Apple Silicon M1 MacBook Air and Pro get improved cameras but still stuck at 720p

Apple has unveiled its first Macs with custom M1 chips. For its notebooks, those include the 13-inch MacBook Air and MacBook Pro and they come with what looks like some huge performance upgrades thanks to Apple’s custom M1 chip. While they also include improved FaceTime cameras, unfortunately, they’re still 720p.

This year with the amount of remote work skyrocketing around the world during the pandemic, it’s become more apparent than ever that the 720p FaceTime camera on MacBooks offers a subpar experience. We’ve seen a variety of alternatives popup from traditional camera makers offering Mac software to apps like Reincubate Camo that allows you leverage your iPhone camera as your Mac webcam.

During its November Apple Silicon Mac event, the company shared that its new MacBooks do feature improved cameras thanks to a new image signal processor (ISP). Apple says benefits include noise reduction, greater dynamic range, improved auto white balance, and ML-enhanced face detection.

But as it happens, they’re still stuck at that pesky 720p resolution.

Time will tell if Apple was able to improve the experience notably with its tweaks to the 720p camera hardware and with software in Big Sur.

• You can order the new Macs with M1 chips right now
• Apple Event News Hub and Live Blog — The first Apple Silicon Macs
• Apple announces 13-inch MacBook Pro with faster performance and longer battery thanks to M1 chip
• Apple unveils all-new MacBook Air powered by Apple Silicon M1 chip

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