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Apple Warns Customers Not To Close Its Laptops With A Camera Cover Attached:
Though it might strike some people as obvious advice, Apple has published a support page that warns MacBook owners not to close their laptop with a camera cover in place. Damage like a cracked display could result, according to the company, because "the clearance between the display and keyboard is designed to very tight tolerances." MacRumors spotted the advisory, which Apple posted on July 2nd.
Those little plastic camera covers with a sliding mechanism are super common nowadays. Heck, I remember getting one as a holiday gift from The Verge's parent company, Vox Media. But they could spell disaster for your laptop screen if you shut the laptop with the cover still on, and Apple's laptop repairs are extremely costly. Even with AppleCare+ accidental coverage, the deductible isn't cheap.
Instead of using a cover, Apple says that customers can trust the green LED beside the camera on a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air that illuminates whenever the camera is active.
Apple does acknowledge that some people have no choice in the matter and might be required to use a camera cover by their employer. In those cases, the company says the cover should always be removed before closing the laptop.
Not just apple laptops but all of them. Have any of my fellow Soylentils besides myself suffered damage to your laptop due to this?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by leon_the_cat on Sunday July 12 2020, @04:06PM (6 children)
"Covering the built-in camera might also interfere with the ambient light sensor and prevent features like automatic brightness and True Tone from working."
As alternative they say don't cover it, just trust our camera light indicator.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @05:03PM (2 children)
Yes, 'just trust us' was the interesting part.
The green light verifies that the camera is off, but when it is off, covering it causes features to stop working.
The way to make a trustworthy green light is for the light to be physically wired (no software in the path) to the camera disable.
Which contradicts the above covering causes problems statement.
Having the system software between the two sounds more like they made the green light a sad joke.
Sounds like there is a market for 0.1mm thick camera covers.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by helel on Sunday July 12 2020, @06:17PM (1 child)
Covering the ambient light sensor to the left of the camera causes features to stop working. The two are 1-2 mm apart so it's unlikely you'll cover the one without also covering the other.
I believe at some point someone managed to turn on the camera without activating the green light on some older models but the technique didn't translate to the machines being sold at the time, much less now. The real issue is that someone can activate the camera for just a second to take a picture, then turn it off again, and you're unlikely to notice during that brief time that the light is on.
As mentioned elsewhere in the comments, a piece of tape (or corner of a posit note) will do just fine for covering the camera, is thin enough to cause no damage, and is super cheep. You can even use a tiny piece to cover just the camera and not the ambient light sensor.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Sunday July 12 2020, @11:10PM
(Letting aside the typos,) Apple would need to sell some expensive iTape/iPostIt-s; because using a Mac is all about being the opposite of cheap.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Opportunist on Sunday July 12 2020, @05:38PM (2 children)
In other words, turning the camera off in software does NOT turn it off totally because it's still "on enough" to function as a light sensor. Did I get that right?
(Score: 1) by anubi on Sunday July 12 2020, @11:11PM
There are Android apps that use the camera as a light sensor used as a photoplethysmograph... A long word for a device that monitors heartbeat by looking at changes of opacity at the fingertips.
They ought to have a full blown pulse oximeter out as it is a color camera. One that could deduce blood oxygen by its color.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @12:58AM
No. There is a separate ambient light sensor located near the camera. When focusing on covering the camera, it is easy to cover the whole area including the ambient light sensor and not even notice.