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. They're simply Plug and Play on modern Macs running MacOS Sur, 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.
Right-click USB Video Device and select Update Driver Software. In the Update Driver Software window that appears, select Browse my computer for driver software. Select Let me pick and then click Next. Select the Logitech camera as your device and then click Next. NOTE: This screen shows the Logitech HD Pro Webcam C910 as an example.
- 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.
- A few years back they released Logitech web camera software Mac OSX Yosemite, Mavericks, Leopard. It was technically not 'Driver' software: OSX handles that with the system-level support for UVC compatible cameras. It's more a webcam capture application Macintosh users can install to perform HD still image and video clip capture control.
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 Apple friendly driverless UVC webcam models listed below and elsewhere on the site. We're devoted to tracking the Mac friendly web camera and video conferencing peripheral scene.Plug-N-Play Mac Webcam Picks
Recommended UVC compliant external cams for OSXLast Updated: October 18th, 2020
(Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)
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 Microsoft Webcams 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.
Best Creative Web 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.
3rd-Party Apple Compatible Cameras
Although Logitech, Creative Labs, and Microsoft have dominated 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.
About Driver-Free UVC Webcams
UVC is a compatibility standard for USB video chat cameras. Apple's UVC Kernel Extensions are built into MacOS Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave and Sierra, as well as OSX ElCapitan, Yosemitie, Mavericks, Lion and Leopard. That means any UVC compliant external USB camera should just work when plugged into a Mac's USB 2.0 speed or faster port. No additional webcam drivers are required. Windows, Linux, Andrioid, and Chrome OS also now natively support UVC class video camera device standard.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.
All 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 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 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 resoultion 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.VGA QuickCam Ultra - 640x480 Fixed Focus
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, Zoom, Apple Messages, Skype, and ISPQ VideoChat, or for capturing and uploading clips to YouTube, Vimeo, Daily Motion or other video sites.Logitech Camera Drivers Mac
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 that most (but not all) webcams incorporate. A separate USB desktop microphone might be desired to provide the best sound quality to dramatically improve your online streaming, voice and video capture and recording sessions.Headsets or earbuds can help you have a far better videoconferencing, FaceTime, Zoom or Mac Skype call experience and help minimize background noise, or echo and feedback. USB headsets may have more advantages than 4-Pole 1/8' TRRS 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.
Specialty Webcams For MacOS
Beyond conventional chat, streaming and capture cams, this website also features more specialized Apple compatible web camera solutions. These include: Document Cameras for educators and presentations. Mac compatible USB Digital Microscopes for labwork and inspections. There are also both wired and wireless Security and Surveillance Cameras. Lastly, for group video chat we cover Mac friendly webcams that offer fully-featured voice and video conferencing with mic and speakerphone hardware for business meeting and huddle room environments.Logitech Uvc Driver For Macbook
Hello All,
I am working on a USB Video Class (UVC) compliant device, and noticed some strange issues with UVC enumeration on Mac OS. I am currently running Sierra 10.12.1 on a Macbook Air 13' mid-2011 edition.
Often (~25-50% of the time), UVC class-specific enumeration is not completed. I have been testing with the device my company is creating, and as a control, an industry-standard UVC-compliant device (Logitech C920) and observed similar results. These are both USB composite devices, consisting of USB audio class (microphone, and optionally speaker) and USB video class (camera) components.
In all cases, the audio (UAC) functionality is properly enumerated when the device is plugged in. This is presumably because this is central to the operating system, and needs to be made available in the system sound preferences.
The video (UVC) functionality, however, is a different story. This is not enumerated until a camera application is executed, but fairly often, the video enumeration is just not initiated by the host. I have found somewhat better results when the USB device is plugged in prior to opening the camera application, but either way the video device is available significantly less than 100% of the time.
Yes, sometimes the user will have to unplug and re-plug the UVC device less than a few times in order to restore the camera functionality, but regardless the end-user experience seems rather poor for these class-compliant devices that are supposed to be supported by the USB driver that ships with Mac OS. I have tested with many applications - Photobooth, Quicktime, Facetime, Skype, Zoom, and Hangouts...all exhibited the same issue, so my presumption is that this is a bug in the UVC host driver in the operating system itself.
It's possible that I have missed something - I haven't really found a good way to see what's going on inside this version of Mac OS during the enumeration process. All I can see from my protocol analyzer is that sometimes the UVC function is initialized when the camera application starts, and sometimes it is not. Any advice on how I can gather more info on what is happening would be greatly appreciated!
Hopefully this is something that has been noticed and is being fixed. I will also look into following the formal bug reporting process, but it's probably a good idea to get some input from the community before taking that next step. Is anyone else seeing this? Does anyone know a good way I can log what is happening for the bug report?
Thanks in advance,
Chris