It’s something that many laptop owners do in the hopes of protecting their privacy, but Apple has urged Macbook owners not to cover their camera.
The tech giant has warned that closing your MacBook, MacBook Air or MacBook Pro with a cover over the camera can damage your display.
Apple explained: “If you close your Mac notebook with a camera cover installed, you might damage your display because the clearance between the display and the keyboard is designed to very tight tolerances.
“Covering the built-in camera might also interfere with the ambient light sensor and prevent features such as automatic brightness and True Tone from working.”
Apple suggests that as an alternative to using a camera cover, Macbook users should make use of the camera indicator light.
It said: “The FaceTime HD camera built into your Mac computer is designed with your privacy in mind and uses a camera indicator light that glows green when the camera is active. So you will always know when the camera is on.
“The camera is engineered so that it can’t be activated without the camera indicator light also turning on. This is how you can tell if your camera is on.”
Apple also highlights that as an added security measure, users can control which apps have access to the camera.
It explained: “Before any app can use your camera in macOS Mojave or later, you must first give it permission. To see which apps have permission to use your camera and to revoke or grant app access, find out how to control access to the camera on your Mac in System Preferences.”
Finally, if your work requires you to use a camera cover on your Macbook, Apple advises you choose a cover that’s no thicket than an average piece of printer paper.
It added: “If you install a camera cover that is thicker than 0.1 mm, remove the camera cover before closing your computer.”
