Macbook Pro Facetime Camera Quality

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Your MacBook Pro comes equipped with many different functions and features that make it a really great computer to have.

All of the high-end tech that is built into these computers can allow you to accomplish many different tasks quickly and Apple products are well-known for their intuitive interface and ease of use. If you just got your hands on a new MacBook Pro, congratulations and welcome to the club!

Apple MacBook Pro 13.3' with Touch Bar - 10th Gen Intel Core i5 - 16GB Memory - 512GB SSD - Space Gray Quad-core 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i5 Processor 2.0GHz 13.3' LED-Backlit Retina Display with IPS Technology. One thing that didn't change is the camera. In fact, Apple didn't change its webcams since 2012. If you check specs for 2020 MacBook Pro and specs for Late 2012 Mac, they both have '720p FaceTime HD camera'. So, if you are a YouTube blogger or need a good camera for school or work, you either have to use iPhone or buy an external device.

One basic function and piece of equipment that every MacBook Pro comes with is a camera.

Apple has updated the 12-inch Retina MacBook with Skylake processors, and even offered a Rose Gold version. But it still comes with a disappointing 480p FaceTime camera.

The quality of these cameras seems to improve with every new generation that Apple puts out and they are very functional and easy to use. These built-in cameras come in handy during a number of different circumstances and are simple to operate once you are familiar with the basic functions of your computer.

Reasons for Using Your MacBook Pro Camera

The camera on your MacBook Pro can be used for a variety of different reasons.

It is typically not used in the same way as a common camera on your phone or other devices. It would look pretty hilarious if you help up your computer for a family photo, wouldn't it?!

Pro

I suppose it would work for this, but most people use the built-in camera on their computer for other reasons than taking photos.

1. Video Calls & Chats

One of the most common uses for the built-in camera on your MacBook Pro is for video calls and chats.

Well known apps such as Facetime and Skype and utilize the camera to record your image in real-time and show it to whoever you are calling with. Since the camera on your laptop is located above your screen, it is easy to adjust the angle to center it on your face or body to make these calls happen. These cameras work really well for these calls and chats.

2. Photo Booth

Although it's not very common to use your laptop in a similar fashion as a regular camera, that doesn't mean it can't be done.

With the Photo Booth app on your MacBook Pro, you can take fun and creative photos easily from your computer. The app operates similar to an old-school photo booth where you hit a button, hear a countdown, and then a photo or two are taken. Photo Booth can be really fun and I've had a bunch of laughs using the program.

3. Live Streams

Another thing you can use your built-in camera for is live streaming.

You won't have the best high-quality using your computer's camera but you can easily live stream any talking or informative content if you have a YouTube channel or are currently a video blogger or interested in learning how to do so.

Using the camera on your MacBook is an easy way to learn the basics of how to live-stream and video blog and a lot of people use it for this reason.

How to Turn Your Camera On

In order to operate your camera and utilize it for any of the above purposes or whatever other reason you might want it for, you need to turn it on. It's actually really easy to do and pretty self-explanatory so once you learn how to turn it on, you'll probably never forget how.

The first step to turning on your camera is to open whatever app you want to use your camera for. This could be any of the apps mentioned above including Facetime, Skype, or Photo Booth. There are other apps that use the camera feature and those can work for turning your camera on too.

When some of these apps are opened, such as Photo Booth, the camera will come on automatically. For the other apps, like Facetime and Skype, you might need to click on the video icon to turn the camera on. You'll know that your camera is on because there will be a small green light that comes on right next to the camera lens.

You'll also see the image that the camera is capturing displayed within the window of the app you are using.

If Your Camera Doesn't Turn On

Sometimes you might open up one of these apps and your camera will not turn on. There are a few troubleshooting tips you can use to try and fix the problem.

First, make sure that you only have one app that uses the camera open at a time. If you have two apps open and both are trying to use the camera, chances are only one will have access and the other won't work. Close any programs that might be trying to use your camera except the one you want to use.

You can also try restarting your computer and then opening up an app that uses the camera. This usually fixes the problem if you don't know why your camera is not turning on. If the restart doesn't work, you might need to update your operating system or the photo/video app you are trying to use.

Also Read: How to Turn off Camera On MacBook Pro

Final Thoughts

Using the camera on your MacBook Pro is easy and can also be a lot of fun.

Turning your camera on really is as simple as opening up one of the apps that use the camera or video function. It's rare that this doesn't turn your camera on but if so, just follow the troubleshooting steps and you should be good to go with a quick restart or update.

If you've never used your computer's camera before, give it a shot and you'll see how nice it is!

What do you use your built-in camera for most often?

