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Have a mute button on your microphone and cover for your camera. Something you can see is engaged (e.g. a light goes on/off). Some laptops now have switches th
by kurthr 5y ago
Have a mute button on your microphone and cover for your camera. Something you can see is engaged (e.g. a light goes on/off).
Some laptops now have switches that disconnect them from USB... which can be a different kind of pain, if there are other devices that may be connected to.
- brimble 5y agoLots of the mutes for external mics still do it in software. The software may run on the microphone itself and not the host computer, but still. I don't trust it. Give me something that interrupts a circuit. Many laptops (notably including MacBooks) can be damaged by even fairly thin camera covers. Which sucks, because they should very obviously be standard.
- chipotle_coyote 5y agoMost MacBooks are also designed so the camera “on” light is impossible to disable in software.
- brimble 5y agoSome hardware up there must be active and sending data even when the light's not on. It's how they make the (excellent, can hardly live without it now that I'm used to it) automatic monitor color temp adjustment work, AFAIK. Though maybe that's a separate sensor from the camera proper.
- AnonC 5y agoThat’s certainly a different sensor, called the ambient light sensor.
- kayodelycaon 5y agoThe camera and microphones are run through the T2 security chip. Also, there's a separate ambient light sensor.