Mac Webcams That Just Work

Looking to buy a driver-free, fully Macintosh compatible webcam? Have USB 2.0, 3.0 or 3.1 ports? The external webcam models listed here are UVC - USB Video Class compliant and are simply Plug and Play on modern Macs running MacOS Catalina, Mojave and Sierra, as well as OSX El Capitan, Yosemite, Mavericks, Lion, and Leopard. Some older cameras made for Windows PC's may not work on Apple Macintosh computers, or Mac web camera drivers may not exist.
Save yourself wasted money and frustration.

How to Test a Webcam on PC or Mac. This wikiHow teaches you how to find out if your webcam is working in Windows or macOS. Click the menu. It's usually at the bottom-left corner of the screen. Mac Webcam, HD 1080P Webcam with Microphone for Streaming, 925A HDR USB Computer Web Camera Pro Video Cam for Mac PC Windows Skype Obs Twitch YouTube Xsplit Xbox One -Tripod included.

Make certain you have USB 2.0 speed or faster ports, OSX 10.5+, and a Mac faster than 1Ghz. You can then confidently choose one of these known working and Apple friendly driverless UVC webcam models listed below and elsewhere on our site. We're devoted to tracking the Mac friendly web camera and video conferencing peripheral scene.

Webcam Software For Mac

Plug-N-Play Mac Webcam Picks

Recommended UVC compliant external cams for OSX:

Best Logitech Cameras For Mac

C922 Stream Pro w/Tripod Mount
Improved Frame Rates Up To 60FPS
#1 CHOICE : Mac Compatible HD Webcam With Standard Tripod Mount
Like: Revised C920-series optimized for high frame-rate live streaming: 1080p @ 30FPS and 720p @ 60FPS with H.264 video compression. Optical quality glass lens. Stereo Dual microphones.
For 90% of Mac users, this is your BEST CHOICE for high-quality video capture, conferencing and live streams. Besides Amazon, you can find competitive pricing for the C922 webcam on eBay as well.
Dislike: Logitech packages two different confusing SKU's: The C922 model comes bundled with a mini-tripod, the C922X (x=without) model doesn't.
Wide-Angle HD Camera
90 Degree Field Of View
#2 CHOICE : Premium Logitech C930e HD Webcam
Incredible State-Of-The-Art Image Detail, Smooth Autofocus, H.264 Compression.
Like: Tripod Mount. 1080p HD Webcam. Zeiss Optical Lens. Dual Microphones.
Dislike: You Might Not Prefer A 90 Degree Wide-Angle View.
Logitech C920S Cam
High Quality : Great Value
#3 CHOICE : Mac Compatible Logitech HD Webcam
Excellent detail and clarity, Hardware Autofocus, H.264 Compression
Like: Tripod Mounting Hole. Zeiss Glass Lens. Stereo Microphone. Privacy Shutter. Though superceded by the newer 922, this remains an excellent camera - especially at it's lower street price.
Dislike: None. Excellent All-Around Choice - Razor Sharp.
Portable HD Webcam
Tripod Camera Mount
Like: Lower-priced 1080p HD webcam. Glass lens. Standard camera tripod mount for flexibility in camera angles and placement. Folds flat for travel.
Dislike: Considered a 'Portable' cam - Has a rather short 3' cable.

Best Creative Labs Cameras For Mac

Creative Live Cam Chat
720p HD Resolution
Like: 720p HD Resolution, Fixed Focus, Echo Cancelling Microphone.
Dislike: Image not as sharp as Logitech C310 at this price point.

Best Microsoft Cameras For Mac

Microsoft HD Pro Webcam For Mac
Optical Lens w/AutoFocus
Like: Premium 1080p Resolution. Excellent Audio, Color Balance and Light Sensitivity.
Dislike: Flexi-Bend Clip May Not Be Ideal - But Has Standard Tripod Mounting Hole.
MS LifeCam HD For Mac
720p HD With AutoFocus
Like: Autofocus. Sharp Optical Glass Lens. Excellent Color Fidelity.
Dislike: No Tripod Mount. 720p Max Resolution HD Camera.

Other 3rd-Party Apple Compatible Cameras

Although Logitech, Creative Labs, and Microsoft dominate the OSX friendly videoconferencing cam market, several other brand-name cameras are worthy of consideration, espcially if you're on a budget.
Hue Flexible Neck Webcam
Excellent For Adult Video Play
Like: Ultimate Positioning Freedom. Clear HD Image. Internal Mic.
Dislike: Manual Focus. LED Lights Can Be Annoying Head-On.
Hewlett-Packard UVC Webcam
HP's Premium HD Camera
Like: 1080p Resolution. Autofocus. High-Quality Microphone.
Dislike: Snapshot Buttons Non-Functional on OSX. Excellent HD Cam.
RocketFish Mac HD Webcam
Autofocus + Stereo Microphones
Like: 720-1080P Resolution. Good Light Sensitivity and Color Balance.
Dislike: Discontinued. Snapshot Button Non-Functional.
Best Cheap Webcam
RocketFish 720p HD Camera
Like: Great Image! Responsive AutoFocus and Excellent Microphone Quality.
Dislike: Discontinued - But Still Available. Flimsy Mounting Clip.
1080p HD GearHead Webcam
Cheap 1080p Mac Webcam
Like: High HD Resolution. Auto-Focus. Stereo Mics.
Dislike: Lacks Precision Optics, Not As Sharp An Image.