Retina display

16‑inch (diagonal) LED‑backlit display with IPS technology; 3072‑by‑1920 native resolution at 226 pixels per inch with support for millions of colors

Supported scaled resolutions:

  • 2048 by 1280
  • 1792 by 1120
  • 1344 by 840
  • 1152 by 720

500 nits brightness

Wide color (P3)

True Tone technology

Refresh rates: 47.95Hz, 48.00Hz, 50.00Hz, 59.94Hz, 60.00Hz

2.6GHz 6‑core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 4.5GHz, with 12MB shared L3 cache

Configurable to 2.4GHz 8‑core Intel Core i9, Turbo Boost up to 5.0GHz, with 16MB shared L3 cache

2.3GHz 8‑core Intel Core i9, Turbo Boost up to 4.8GHz, with 16MB shared L3 cache

Configurable to 2.4GHz 8‑core Intel Core i9, Turbo Boost up to 5.0GHz, with 16MB shared L3 cache

512GB

512GB SSD

Configurable to 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB SSD

16GB

16GB of 2666MHz DDR4 onboard memory

Configurable to 32GB or 64GB of memory

  • AMD Radeon Pro 5300M with 4GB of GDDR6 memory and automatic graphics switching
  • Intel UHD Graphics 630
  • Configurable to AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 4GB of GDDR6 memory, AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 8GB of GDDR6 memory, or AMD Radeon Pro 5600M with 8GB of HBM2 memory
  • AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 4GB of GDDR6 memory and automatic graphics switching
  • Intel UHD Graphics 630
  • Configurable to AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 8GB of GDDR6 memory or AMD Radeon Pro 5600M with 8GB of HBM2 memory

Four Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports with support for:

  • Charging
  • DisplayPort
  • Thunderbolt (up to 40Gb/s)
  • USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10Gb/s)

Backlit Magic Keyboard with:

  • 65 (U.S.) or 66 (ISO) keys including 4 arrow keys in an inverted‑T arrangement
  • Touch Bar
  • Touch ID sensor
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Force Touch trackpad for precise cursor control and pressure-sensing capabilities; enables Force clicks, accelerators, pressure-sensitive drawing, and Multi-Touch gestures

Wi‑Fi

  • 802.11ac Wi‑Fi wireless networking
  • IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n compatible

Bluetooth

  • Bluetooth 5.0 wireless technology
  • 720p FaceTime HD camera

Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at millions of colors and:

  • Up to two displays with 6016‑by‑3384 resolution at 60Hz at over a billion colors or
  • Up to four displays with 4096‑by‑2304 resolution at 60Hz at over a billion colors

Thunderbolt 3 digital video output

  • Native DisplayPort output over USB‑C
  • VGA, HDMI, DVI, and Thunderbolt 2 output supported using adapters (sold separately)
  • High‑fidelity six‑speaker system with force‑cancelling woofers
  • Wide stereo sound
  • Support for Dolby Atmos playback
  • Studio‑quality three-mic array with high signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming
  • 3.5 mm headphone jack
  • Up to 11 hours wireless web
  • Up to 11 hours Apple TV app movie playback
  • Up to 30 days of standby time
  • Built‑in 100‑watt‑hour lithium‑polymer battery2
  • 96W USB‑C Power Adapter

Line voltage:
100V to 240V AC

Frequency:
50Hz to 60Hz

Operating temperature:
50° to 95° F (10° to 35° C)

Storage temperature:
-13° to 113° F (-25° to 45° C)

Macbook Pro Facetime Camera Quality Chart

Relative humidity:
0% to 90% noncondensing

Desktop apple mac pro. Operating altitude:
tested up to 10,000 feet

Maximum storage altitude:
15,000 feet

Maximum shipping altitude:
35,000 feet

Height: 0.64 inch (1.62 cm)

Width: 14.09 inches (35.79 cm)

Depth: 9.68 inches (24.59 cm)

Weight: 4.3 pounds (2.0 kg)3

macOS

macOS is the most advanced desktop operating system in the world. macOS Big Sur introduces a bold new design and major updates to apps — taking macOS to a new level of power and beauty.

Accessibility features help people with disabilities get the most out of their new MacBook Pro. With built-in support for vision, hearing, mobility, and learning, you can create and do amazing things.

Features include:
  • Voice Control
  • VoiceOver
  • Zoom
  • Increase Contrast
  • Reduce Motion
  • Siri and Dictation
  • Switch Control
  • Closed Captions
  • Text to Speech
Macbook

I suppose it would work for this, but most people use the built-in camera on their computer for other reasons than taking photos.

