MacOS Tahoe’s FaceTime won’t connect to Mac mini’s 3rd party webcam

Since upgrading our Mac mini M4 to Tahoe OS, FaceTime won’t connect/display video from our external webcam device.

Worked perfectly using same device on the same Mac mini with previous macOS Sequoia.
Video works fine with macOS Tahoe using Apple QuickTime Player, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams.
FaceTime will use the nearby iPhone’s video if linked, but on switching back, it goes to black again with the external webcam.
Have disconnected/reconnected the device several times with no change.
Have restarted or shut down the Mac mini several times with no change.

Just seems like an issue with this version of FaceTime on Tahoe. I’ve submitted a feedback report to Apple. Will update here if anything changes.

Mac mini (M4)

Posted on Sep 15, 2025 6:39 PM

Top-ranking reply

atreyu_

Level 1

14 points

Posted on Oct 25, 2025 11:15 AM

In case this helps anyone with this Facetime bug, I did testing with my friend on his mac mini and external webcam. His camera does not work in Facetime, it displays as just a black screen for me though he can see his own camera preview.

The moment he ALSO opens Photo Booth, his camera appears for me and everything works. He can close Photo Booth then and the camera in Facetime keeps working, though once it did revert back to not working, though that time it said "connection unstable". He reopened Photo Booth and instantly everything worked again.

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16 replies

Crozermur Author

Level 1

45 points

Oct 21, 2025 1:11 PM in response to Crozermur

Well I can't talk about betas which I guess makes sense since things can change between those and the final release, including things that get fixed.

MacOS Tahoe’s FaceTime won’t connect to Mac mini’s 3rd party webcam