macOS 13 Ventura Lets You Use Your iPhone's Camera as a Webcam

As part of its macOS 13 Ventura presentation at WWDC 2022, Apple today announced Continuity Camera, which gives Mac owners the ability to use their iPhone as a webcam.

Apple WWDC22 macOS Ventura Continuity Camera lifestyle 220606 big
A Mac running macOS 13 can automatically recognize and use the camera on an ‌iPhone‌ when it is nearby, without the need to wake or select it, and the ‌iPhone‌ can also connect to the Mac wirelessly.

Continuity Camera includes FaceTime features like Center Stage, Portrait mode, and a new Studio Light effect that illuminates a user's face while dimming the background.

In addition, Continuity Camera uses the Ultra Wide camera on an ‌iPhone‌ to enable Desk View, which simultaneously shows the user's face and an overhead view of their desk, which is useful for creating DIY videos, showing off sketches over ‌FaceTime‌, and more.

Continuity Camera is available on ‌iPhone‌ XR or later models. Using Continuity Camera wirelessly requires a Mac and an ‌iPhone‌ or iPad with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on, and both devices must be signed in to the same Apple ID with two-factor authentication.

Continuity Camera with Center Stage and Desk View is available on ‌iPhone‌ 11 or later running iOS 16. Studio Light is available on ‌iPhone‌ 12 or later running iOS 16.

For all the other details and new features in macOS 13 Ventura, see our dedicated article.

Related Forum: macOS Ventura

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Vertical Camera Feature

iPhone SE 4 Production Will Reportedly Begin Ramping Up in October

Tuesday July 23, 2024 2:00 pm PDT by
Following nearly two years of rumors about a fourth-generation iPhone SE, The Information today reported that Apple suppliers are finally planning to begin ramping up mass production of the device in October of this year. If accurate, that timeframe would mean that the next iPhone SE would not be announced alongside the iPhone 16 series in September, as expected. Instead, the report...
iPhone 17 Plus Feature

iPhone 17 Lineup Specs Detail Display Upgrade and New High-End Model

Monday July 22, 2024 4:33 am PDT by
Key details about the overall specifications of the iPhone 17 lineup have been shared by the leaker known as "Ice Universe," clarifying several important aspects of next year's devices. Reports in recent months have converged in agreement that Apple will discontinue the "Plus" iPhone model in 2025 while introducing an all-new iPhone 17 "Slim" model as an even more high-end option sitting...
Generic iPhone 17 Feature With Full Width Dynamic Island

Kuo: Ultra-Thin iPhone 17 to Feature A19 Chip, Single Rear Camera, Semi-Titanium Frame, and More

Wednesday July 24, 2024 9:06 am PDT by
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today shared alleged specifications for a new ultra-thin iPhone 17 model rumored to launch next year. Kuo expects the device to be equipped with a 6.6-inch display with a current-size Dynamic Island, a standard A19 chip rather than an A19 Pro chip, a single rear camera, and an Apple-designed 5G chip. He also expects the device to have a...
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Series Is Less Than Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Thursday July 25, 2024 5:43 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
icloud private relay outage

iCloud Private Relay Experiencing Outage

Thursday July 25, 2024 3:18 pm PDT by
Apple’s iCloud Private Relay service is down for some users, according to Apple’s System Status page. Apple says that the iCloud Private Relay service may be slow or unavailable. The outage started at 2:34 p.m. Eastern Time, but it does not appear to be affecting all iCloud users. Some impacted users are unable to browse the web without turning iCloud Private Relay off, while others are...
iPhone 17 Plus Feature Purple

iPhone 17 Rumored to Feature Mechanical Aperture

Tuesday July 23, 2024 9:32 am PDT by
Apple is planning to release at least one iPhone 17 model next year with mechanical aperture, according to a report published today by The Information. The mechanical system would allow users to adjust the size of the iPhone 17's aperture, which refers to the opening of the camera lens through which light enters. All existing iPhone camera lenses have fixed apertures, but some Android...

Top Rated Comments

Premium1 Avatar
28 months ago
Apple- "we won't upgrade the crappy cameras in macs, so use your phone instead"
Score: 38 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple Knowledge Navigator Avatar
28 months ago
So, this is the Studio Display update...
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
markfc Avatar
28 months ago
tvOS needs this so i can FaceTime from the TV.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Cognizant. Avatar
28 months ago

This is a really puzzling feature. Is this them admitting that the Mac cameras aren’t great?
No, it isn’t. There are no laptop cameras on earth that would even remotely compare to this. People hook up full on DSLRs to their computer to use as a streaming cam. Why this puzzles some of you is beyond me. This allows for extremely high quality webcam streaming.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bleighv Avatar
28 months ago
Aka..we are sorry for Studio Display’s webcam, hope this helps.

Luls
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Danfango Avatar
28 months ago
That's so going to crack a screen. How about stopping shipping ****** cameras in the computers.

Edit: this actually has a similar level of quality as truck nuts.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)