Please tell me I’m wrong. I have a brand new MacBook Air.
Now what could I possibly use a camera for besides taking pictures of myself??? Egads.
Not sure what you’re driving at … ?
FaceTime calls, Zoom (or similar) meetings.
OK. I cannot take a photo of my apartment, a friend that comes over, my kitty. You know, a regular camera. Right?
You can use the /Applications/Photo Booth.app to take pictures of anything you can point your MacBook Air’s camera at.
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OK, TJ, but is there a front facing camera, you know, like the iPads and iPhones have both? One that faces outside the computer. All I see is me (at least, I turned it toward the side, LOL! ). I am NOT into self-portraits or fancy phone calls. I have no need for zoom. Is there a way that I can take a photo looking outwards?
I have an iPhone but if they could not even put a real camera in, after paying over a thousand dollars, it seems like a real gyp!!!
I suppose my old computer and laptops had no camera at all.
Thank you!
Other than what TJ suggested, no.
I can’t think of a single laptop on the market that has a camera pointing the other direction. There may be one, but it’s an outlier.
This is probably because a device the size of a laptop just isn’t a useful form factor for taking photos. And honestly, there isn’t room in the MBA’s lid to put a camera with the quality you’d want for doing so.
For $1000 or so you get a faster processor, more RAM, a (comparatively) large screen, a keyboard, USB ports, a more versatile OS, etc. It’s just a different mix of features.
That said, if what you really want is a laptop form factor with both cameras, an iPad Pro with the keyboard / trackpad stand may be what you’re looking for. And as long as you’re within 14 days of purchase, you should be able to take it back and swap it out. 
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Thank you!
I was looking at Ipad Pros but with a new pencil and an external keyboard, the MacBook Air would actually be cheaper.
I am just bummed out because I am having a different issue and another member here is kindly helping me out. I cannot get the machine to recognize a thumb drive. (I also want to be able to add a Cd Rom drive).
The main reason I went with a computer was because I’d like to access 2 older external hard drives. I am hoping that I can get photos out of at least one.
I have a camera on the iPhone and on all of my other devices. I just love photography and I saw that it had a camera I assumed that it was a regular type camera. There are some other brands that have outward facing cameras but perish the thought!
But you are right in that it would make little sense.
It is good to know that I have two weeks.
Other than the aforementioned I just LOVE this machine!!!
Out of curiosity, do you remember which brand of laptop had an outward facing camera? I’ve never seen one, so I’d be curious to look it uo. 
No, sorry. It was not an outward camera per se but one that could (somehow) be turned around… it faced one way or the other, usually inward. I was not really looking for that. I just ignore the other brands.
I was just skimming to see what sort of camera my computer has. As I was reading rather fast, I could have misread it but I don’t think so.
I hope it doesn’t drive you nuts or anything!
Now it could have been the matter of someone turning the computer itself around. That is likely what it was. I’m glad. ;o)
AFAIK Surfaces did or do have that. But maybe they’re tablets. What are they? Hmmm. 
Surface has two product lines - the tablet (which has the keyboard thing available, but the tablet can disconnect), and the laptop (where the tablet can’t disconnect - it’s always a laptop form factor).
From what I can see it seems they’re consistent with Apple’s iPad / MacBook distinction. The Surface “tablet” version has both cameras. The “laptop” version just has the user-facing one.
In either configuration it’s a somewhat better camera than the MBA, likely due to increased screen thickness allowing a little bit more room for the lens.
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