They're using zoom and it's passing through several gates into production. I would imagine with FaceTime it's 100% better.
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Joanna Stern and John Gruber Discuss Apple M1 Transition and 'Craptastic' 720p FaceTime Cameras
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Pro Tip #2: Wear a Silence of the Lambs mask. Tech-dude's looks will dramatically improve and will be the life of the party.
Without knowing their names, and knowing which one had the better camera until she started throwing a fit about it, I couldn’t tell which one had the built in camera. Honestly I thought hers was going to be the built in one, his looked crisp and the colors seemed much more balanced and true to life.
Other than perhaps the ceiling texture, the M1-based machine front-facing cam looks FAR better. Better low-light noise, smoother graduations, better color, wider dynamic range, etc. I suspect the ceiling texture is more like reality on the M1-based machine.
If good webcam quality is a must for you just buy an external webcam? They've removed loads of functionality which you can add back via dongle, don't see why this needs exalted status 🤷♂️ The reasons they can't put a better one in have already been well established.
Most of the PC laptops have 720p cameras. But people always need to complain about something.
Well actually 1080p has 225% more pixels than 720p. It’s quite a big difference. 720p and 1080i is where the difference becomes negligible. Aside from that, I think a big issue is most people’s abysmal upload speeds. People buy a 50mbps cable internet package thinking their internet is plenty fast, but hidden in the small print is the upload speed is like 2mbps.
I love comments like this, I can visibly notice you getting progressively more and more upset as the post continues 😂 usually it ends with a few **** words here and there, and an insult to Apple to finish it off.
At the end of the day it may come down to personal preference, but I prefer the higher facial detail than the washed out warm fuzz that the Air produces
I attached some comparisons (Apologies for the thrilled expression on my face)
Attachments
Considering most PC laptops still use 720p cameras, I can't help but think the M1 machines are so good, people can't find anything serious to complain about.
And after watching that interview, I now really think there is nothing to it. I felt a little embarrassed for the WSJ reporter going on about it, when I think Gruber's picture actually looked a little better.
I think lighting has for more to do with the image quality than the camera, so people's experience will vary widely.
And after watching that interview, I now really think there is nothing to it. I felt a little embarrassed for the WSJ reporter going on about it, when I think Gruber's picture actually looked a little better.
I think lighting has for more to do with the image quality than the camera, so people's experience will vary widely.
I get it, the lid is thin. A clearer, less grainy and well lit image at 720p would be a welcome reprieve from the past few years.
Some easy bonus points were missed by not slagging Tim Cook. Rookie error.
Or as to put it the way Dieter from The Verge phrased it, "You'll still look like a potato, just a more heavily processed potato."
And no, this looked better than your average video because he took the time to properly frame and light himself first before the interview started. If you think this whole setup wasn't planned, you don't know Apple. I guarantee the rest of you won't look as good unless you spend a similar amount of time and money setting up your own shoot prior to your meetings.
Oh, and for the folks who continue to excuse this nonsense on the thickness of the lid, you're telling me engineers haven't found a way to increase the sensor to 1080p in the six years since this part was introduced? Please. Do Apple apologists ever get tired of apologizing, or pretending Apple doesn't occasionally get it wrong? Worse than the darn Christian fundamentalists for pete's sake.
You are right, your face is too soft on the M1-based Mac. Like the focus is off, or it's doing some "prettying up" signal processing on your face. I assume that being brand-new, the screen (i.e. lens) in the M1 Mac is completely clean, this often gums up my webcam image quality. Interesting, thanks.
I like Joanna since she doesn't give companies a free pass like most reviewers that don't dare say anything negative about Apple as to not lose their privileges. If you want positive changes you put the issue on notice. Apple devices have 720p webcrapcam on par with cheap $40 tablets. When are they going to get a proper 1080p webcam and mics like on the Surface Pro X since work and school from home require significant time in front of the webcam?
That IS great image quality - but you have to remember that even in a tablet, you have more depth to work with than in a laptop screen. That depth can get you better lenses, more options for your image-sensor packaging, and tablets have a shorter distance to get to the motherboard.
