Apple says that closing your Mac notebook with a camera cover on it might damage your display.
To protect users privacy, the Mac has a green LED indicator to highlight when the camera is on and in use.
Covering the built-in camera might also interfere with the ambient light sensor.
Privacy is very important in a day and age where information leaks like a sieve. The webcam in laptops is one point of entry for hackers to spy on potential victims. This is one of the reasons we have started seeing a lot of people hiding the webcam with tape or a dedicated webcam cover – to protect themselves from potential hackers and even phishing or threats. But doing so on a MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro could damage the display.
On its support page, Apple advises against the use of dedicated covers for the webcam. Apple also has some guidelines, in case you absolutely need to cover the webcam of your laptop for professional reasons and we have listed them for you down below.
MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro users could damage their display
Apple’s support page reads, “If you close your Mac notebook with a camera cover installed, you might damage your display because the clearance between the display and keyboard is designed to very tight tolerances. 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 an alternative to a camera cover, use the camera indicator light to determine if your camera is active, and decide which apps can use your camera in System Preferences”.
The camera in the Mac has been engineered so that it cannot be switched on without the LED indicator. So you will always know when the camera is on. Also, those on macOS Mojave or later will have to give an app permission before it can use the camera. In addition, users can always navigate to the system preference to check which apps are accessing the camera and change the permission settings.
However, Apple goes on to say, “If your work environment requires you to cover the camera on your Mac notebook, follow these guidelines to avoid damaging the display:
- Make sure the camera cover is not thicker than an average piece of printer paper (0.1mm).
- Avoid using a camera cover that leaves an adhesive residue.
- If you install a camera cover that is thicker than 0.1mm, remove the camera cover before closing your computer”.
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Sameer Mitha
Sameer Mitha lives for gaming and technology is his muse. When he isn’t busy playing with gadgets or video games he delves into the world of fantasy novels. View Full Profile
