Apple introduced a brand new feature called Continuity Camera in MacOS Ventura. This basically allows you to use your iPhone cameras as a webcam seamlessly in absolutely any program that recognises the in-built camera. This includes the likes of FaceTime, Skype, Discord and other messaging app that you’ve become so familiar with over the last few years.
The biggest problem with this feature, is no matter how easy it is to connect to your iPhone, there’s still the fact that there’s no obvious way to get your iPhone to sit where it needs to on your MacBook, and that’s where the Belkin iPhone MagSafe Mount comes in. It’s an incredibly simple-looking device that adds so much to your video calling experience.
As the name suggests, the MagSafe technology allows this little device to snap right to the back of your iPhone magnetically, and the little mount then clips straight onto the screen of your Macbook. Unfortunately, it’s quite a shallow mount, meaning you won’t be able to connect it to an external monitor or such, but it does fit really nicely on my 14″ MacBook Pro. There’s also another little ring on the back that allows you to use the mount to grip your phone easier, or use it as a stand.
The way that you MacBook connects to your iPhone to take advantage of its cameras for webcam functionality is insanely seamless. Once you’ve made the connection in your settings on your MacBook, every time you open a video calling application such as FaceTime, it’ll automatically connect to your phone and it honestly just works.
You’re then able to use features such as as centre stage to follow you around the room or keep your face front and centre, and portrait or studio lighting as well. The fact of the matter is, the quality of your iPhone (I’m using an iPhone 14 Pro) is miles better than the built in MacBook Pro 14″ camera quality. Everything from lighting, to quality to colour is just not even comparable.
Another really cool feature is desk view. I’m not even going to pretend to understand how it works, but basically, my understanding is that it uses the ultra wide lens to crop a very small section of space in front of you on the desk and presents that for the likes of unboxings or walk throughs, which you can then present to others on calls. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty damn cool.
If you’re someone who does a lot of calls on your MacBook and are dissatisfied with the video quality, this little gadget will set you back $44.95 on the Apple store, so it is on the pricier side, but it’s obviously a lot cheaper than buying a Webcam of this quality.