Apple's much-maligned Studio Display webcam gets manual framing

Apple has released a firmware update for its Studio Display to improve its poorly reviewed 12-megapixel ultrawide webcam, it said in the release 17 notes spotted by 9to5Mac. While the company (sort of) addressed image quality issues in previous updates, users still complained about the camera's relatively high tilt that can be distracting on video calls. Now, the latest update "adds support for zoom, recenter and manual framing" to the webcam, giving users more control over how they look

The new controls now let you zoom and pan across the image to help position yourself in the frame the way you want, and you can go back to the default settings by hitting the "recenter" button. That should be a big help for those who use the webcam in manual mode, though it also works with Center Stage to automatically frame you in the image. The update also adds "minor stability improvements" to the Studio Display. Note that the Studio Display firmware update also requires the latest macOS Sonoma release that came out yesterday.

Also via the macOS Sonoma release, Apple brought the same controls over to the Continuity Camera that lets you use your iPhone for video chats on Mac. That might be a better option for many Studio Display owners, as despite all the fixes, the webcam still ain't great.