1. Video Calls & Chats

One of the most common uses for the built-in camera on your MacBook Pro is for video calls and chats.

Well known apps such as Facetime and Skype and utilize the camera to record your image in real-time and show it to whoever you are calling with. Since the camera on your laptop is located above your screen, it is easy to adjust the angle to center it on your face or body to make these calls happen. These cameras work really well for these calls and chats.

2. Photo Booth

Although it's not very common to use your laptop in a similar fashion as a regular camera, that doesn't mean it can't be done.

With the Photo Booth app on your MacBook Pro, you can take fun and creative photos easily from your computer. The app operates similar to an old-school photo booth where you hit a button, hear a countdown, and then a photo or two are taken. Photo Booth can be really fun and I've had a bunch of laughs using the program.

3. Live Streams

Another thing you can use your built-in camera for is live streaming.

You won't have the best high-quality using your computer's camera but you can easily live stream any talking or informative content if you have a YouTube channel or are currently a video blogger or interested in learning how to do so.

Using the camera on your MacBook is an easy way to learn the basics of how to live-stream and video blog and a lot of people use it for this reason.

How to Turn Your Camera On

In order to operate your camera and utilize it for any of the above purposes or whatever other reason you might want it for, you need to turn it on. It's actually really easy to do and pretty self-explanatory so once you learn how to turn it on, you'll probably never forget how.

The first step to turning on your camera is to open whatever app you want to use your camera for. This could be any of the apps mentioned above including Facetime, Skype, or Photo Booth. There are other apps that use the camera feature and those can work for turning your camera on too.

When some of these apps are opened, such as Photo Booth, the camera will come on automatically. For the other apps, like Facetime and Skype, you might need to click on the video icon to turn the camera on. You'll know that your camera is on because there will be a small green light that comes on right next to the camera lens.

You'll also see the image that the camera is capturing displayed within the window of the app you are using.

If Your Camera Doesn't Turn On

Sometimes you might open up one of these apps and your camera will not turn on. There are a few troubleshooting tips you can use to try and fix the problem.

First, make sure that you only have one app that uses the camera open at a time. If you have two apps open and both are trying to use the camera, chances are only one will have access and the other won't work. Close any programs that might be trying to use your camera except the one you want to use.

You can also try restarting your computer and then opening up an app that uses the camera. This usually fixes the problem if you don't know why your camera is not turning on. If the restart doesn't work, you might need to update your operating system or the photo/video app you are trying to use.

Also Read: How to Turn off Camera On MacBook Pro

Final Thoughts

Using the camera on your MacBook Pro is easy and can also be a lot of fun.

Turning your camera on really is as simple as opening up one of the apps that use the camera or video function. It's rare that this doesn't turn your camera on but if so, just follow the troubleshooting steps and you should be good to go with a quick restart or update.

If you've never used your computer's camera before, give it a shot and you'll see how nice it is!

What do you use your built-in camera for most often?

Retina display

16‑inch (diagonal) LED‑backlit display with IPS technology; 3072‑by‑1920 native resolution at 226 pixels per inch with support for millions of colors

Supported scaled resolutions:

  • 2048 by 1280
  • 1792 by 1120
  • 1344 by 840
  • 1152 by 720

500 nits brightness

Wide color (P3)

True Tone technology

Refresh rates: 47.95Hz, 48.00Hz, 50.00Hz, 59.94Hz, 60.00Hz

2.6GHz 6‑core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 4.5GHz, with 12MB shared L3 cache

Configurable to 2.4GHz 8‑core Intel Core i9, Turbo Boost up to 5.0GHz, with 16MB shared L3 cache

2.3GHz 8‑core Intel Core i9, Turbo Boost up to 4.8GHz, with 16MB shared L3 cache

Configurable to 2.4GHz 8‑core Intel Core i9, Turbo Boost up to 5.0GHz, with 16MB shared L3 cache

512GB

512GB SSD

Configurable to 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB SSD

16GB

16GB of 2666MHz DDR4 onboard memory

Configurable to 32GB or 64GB of memory

  • AMD Radeon Pro 5300M with 4GB of GDDR6 memory and automatic graphics switching
  • Intel UHD Graphics 630
  • Configurable to AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 4GB of GDDR6 memory, AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 8GB of GDDR6 memory, or AMD Radeon Pro 5600M with 8GB of HBM2 memory
  • AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 4GB of GDDR6 memory and automatic graphics switching
  • Intel UHD Graphics 630
  • Configurable to AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 8GB of GDDR6 memory or AMD Radeon Pro 5600M with 8GB of HBM2 memory

Four Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports with support for:

