What Joanna Stern (she should have known better) neglected to notice is that in a video conference you are seeing your own raw video... So your video ALWAYS looks better than what is coming back to you from other people. We saw both of the reviewers video on the other side of their Internet connection, and I would argue that there wasn't a significant difference.
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Joanna Stern and John Gruber Discuss Apple M1 Transition and 'Craptastic' 720p FaceTime Cameras
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I have a high-quality 1080p webcam for my Mac mini, and for Zoom it's overkill. Usually people engage with Zoom using the "Brady Bunch" mode, so everyone's image is tiny. There have been some instances where I've noticed others are using a really terrible old built-in camera on their PC. But most of the time, no one would know I had a high-end webcam. That's important only if you do a lot of web broadcasting or presentations. Even so, I can understand a cheap camera on a $200 Chromebook, but not on a modern $1000 laptop. I understand the physical constraints of a decent camera in such a thin bezel. But I bet Apple could slightly lower the height of the trackpad so that a slight camera bump would nestle into it when closed.
Dude, the lid is barely over 3mm thick. How many camera lenses do you know of that are 2-3mm thick and excellent quality?
There is more to 720P vs 1080P pixel density. Lot goes into having raw video and backend processing to make it look better. I am sure next iterations of M1 Macbook will have 1080P if Apple finds 1080p camera that fits properly in thin frame edge and serves greater purpose. But that does not make current M1 Macbook any lesser for what performance,extra features,longer battery life,etc it offers. How many times one needs to use facetime camera vs overall usage for other computing needs in a day ? I rarely use facetime camera on Macbook when I have iPhone to serve that purpose where ever I am.
Same. I look like crap WFH I don’t want to have to shower and dress up for it.
1080p is a red herring, and completely unnecessary. A 720p sensor is more than sufficient. It’s not a resolution issue. 720p HDTV looks awesome, even when blown up to a 65” display.
Resolution barely matters - 720p is actually a pretty solid resolution for general use and a trade-off of bandwidth.
The biggest problem is good lighting and an aperture/sensor that can collect enough light.
I actually turn HD off on zoom meetings because it keeps the laptop running cooler and also I don't really want to stare at my wrinkles and imperfections in HD all day long.
All that said of course it would be nicer to have a better camera and the option to reduce quality. It's just not that big of a deal to me.
The biggest problem is good lighting and an aperture/sensor that can collect enough light.
I actually turn HD off on zoom meetings because it keeps the laptop running cooler and also I don't really want to stare at my wrinkles and imperfections in HD all day long.
All that said of course it would be nicer to have a better camera and the option to reduce quality. It's just not that big of a deal to me.
"The lid is too thing" bla bla bla. There HAS to have been some kind of technology improvement the last FIVE(!) years. The webcam is so ******. And the "M1 machine learning improvements" just made my M1 webcam more blurry, like a snapshot filter or whatever.
Don't get carried away. 2015 MBP owner does not have M1 MBA to compare front camera video. People do all kind of jibber jabber based on how bad there day is going. Point to facts and be done with.
yeah but aren't they cramming higher res cameras to "thiner" iPhones already? even that tiny front facing camera on the 12 would do.
Apple’s customers want thin computers, and Apple provides them. Did you watch the video? It’s fine.
I don’t want a thicker laptop just because a few tech dudes thinks the camera is the reason they don’t look so good. Pro tip: ummm, it’s not the camera.
iphones cameras are build into 4mm thick space...the imac 1080p that is is improved is into an 5mm thickeness...macbooks had around 2mm thick lid
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Yes, I watched the video. Gruber must have some great lighting there. However, from my own machine, using my own eyeballs, it looks like garbage.
I sounded like she was saying she's using a DSLR or some big camera as her webcam. That's not a fair comparison to even a 1080p webcam. And Gruber looked totally fine. It would be nice if the M1's had 1080, but I don't think it's nearly as awful as people are making it sound. Especially for video conferencing where it's harder to see a difference anyway.
I live in rural America where most of my neighbors are lucky to have DSL let alone fiber or LTE, etc. So I am fine with lower-resolution computer cameras. If someone insists on showing their faces in UltraHD, good on them; they can buy a a separate webcam for that -- with a privacy sleeve, which is also missing on new mac laptops (still).
But I'm fine with 720p.
But I'm fine with 720p.
I wrote: “Lol did you watch the video? The M1 camera is FAR better than awful.”
That’s not exactly getting carried away.
You were saying? Need anymore proof?
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Do a blind test of bandwidth constrained vs non-constrained video chats, then you’ll notice how bad 720p is compared to 1080p.