Displays

[cicalinarrot]

This whole thing smells like an idea for a funny Kickstarter product, not something that fits one of the most valuable brands in the world.
You know what would be Apple-like? Putting a camera that can do that on Macs. It's always been the weakest thing on Macs, for reason I'll ever understand, since much less evident parts get a better treatment.

 

[The Game 161]

Very useful for those who do a lot of calls/meetings where the quality is important.

 

[darngooddesign]

This whole thing smells like an idea for a funny Kickstarter product, not something that fits one of the most valuable brands in the world.

You know what would be Apple-like? Putting a camera that can do that on Macs. It's always been the weakest thing on Macs, for reason I'll ever understand, since much less evident parts get a better treatment.

Apple did improve the camera in their MacBooks, but MacBook lids aren't thick enough for a camera and lens as good as what is in your iPhone. What about desktops like the Mini or Studio? What about displays? What about all the existing MacBooks?

Amazing how much hate Apple is getting for something that lets people repurpose older iPhones or improve the camera on older Macs.

 

[MVMNT]

A camera mount for machines that already have cameras, that removes your use of your phone seems like something Steve would have just flat said no to.

 

[darngooddesign]

A camera mount for machines that already have cameras,

Mac mini, Apple Studio, Older MacBooks with inferior cameras, etc.

that removes your use of your phone seems like something Steve would have just flat said no to.

Doesn't really seem like much of a hurdle to me. Besides, many people have an older iPhone which is better quality than what is on their Mac.

 

[arw]

it's a good feature, but the problem is that a camera on top of a 27" monitor produces a suboptimal experience because looking at the person on your monitor means you're NOT looking at the camera, and the divergence is enough that it's visible to the person you're talking to. That is, they see you "looking down" instead of at them

With iOS 14 Apple introduced the AI-powered “Eye Contact“ feature for FaceTime which corrects/fakes the iris so it appears like you‘re looking directly at the camera (formerly called “Attention Correction“ in iOS 13 beta).
I assumed for Continuity Camera they had optimized it so it would look natural even when mounted on top of a large display.
Apparently not…

 

[frou]

I bought a ~$5 3D-printed friction mount from eBay. Works just fine.

Absolutely fantastic webcam quality with my 4 year old iPhone XS, wirelessly, by the way. I've seen people say Ventura doesn't bring any worthwhile features to Mac, but Continuity Camera alone is worth the upgrade.

 

[PhilBoogie]

Will be useful to me. I purchased last week and will be delivered in January. However, I bought for $29.95 and its now $39.95?

That's the new weekly inflation.

 

[msackey]

View attachment 2132063

Ah, totally forgot about that product! It was the iSight! By today's standards, it's amazing how big and clunky that thing is and the low resolution images it took. iSight was offered back around 2003. It feels so recent and yet so far away too at the same time!

 

[jayducharme]

I bought a ~$5 3D-printed friction mount from eBay. Works just fine.

I have one for free, for those who have a 3D printer:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5627962

 

[Ho Tai]

Will this work with a MacBook, specifically a 2021 MacBook Pro 16"?

 

[darngooddesign]

Will this work with a MacBook, specifically a 2021 MacBook Pro 16"?

Belkin might have more info on their site.

 

[testcard]

Will be useful to me. I purchased last week and will be delivered in January. However, I bought for $29.95 and it’s now $39.95

Apparently the original price was wrong, per this article.

Belkin’s Continuity Camera mount for desktops is here

Turn your iPhone into a webcam.

www.theverge.com

 

[cicalinarrot]

View attachment 2132063

Apple did improve the camera in their MacBooks, but MacBook lids aren't thick enough for a camera and lens as good as what is in your iPhone. What about desktops like the Mini or Studio? What about displays? What about all the existing MacBooks?

Amazing how much hate Apple is getting for something that lets people repurpose older iPhones or improve the camera on older Macs.

Not hate, just criticism. I just really don't think this half-baked gimmicky stuff is what Apple should be focusing on, precisely because I like a lot of their other stuff.

 

[darngooddesign]

Not hate, just criticism. I just really don't think this half-baked gimmicky stuff is what Apple should be focusing on, precisely because I like a lot of their other stuff.

Half-baked? In my experience CC work really well and will make people with desktop and older Macs happy, note to mention give their older iPhone a purpose besides sitting in a drawer.

 

[Markgnyc2]

Apparently the original price was wrong, per this article.

Belkin’s Continuity Camera mount for desktops is here

Turn your iPhone into a webcam.

www.theverge.com

Interesting thank you. Why couldn't that happen with an iPad Pro or Apple Watch???

 

[stylinexpat]

There is something much better but not cheap.

 

[Confused-User]

With iOS 14 Apple introduced the AI-powered “Eye Contact“ feature for FaceTime which corrects/fakes the iris so it appears like you‘re looking directly at the camera (formerly called “Attention Correction“ in iOS 13 beta).
I assumed for Continuity Camera they had optimized it so it would look natural even when mounted on top of a large display.
Apparently not…

In fact, this feature does not exist on Macs at all! I'm not sure why, but my guess is that it's impossible to implement for screens larger than a phone's, because the "correction" is too challenging to make. It's a MUCH bigger change with a 27" (or 32"!) screen than a phone's, as the angle needing correction is much larger. In fact it's possible even your head might tilt perceptibly, and then they'd have to fix that too. Way too much opportunity for error, making the image "eerie" or even obviously false.

 

[ZipZap]

Looking at the welkin site I dont think this new one would to well with laptops as some have asked.

 

[DonutHands]

Or buy one off AliExpress for $10 in a month or 2.

 

[Tyler O'Bannon]

This! I was going to get it when I first saw it, but it was out of stock. I could swear it was $30 then, and now I see it’s 40. Wtf.

You did see it for $29.95. Then it went to $39.95. It must have been incorrectly listed for a bit

 

[adrianlondon]

With cardboard and ducktape, I made a holder that's stuck on the back of my TV that I can drop the phone into.

With zoom/teams calls and the like, I use Airplay to push the video to the telly and my iPhone 11 pretty much captures the entire room. Centre Stage doesn't do a huge amount but it impresses people who see the camera track me as I wander around.

I forget exactly which way round it has to go, but I think continuity camera fails if my laptop is already using airplay to my telly, so I have to make sure the camera is on and selected first, then add the telly as an extended display via airplay.

 

[beanbaguk]

$40?! I’ll wait for an AliExpress knockoff…

ETA: No need to wait. They already exist for just over $8.

 

[chekk]

Search Continuity Magsafe Mount on Amazon. There's a nice variant that I got made of machined aluminum with a permanent adhesive to attach to the back of the monitor. The part that attaches to the phone rotates for portrait/landscape, as well as tilting up/down. The whole mount also rotates out of the way so it's not visible when not in use. Also no lip hanging over the front of the display. Overall a much better design for my purposes (a fixed home office setup) and cheaper--there's usually one company selling it for $15 at any given time, e.g.
E.g.

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 have a Speck MagSafe case on there in this pic)

 

[testcard]

Search Continuity Magsage Mount on Amazon. There's a nice variant that I got made of machined aluminum with a permanent adhesive to attach to the back of the monitor. The part that attaches to the phone rotates for portrait/landscape, as well as tilting up/down. The whole mount also rotates out of the way so it's not visible when not in use. Also no lip hanging over the front of the display. Overall a much better design for my purposes (a fixed home office setup) and cheaper--there's usually one company selling it for $15 at any given time, e.g.
E.g.

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 have a Speck MagSafe case on there in this pic)
View attachment 2132407

Interesting option, and certainly more competitively priced. Not sure about the “permanent adhesive” though.