The built-in camera on your MacBook Pro is really useful for a variety of reasons. If you want to use popular apps like FaceTime and Skype, you'll be using your camera pretty often. The cameras on MacBooks are pretty high-quality and functional but are more designed for video streaming and video chats than for real photography.
I want to disable the built in iSight camera in my Macbook Pro (C2D) via software instead of some unsightly tape. I'm aware of the possibility of a rootkit or other malicious software being able to override a software lockout, but in truth if the software was able to get that far I might have bigger problems. Turn off the camera (as here) and microphone 2. Turn off WiFi and Bluetooth for less-than-nice public locales like airports 3. Control Ethernet: Off completely, local IPs only, or every IP. The feature would also be a quick way to check if those options have been disabled via Preferences. Description: This video shows you how to use iSightDisabler to disable the iSight camera on your iMac or MacBook. Retweet: https://clicktotweet.com/basic/4Bs. Disabling iSight will prevent any web-based software seeking a camera to find iSight on the computer directory. You will need administrative access to your computer and to move files from one location on the hard drive to another.
Regardless of how you want to use your camera, you need to know how to turn it on and off. We talked about how to turn your camera on in another post so for this one, we will look at how to turn the camera off. This is another easy task but is good to learn so you know your camera is not turned on at times when you don't want it to be.
Why Turn Your Camera Off
There are a few obvious reasons to turn your camera off and there are also a few reasons you might not have thought of. Since it is so easy to do, turning off your camera after you use it is a simple habit to get into when operating your MacBook Pro. Sometimes, you might want to double-check that your camera is off but once you know the steps, it takes no time at all.
1. Privacy
Privacy is a big issue in today's world of technology. Having access to so much information at the click of a button is an amazing aspect of the modern world but it also comes with potential privacy risks. The idea of someone accessing your camera without you knowing is pretty terrifying and something nobody wants. It's not likely but it is possible that this could happen to you.
Hackers can potentially access your camera and spy on you if it's not turned off or disabled and there is also a chance that if you accidentally leave your camera on, anybody you were chatting with could see video of you when you aren't expecting it. These are both instances that violate privacy that are fixed when your camera is turned off.
2. Save Battery
The camera is an awesome feature of your MacBook Pro but it does eat up more power than other uses of your computer. This display on your MacBook is one of the most power-hungry elements and you use your display constantly when you are using your camera. Video calls or live-streaming can quickly go through your battery if you are not plugged into a power source.
In order to avoid unnecessary power use, there are a variety of things you can do but making sure your camera is off is an important one. You can definitely use your camera when you are running on battery power if you need or want to but you will want to make sure it is turned off completely afterwards.
3. Save Space
Another reason to turn your camera off is simply to save space. If you accidentally leave your camera on and it starts to take pictures or videos without you knowing, it can quickly eat up lots of space on your hard drive. Images and videos can use up a lot of memory and storage, so it's good to know that you aren't adding extra files unknowingly. Unwanted files are easy to delete but they are also easy to prevent in the first place.
How To Turn Off Camera
Now that you know the reasons for turning off your camera, let's take a look at how to actually do it.
One of the easiest ways to turn off the camera on your MacBook Pro is to simply close the app you are using that uses the camera. When you open up one of these apps to turn the camera on, a little green light appears to the right of the camera lens. When you close these apps, the little green light should disappear indicating that the camera is now turned off. Sometimes you might need to hit Command Q instead of just closing the tab to fully quit an application.
Isight Camera Not Working
If you are really concerned about privacy you might want to take further steps to prevent your camera from turning on without you knowing. One of the easiest ways to do this is to simply cover your camera lens with a piece of dark tape.
This may sound weird but if anyone tries to access your camera, even if they succeed, they won't be able to see anything if the camera lens is covered up.
A real hacker could access your camera without the green light turning on so this might be a good idea if you are really worried about your personal security and privacy. It's an easy measure to prevent your camera from recording anything at all.
Disable Isight Camera
Additionally, there is not a current method to disabling your Mac's camera through the standard programs and functions included on the machine. You will need to download a 3rd party app to really disable your camera. One app that works well for this is called iSight Disabler and this program will turn off your camera completely so you don't have to worry about it turning on without you knowing it. You can see this CNET article for more.
Also Read: How to Turn On Camera on MacBook Pro
Final Thoughts
Turning off your built-in MacBook Camera is really easy. There are a few different ways to go about this task and depending on how thorough you want to be or how much of concern privacy is, you can decide which option is best for you.
Apple Isight Camera Specs
Do you put tape over your MacBook's camera?