Specialty Webcams For MacOS

Beyond conventional chat, streaming and capture cams, this website also features more specialized Apple compatible camera solutions. These include: Document Cameras for educators and presentations. Mac compatible USB Digital Microscopes for labwork and inspections. Wired and wireless Security Cameras. There are also fully-featured Voice and Video Conferencing Cameras witch mic and speakerphone hardware for business meeting and huddle room environments.

About Driver-Free UVC Video Class Webcams

UVC is a compatibility standard for USB video chat cameras. Apple's UVC Kernel Extensions built into MacOS Mojave and Sierra, as well as OSX ElCapitan, Yosemitie, Mavericks, Lion and Leopard means any UVC compliant external USB camera should just work when plugged into a USB 2.0 speed or faster port. No additional webcam drivers are required. Windows 7/8/10, Linux, Andrioid, and Chrome OS also natively support UVC class video cameras.
The cams listed here are ideal as an add-on webcam for an Apple Mac mini or Pro tower. They can also provide iMac and MacBook users more flexibiity in camera placement and quality over their built-in iSight. They're also good cross-platform PC and Linux webcams for those who use VMWare Fusion, Parallels or Apple's BootCamp on their Macs to run other operating systems.
The majority of recent Logitech's webcam models are now UVC compliant and officially supported on a Mac. However, many older discontinued mid-to-low end Logitech cameras were not UVC compliant: Depends on model number, different internal sensors, and part numbers.

Dirt Cheap Generic UVC Mac Webcams

'You get what you pay for...' seems to apply to many dirt-cheap no-name import USB video class web cameras. Feeling lucky? Don't care about warranty or returning it? Then explore cheap webcams on eBay or Amazon for ought-to, should, might probably work on an Apple driverless web camera options from China. In our testing, many of the cheap import cameras available for $10-$15 had high dead-on-arrival failure rates. Image quality varied widely. Some claimed to be High-Def 'HD' but were only low-resolution VGA camera sensors. Microphones sounded poor or were non-functional. Even some of the cams with a decent image simply stopped working soon after purchase. Overall they were poorly-constructed, cheap junk with a few rare exceptions.

Apple Compatible Web Cameras For Old Macs

For long obsolete Macs from the G4 and G5 era, remember UVC compliant webcams require USB 2.0 or faster ports. With their slow CPUs, 640x480 won't overwelm them. The Mac MUST also be running OSX 10.4.x at a minimum - the point where Apple began including UVC device support into the OS.
Best Webcam For Old Macs
VGA QuickCam Ultra - 640x480 Fixed Focus
Pico iMage USB 2.0 Webcam:
Like: Click Tilt Adjustment. Good Light Response & Color Balance.
Standard Tripod Camera Mount Hole
Dislike: Rather GRAINY Image - No Built-in Microphone
LOUSY BUDGET CAM: MacAlly VGA IceCam 2
Like: Sturdy Clip, Adjustable Focus Ring, On Indicator LED
Dislike: Needs VERY Bright Light Levels. Off-Color Problems. Cheap Import Cam Rebranded with MacAlly Logo. Harsh, Hollow Sounding Microphone.
Looks-Like-A-Logitech Driverless Cam
Like: Penny-Pincher Cheap UVC cam. Good Image Sharpness
Dislike: Ripoff Design. Low Quality Microphone
Microsoft Live! Web Cam - Value Priced
Like: Suprising Image Quality, Adjustable Focus Ring, Low-Cost
Dislike: Stand Designed For Desktop Not Laptop. No Microphone

Webcams For Obsolete Macs?

Trying to keep an antique Macintosh in use? Think FireWire instead. Modern high-resolution UVC cams simply WILL NOT WORK on old 800mhz or less Macs, who's slow and incompatible USB 1.x speed ports are FOURTY TIMES slower than USB 2.0. Those that claim to be USB 1.1 compatible in their specification listings may have utterly abysmal frame-rates on USB 1.x or show NO image at all, even though Apple's System Profiler may show that the camera exists on the USB 1.1 bus. Otherwise you're left dinking around with any of hundreds of old, discontinued webcams made for Windows and fiddling with Macam open-source drivers hoping for a combination that will work.
You can still find decent, used Apple iSight cams at Amazon or find a deal on an iSight on eBay. Sadly, Apple stopped manufacturing their very high-quality 1394 FireWire auto-focus web camera rather quickly. 1394 is better than USB for video conferencing and chat in many technical aspects: External FireWire webcam compatibility with iMovie, less CPU overhead, high frame-rates and avoids USB device contention when slugging it out on a USB hub. USB cameras aren't the only options to provide Macintosh users with high quality choices to chat and videoconference using popular Mac OSX applications like FaceTime, Yahoo Messenger, Apple Messages, Skype, and ISPQ VideoChat, or for capturing and uploading clips to YouTube, Vimeo, Daily Motion or other video sites.

