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I think because it has no room for the module. Cameras these days tend to bulge out of the case of the phone...
by diamondo25 6y ago
I think because it has no room for the module. Cameras these days tend to bulge out of the case of the phone...
- redisman 6y agoGood optics need physical space that a super flat screen doesn't have (in depth). My Macbook screen is like 1/4th of the depth of my iPhone
- mfkp 6y agoIf people don't mind a bulge in their phone, I doubt they'd mind a camera bulge sticking out the back of their laptop.
- justwalt 6y agoThat sounds like something Apple would never do. Though I might have said the same thing about the camera notch on the iPhone.
- ourcat 6y agoI've always been amazed that Apple did the camera bulge. I'm quite sure that an iPhone not being able to lay flat on a table without wobbling would have caused Steve Jobs to throw it at whoever designed it.
- masklinn 6y ago> I've always been amazed that Apple did the camera bulge. At this point I can only assume they simply never managed to find a way to significantly improve the module while keeping things flush.
- Kliment 6y agoThen just make the whole thing a bit thicker so it's flat (and put in extra battery). The current solution is phenomenally ugly and annoying.
- anthony_romeo 6y agoWell, according to this random article I didn't fully read and just now searched for to justify the rest of my sentence's unfounded speculation (https://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-case-survey-2014-7?op=1 https://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-case-survey-2014-7?op...), the vast majority of phone users put cases around their phones, so perhaps the opinion is that the bulge is negligible at this point, and the pursuit of thinness is in part to accommodate users with cases.
- setr 6y agoThe problem is that if you assume case-usage in the design, then the whole thing about it being physically premium materials, smoothly rounded corners and such stops making sense -- you're going to shove it in rubber anyways. The only thing that matters then is the screen itself, and maybe the hardware buttons (eg volume controls)
- httpsterio 6y agoWhen something costs lore in dollars than it weights in grams, you can bet on me doing my best lot to break it. Phones are already pretty prone to breakage and they're easily fumbled as well. I enjoy the materials in my phone and I'd love to use it without a case, but when my phone bumped against a saltshaker and the glass back panel cracked, I felt miffed to pay 160 euros to have that replaced when a 10 euro case would've prevented any damage.
- acdha 6y agoJohnny Ives was obsessed with thinness - it’s the same problem which lead to the bad keyboards. Now they’ve been putting people who haven’t forgotten about usability in charge I would not be surprised if the next case design included a non-terrible webcam since it’s unlikely that anyone is going to stop video conferencing even if we do go back to the office.
- totalZero 6y agoJony Ive* Fair point, but Apple isn't the only company selling laptops with ho-hum webcams.
- spijdar 6y agoJust an anecdote, but I've always felt the webcams on macs I've used the past few years are worse than much cheaper Wintel PC webcams. Could just be cognitive bias though, since everyone complains about mac webcams all the time.
- yborg 6y agoCompany outfitted us with Dell Alienware m17 R3 laptops, an expensive gaming model that has built-in head tracking. The camera is a 720p with terrible image quality, worse than any Macbook. So no, I don't think Apple is below standard here.
- acdha 6y agoI think it’d be interesting to compare with equivalent price points. Does a $2500 PC have a better camera than a MacBook Pro or is it really more like everyone is skimping and Mac owners are just more vocal about expecting something closer to a mid-2010s iPhone?
- totalZero 6y ago> Does a $2500 PC have a better camera than a MacBook Pro Even the cheapest Galaxy S phones have a better front-facing camera than a 2020 MacBook Pro. 720p is less than one megapixel. Other PC makers have the same problem. https://www.wsj.com/video/series/joanna-stern-personal-technology/laptop-webcam-showdown-macbook-air-dell-xps-theyre-pretty-bad/415D393C-4320-442B-974D-1887E20C057F https://www.wsj.com/video/series/joanna-stern-personal-techn... The only justification I can think of for having such a cheap webcam is that it takes less battery power to process low-res streaming video at lower frame rates.
- masklinn 6y ago> I doubt they'd mind a camera bulge sticking out the back of their laptop. A bulge at the back of the laptop would be way more problematic e.g. way more likely to catch on bags, or otherwise be damaged. What I doubt most people would mind is the screen side being slightly thicker.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- CodesInChaos 6y agoOr have a bulge on the front side of the screen and a corresponding mound on the keyboard side. While it conflicts with the touchpad, it could still be a worthwhile tradeoff.
- barkingcat 6y agoYah this precisely. Why are phones allowed to have bulges and chins and notches, but laptops somehow are too "thin" to do the same? For that matter, why hasn't anyone made a laptop screen with a centre notch? people accepted that for phones and now every large manufacturer of phones use notches in their phones. Laptops are much larger and heavier so it's really doable to include a better camera. The only thing blocking isn't technical.
- saurik 6y agoI mean, it's one thing to have a part of my phone that is 15% thicker than the rest, but it is another thing entirely to have a part of my laptop screen that is 400% thicker than the rest ;P.
- rozab 6y agoNobody buys a laptop for the webcam. That's why.
- Fnoord 6y agoExactly, it just has to be good enough. Same with front facing camera. What isn't good enough is Dell's XPS bottom camera.
- N3cr0ph4g1st 6y agoThe bottom camera has been gone for a year or two now
- solstice 6y agoAre you sure that that won't have begun to change after one year of pandemic-related Home-Office?
- nom 6y agoFor the bulges you have to consider that most people use phone cases, which gives the designers a bit more room. On laptops you can either create a bump on the backside of the lid, which looks weird as the use of it is not obvious, or you can extend the camera in the front and create a dent in the bottom shell, which also has no clear use and seems out of place. Either way, it will look and feel weird. On phones it at least highlights the powerful camera and most users are not bothered by it as it extends into the phone case.
- danmur 6y agoPretty annoying place for a bulge though, and it would be more disruptive on a laptop.
- TechBro8615 6y agoMaybe the camera could protrude from the screen and fit into a hole on the bottom of the case when folded. Would be pretty ugly though.
- samatman 6y agoMore than ugly, it would fill up with lint and gunk and prevent closing the laptop, perhaps even damaging the screen if the user applied force. It's a non-starter I'm afraid.
- vsskanth 6y agoThank you. Never thought of this. It all makes sense now.
- ravenstine 6y agoOr they could at least make a webcam add-on with a superior camera, but as far as I know they don't sell anything like that. Hell, make it possible to use an iPhone as a webcam!
- llampx 6y agoI remember the article linked recently where someone took apart an old Apple iSight and put in a Raspberry Pi + Camera into the housing. And it had fantastic image quality.
- bootlooped 6y agoSo rather than put a crappy camera in the phone, they expanded the volume to fit the camera. I wonder why that isn't something we see with laptops? You could have it bulge out of the back, or have some clever cutout below the trackpad and let it bulge out the front.