I really like to carry around my MacBook and take photos and videos from it. I first started to do this after seeing people take photos with their iPads in tourist spots. The logic is simple, the larger and less mobile the device, the better the camera.
/s
I get that people are complaining about the camera, but for web cam style calls, it's more than good enough. The only people that I understand complaining are YouTube producers and Twitch streamers, but they should have an external camera anyway. Next thing you know people are going to complain about the microphone not providing studio quality audio.
/s
I get that people are complaining about the camera, but for web cam style calls, it's more than good enough. The only people that I understand complaining are YouTube producers and Twitch streamers, but they should have an external camera anyway. Next thing you know people are going to complain about the microphone not providing studio quality audio.
Jeffrey Toobin called and said he wants a FaceTime camera with 320x240 resolution so that the next time he “accidentally” exposes himself to his colleagues the image will be really blurry 😜😂
If Apple can put a 1080p camera along with other sensors on the iPhone 12 and barely have a bump in such a small constrained form factor then believe me, if they wanted to, they could fit one in the macbook's screen. Hell Microsoft can fit one in on the Surface Book screen which is just a little bit thicker because ALL the computer parts are in the screen yet Apple cant fit one in their screen when all computer parts are in the keyboard area and the screen has huge room to be used?
It's a bummer these discussions are always so focused on resolution. The problem isn't resolution, and the solution wouldn't be higher resolution either; 720p is fine for videoconferencing.
The main problem is the relatively tiny sensor. As someone pointed out, that's entirely Apple's own decision-making; no body forced them to make the lid so thin. OTOH, I do see people complaining that it isn't thinner yet, so that's a tough circle to square.
Oh, but there absolutely is. I assure you if you put an iPhone on a tripod next to your monitor and use that for Teams or Zoom, other participants will be surprised about your video quality. I know because I've done exactly that.
Which makes sense: the iPhone front-facing sensor is about 7mm deep; the MacBook one about 2mm. It's not even a competition; the iPhone can simply do a much better job gathering light.
So, what can Apple do?
The main problem is the relatively tiny sensor. As someone pointed out, that's entirely Apple's own decision-making; no body forced them to make the lid so thin. OTOH, I do see people complaining that it isn't thinner yet, so that's a tough circle to square.
Oh, but there absolutely is. I assure you if you put an iPhone on a tripod next to your monitor and use that for Teams or Zoom, other participants will be surprised about your video quality. I know because I've done exactly that.
Which makes sense: the iPhone front-facing sensor is about 7mm deep; the MacBook one about 2mm. It's not even a competition; the iPhone can simply do a much better job gathering light.
So, what can Apple do?
- maybe at this point, there's a newer tiny sensor. Could be. The M1 computers are almost entirely the same design as their Intel-based predecessors, so if Apple was to add newer sensors, this probably wasn't the revision to do it.
- maybe they'll revise the design to have a slightly thicker lid. Unusual move for Apple, but not unprecedented. They basically did just that for the keyboard.
- maybe they'll add a bump to the back. Probably not, but if you had asked me ten years ago, I wouldn't have predicted iPhones to have a camera bump either, and look where we are now!
- or, they could add a bump to the front, which then sinks into a newly expanded latch underneath the trackpad. You'd be looking at that all the time, though, unless they come up with a clever optical illusion.
- they could do what Dell did, with a nosecam: don't put the camera in the lid at all; instead, put it on the keyboard. Much more room for a deep sensor there, but unfortunately, a rather awkward angle. Dell eventually went back to a more traditional arrangement.
- they might be able to do a multi-sensor setup like https://www.extremetech.com/extreme...ra-that-fits-in-your-pocket-for-a-stiff-price
Gruber's video looks way better. I think what we are really seeing here is a proper lighting setup...vs not. Even Joanna's bigger camera setup couldn't make up for the poor lighting in the room she was shooting in. Gruber had his setup next to a window with natural light, making the job easy for the 720p cam.