MacBook Pro 16" camera quality significantly worse than "Late 2013" model

[fs454]

I’ve once read an article which states that a key reason why manufacturers don’t bother to make more than 720p web cameras is because many conference/video calling software including FaceTime support only 720p (and those which support higher don’t do so very well). So to have one any better would be pointless unless you wanted to take selfies I guess.
[automerge]1575853505[/automerge]

We have Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat with millions of people happily posting selfies and a lot more.

Now, try get them to now also post their passwords...

Your face isn’t as valuable as you think it is. It just isn’t a security risk otherwise you wouldn’t go out without a paper bag on your head. There aren’t many things you hide from others as much as your credentials.

It is both irrational human behaviour but also a normal phenomena for people to be scared about their webcam and mics being hacked. But when you break it down, you realise it makes no sense to protect your face more than your credentials online.

I think it's just a fundamental privacy thing. You buy blinds because you don't want people staring at you doing nothing in your own house, same reason applies for the camera. Even if your image is useless, it just feels better to know that window has been shut.

 

[LoganT]

ITT: People who don’t understand that people sometimes use their computer to watch things that turn them on and do physical things to their body and blackmail.

 

[Pro7913]

Why not 60P for Facetime?

 

[baypharm]

For what it’s worth, when I was doing contract work with the U.S Government it was required of me to go though a rather extensive criminal background check involving fingerprints and face scans. I was later notified that my personal data including fingerprints had been stolen by an unknown entity. Now, one can create all sorts of theories about what is going to happen next. In my estimation, it is too early to make any determination. Decades from now when technology has advanced beyond our current capacity, this stolen data may just be invaluable for all sorts of nefarious activities.

 

[Nuno Guimarães]

Hi! First of all, sorry for my English!

It seems that here are people that are pro in Mac. So, I would like to ask if someone can help me with a problem.

I can't use the camera of my MacBook Pro. All the programs I ran which uses the camera says the same thing - There is no camera...

I've tried to use the terminal with the commands:

sudo killall VDCAssistant

sudo killall AppleCameraAssistant

Don't work!



I've tried to shutdown and restart taping command+Alt+P+R

Don't work!

I need to do some videoconference meetings ando don't know what to do.



Any help? Please!!!

 

[theorist9]

Not really understanding technology and paranoia would be the first two, but I am open to other explanations if anyone would offer them.

Just because someone disagrees with you doesn't mean they don't understand technology as well as you. It could mean they understand it better. Consider, for instance, the following:

"'Covering the camera is a very common security measure,' Lysa Myers, a security researcher at the data security firm ESET, said in an email. 'If you were to walk around a security conference, you would have an easier time counting devices that don’t have something over the camera.'"

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/23/...laptop-camera-you-should-consider-it-too.html

 

[aevan]

Just because someone disagrees with you doesn't mean they don't understand technology as well as you. It could mean they understand it better. Consider, for instance, the following:

"'Covering the camera is a very common security measure,' Lysa Myers, a security researcher at the data security firm ESET, said in an email. 'If you were to walk around a security conference, you would have an easier time counting devices that don’t have something over the camera.'"

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/23/...laptop-camera-you-should-consider-it-too.html

Oh, I’m aware it’s technologically possible, though on a MacBook, it would really be hard to have the camera working without the green light glowing - this is the way Apple intentionally made the hardware so, if nothing else, you’d always know when it’s working. But even without that - yes, it’s technically possible to activate your camera just as it’s very possible (and easy) to have a camera drone spy on you through the windows - so you should probably keep your windows covered with black tape.

When I said “they don’t understand technology” I meant they don’t rationally understand it, not technologically. It very much possible to spy on people with cameras. But it’s also possible for your phone to spy on you, your smart TV, your security cameras, etc. There are people who live offline because they understand all the dangers of the Internet. There are people who refuse to use Touch ID or don’t download files or use credit cards. It is always possible to use technology in a bad way. So, my question is - why stop at cameras? You should probably stop using internet as well, and also, don’t carry a gps-enabled phone with you.

 

[nidhijainseth]

I would agree Apple is now shipping really poor Camera in their 16" MacBook Pro. I bought it in Sep 2020 and it is so frustrating for it is the most expensive machine and my camera makes me look so bad on on zoom meeting. When I spoke to customer service they said Apple is aware about it and yet he had no resolution other then I could just leave a feedback and then wait. All this after buying a laptop for $2600. Just not fair. IN fact my mac book air which was 6 years old had a much better camera. Not sure what is happening here.