  • Charging
  • DisplayPort
  • Thunderbolt (up to 40Gb/s)
  • USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10Gb/s)

Backlit Magic Keyboard with:

  • 65 (U.S.) or 66 (ISO) keys including 4 arrow keys in an inverted‑T arrangement
  • Touch Bar
  • Touch ID sensor
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Force Touch trackpad for precise cursor control and pressure-sensing capabilities; enables Force clicks, accelerators, pressure-sensitive drawing, and Multi-Touch gestures

Wi‑Fi

  • 802.11ac Wi‑Fi wireless networking
  • IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n compatible

Bluetooth

  • Bluetooth 5.0 wireless technology
  • 720p FaceTime HD camera

Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at millions of colors and:

  • Up to two displays with 6016‑by‑3384 resolution at 60Hz at over a billion colors or
  • Up to four displays with 4096‑by‑2304 resolution at 60Hz at over a billion colors

Thunderbolt 3 digital video output

  • Native DisplayPort output over USB‑C
  • VGA, HDMI, DVI, and Thunderbolt 2 output supported using adapters (sold separately)
  • High‑fidelity six‑speaker system with force‑cancelling woofers
  • Wide stereo sound
  • Support for Dolby Atmos playback
  • Studio‑quality three-mic array with high signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming
  • 3.5 mm headphone jack
  • Up to 11 hours wireless web
  • Up to 11 hours Apple TV app movie playback
  • Up to 30 days of standby time
  • Built‑in 100‑watt‑hour lithium‑polymer battery2
  • 96W USB‑C Power Adapter

Line voltage:
100V to 240V AC

Frequency:
50Hz to 60Hz

Operating temperature:
50° to 95° F (10° to 35° C)

Storage temperature:
-13° to 113° F (-25° to 45° C)

Macbook Pro Facetime Camera Quality Chart

Relative humidity:
0% to 90% noncondensing

Desktop apple mac pro. Operating altitude:
tested up to 10,000 feet

Maximum storage altitude:
15,000 feet

Maximum shipping altitude:
35,000 feet

Height: 0.64 inch (1.62 cm)

Width: 14.09 inches (35.79 cm)

Depth: 9.68 inches (24.59 cm)

Weight: 4.3 pounds (2.0 kg)3

macOS

macOS is the most advanced desktop operating system in the world. macOS Big Sur introduces a bold new design and major updates to apps — taking macOS to a new level of power and beauty.

Accessibility features help people with disabilities get the most out of their new MacBook Pro. With built-in support for vision, hearing, mobility, and learning, you can create and do amazing things.

Features include:
  • Voice Control
  • VoiceOver
  • Zoom
  • Increase Contrast
  • Reduce Motion
  • Siri and Dictation
  • Switch Control
  • Closed Captions
  • Text to Speech
  • 16‑inch MacBook Pro
  • 96W USB‑C Power Adapter
  • USB-C Charge Cable (2 m)

Your MacBook Pro comes with 90 days of complimentary technical support and a one‑year limited warranty. Purchase AppleCare+ for Mac to extend your coverage to three years from your AppleCare+ purchase date and add up to two incidents of accidental damage coverage every 12 months, each subject to a service fee of $99 for screen damage or external enclosure damage, or $299 for other repairable damage, plus applicable tax.

Configure your MacBook Pro with these options, only at apple.com:

  • 2.4GHz 8-core Intel Core i9, Turbo Boost up to 5.0GHz, with 16MB shared L3 cache
  • 32GB or 64GB of 2666MHz DDR4 memory
  • AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 4GB of GDDR6 memory
  • AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 8GB of GDDR6 memory
  • AMD Radeon Pro 5600M with 8GB of HBM2 memory
  • 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB SSD

Macbook Pro Camera Settings

MacBook Pro and the Environment

Apple takes a complete product life cycle approach to determining our environmental impact. Learn more

MacBook Pro is designed with the following features to reduce its environmental impact:

  • Mercury-free LED-backlit display
  • Arsenic-free display glass
  • BFR-free
  • PVC-free5
  • Beryllium-free
  • Highly recyclable aluminum enclosure
  • Meets ENERGY STAR requirements
  • Rated EPEAT Gold6

Apple and the Environment

Read our Product Environmental Reports for detailed information on the environmental performance of every Apple product.

Apple Trade In

Letting go of your old Mac is easy. If it's in good shape, you can trade it in for Apple Store credit. If it's not eligible for credit, we'll recycle it responsibly at no cost to you. Good for you. Good for the planet.

Mac Software

Macbook Pro Facetime Camera Quality Reviews

Displays and Adapters

Other Accessories





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