What is Continuity Camera? How to use your iPhone as a webcam for Mac

Are you fed up of your MacBook’s webcam just failing to live up to the video abilities of the iPhone sitting idly on your desk? Well, Apple has a solution in the form of Continuity Camera feature for macOS Ventura.

The newest Continuity feature – Apple’s umbrella term for interoperability features across its range of devices – was announced at WWDC 2022 and will help Mac users make use of their best camera at their disposal, wirelessly over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

The coolest part of the feature is the ability for it to work automatically. Apple says the Mac will recognise the presence of the iPhone, without the user having to manually select it from camera options. Continuity Camera will also utilise multiple iPhone cameras, showing your face and an aerial view of your desk thanks to the Ultra-Wide camera.

Apple is also planning to sell a Belkin holster for the iPhone to physically position it above the display of the Mac. We assume it’ll need some heft to avoid making devices like the MacBook Air top heavy.

Using the iPhone as a camera won’t just enable a better quality experience. It will also enable its unique features to come into play, including Center Stage and Portrait mode for a nice bokeh effect. That also applies to the new Studio Light feature, which will illuminate the user’s face and dim the background.

Users will also be able to select the Ultra-Wide camera on the iPhone to enable what it is calling Desk View “which simultaneously shows the user’s face and an overhead view of their desk — great for creating DIY videos, showing off sketches over FaceTime, and so much more.”

The devices must be signed into the same Apple ID, as with all Continuity features.

The feature will be available when iOS 16 and macOS Ventura become available later this year. These features that require two sets of devices to work together don’t always run smoothly though, and Apple has delayed features like Universal Control in the past.