Choosing An External Mac Compatible Web Cam

What are key features to look for when shopping for an Apple compatible webcam? Even though the vast majority of Apple computer systems incorporate an iSight camera into the display, there's still tremendous interest in buying an external Mac camera that offers improved image quality, higher frame rates, a better internal microphone, increased HD resolution, or additional flexibility in camera angles, mounting options, and positioning. Please see the Mac Webcam Shopper Guide on this site for a more in-depth review of camera features to look for when pondering the optimal hardware for your business or personal video capture, streaming and conferencing needs.

Video Conferencing Microphones & Headsets

Most, but not all Macs have a built-in microphone for 'good enough' sound capture. But another option is a good quality Mac compatible USB webcam with a mic which most (but not all) webcams incorporate. A separate USB desktop microphone might be desired to provide the best sound quality to improve your online voice and video capture and recording sessions.
Headsets or earbuds can help you have a far better videoconferencing, FaceTime or Mac Skype call experience and help minimize background noise, echo and feedback. USB headsets may have more advantages than 1/8' Analog mini-jack types that often compete with your external speaker system. A high-quality Mac headset comes in handy for not only Mac VOIP, video conferences and Apple speech recognition, but top notch iTunes audio playback and Podcast recording and listening as well.

BestWebcams for Mac MiniiMore2019

Webcams are quite useful and as more and more folks are looking to share their voice online they have become increasingly important. If you're looking for an external webcam to go with your new Mac Mini, whether for video chatting, video conferences, or to enhance your Twitch stream, we've found some of the best you can get.

Best 4K Camera: Logitech Brio

As of this writing, this is one of the few (and possibly only) 4K webcams on the market. Logitech has a fantastic track record of making great webcams and now it's upped its game even further. It's a USB-C plug-and-play camera with two viewing angles and Logitech's great color balance and color correcting software built in so no matter what your setup is like, you're going to get crisp, clean video from this guy.

$200 at Amazon

Top notch: Tandberg PrecisionHD

Tandberg offers a camera for the professional streamers with 720p recording at 30FPS for smooth video. The internal optics are what really set it apart as the light correction is almost unmatched and the optical zoom means you never have to sacrifice resolution if you need to zoom in to get a better shot. It comes at a price though so definitely not for the faint of heart.

$295 at Amazon

Tried and true: Logitech C920

This is one of the best and most popular webcams on the market and for good reason. It records 1080p at 30FPS with a 78-degree viewing angle so you always look your best. The best part is the incredibly impressive noise-canceling microphone that blocks out all the annoying background noise.

$50 at Amazon

Let's get down to business: Logitech C930e

The C930 builds on all the great things about the C920 but increases the viewing angle to 90 degrees. This camera is also targeted at the business market so if you need to pick up some for the office, this is a great one to look at that won't make the finance guy mad at you. As it is a business product, it does not include the Logitech software that comes bundled with the consumer version.

$66 at Amazon

Stream like a pro: Logitech C922x

If you're a streamer and want to upgrade your camera game then this camera should be on your short list. It supports full 1080p video recording, background replacement to integrate your live image with a custom background, along with two mics for stereo audio. It also comes with a six-month X-Split software license.

$100 at Amazon

Light up your world: Razer Kiyo

Razer is a household name in the gaming community so you know they would build a solid streaming camera and they have. The Kiyo offers full 1080p recording, it's compatible with many of the popular streaming software platforms and best of all, it has an adjustable ring light around it to make sure you always have the best lighting for your setup.

$96 at Amazon

Super portable: Logitech C615

The Logitech C615 is a great little camera for your computer that is also super portable. The fold-and-go design allows you to take your 1080p webcam with you wherever you may need to go. It's also got 360 degrees of motion so you can capture whatever you need. At this price, it's hard to beat.

Best Webcam For Macbook Pro

$32 at Amazon

Best on a budget: Logitech C270

It's no surprise to see yet another Logitech camera make this list as it offers an incredible selection of cameras even at the budget segment. If you just need the basics, this is the camera to get. It has 720p recording and is really the best you can get without breaking the bank.

Webcam For Mac Mini

$20 at Amazon

Most flexible: Hue HD Pro Camera

If flexibility is what you need then check out this guy. It sits on your desk and has a flexible neck so you can adjust it to any angle you need. It comes in some fun colors as well and it a lot of teachers have found it very useful in their classroom so if that's you, give it a look.

$80 at Amazon

Webcams are still incredibly important in our lives both personally and professionally and whether you need one for streaming your gameplay, conferencing with your coworkers, or chatting with your family, you can find whatever you need on this list. The best one for most people is probably the Logitech C920 because it offers a great set of features at a really affordable price. Whatever you need though, you're sure to find something for you.

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