Apple says it is working to fix poor Studio Display webcam performance

“We discovered an issue where the system isn’t behaving as expected. We’ll be making improvements in a future software update.”

While the new Studio Display from Apple is impressive in many regards, early reviews o of the device have been mixed, in part thanks to very poor webcam performance. Now, the company says it has discovered a software issue that it plans to fix in the future.

Multiple reviews noted the poor performance of the webcam. From The Verge:

Actually, it looks awful in good light and downright miserable in low light. I’ve tried it connected to the Mac Studio and on my MacBook Pro running macOS 12.3, and on both machines, it produces a grainy, noisy image with virtually no detail. I tried it in FaceTime, in Zoom, in Photo Booth, in QuickTime — you name it, it’s the same sad image quality. Turning off the Center Stage feature that follows you around the room doesn’t help. Turning portrait mode on and off doesn’t help.

The Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern said similar:

Yet Apple’s camera consistently produced grainy and washed-out images. There was so much missing detail in some of the shots that it reminded me of the camera on my old BlackBerry. On the plus side: No one could see my frizzy hair.

In response to these issues, Apple has issued a statement confirming it knows about the problem. Apple says that it has discovered an issues “where the system isn’t behaving as expected”, and says that Apple plans to make improvements “in a future software update.” While there is no clear timeline, it’s good to see Apple is at least aware of the issue, given just how noticeable the poor performance of the Studio Display’s webcam seems to be.