You can 3D print an iPhone Continuity Camera mount before the actual ones arrive

Image: Jonathan Wight

Apple’s upcoming Continuity Camera feature, which lets you wirelessly use your iPhone as a webcam, is quietly one of the features I’m most excited about in the next version of macOS and iOS — and it seems like I’m not alone in that. Jonathan Wight, a software engineer at Apple, has already made 3D-printable mounts that let you stick your phone to your computer instead of waiting for the official accessories to hit the market or even for the operating systems that enable the feature to officially launch (via 9to5Mac).

The mounts, which Wight has made for the iMac Pro and MacBook Pro, are relatively simple. They have hooks for mounting onto your computer and a slot for a MagSafe charging puck that will handle actually holding your phone in place so it can point its camera at your face (and desk).

While the hardcore beta testers may want to try 3D printing the mount themselves (or getting it printed using a service like Shapeways), I’d probably recommend that most people just wait for the official accessories. The homemade version more or less requires a $40 MagSafe charging puck, which also means that your phone will have a little tail hanging down the back of your screen. (Though that does mean you could technically charge your phone while using it as a webcam if you want.)

Wight says the iMac version of the mount is “unlikely” to work for the 24-inch M1-powered iMacs, which isn’t a surprise; they’re rectangular, whereas the older iMac design is a bit seashell-shaped. Wight has provided the 3D files on GitHub, though, so if you have a newer iMac or something like Apple’s Studio Display, you may be able to tweak the design to fit.

This does make me realize that the official Belkin stands will probably have to be designed to deal with a variety of monitor sizes, but we likely won’t get to see how the company achieves that until the accessories launch later this year. It’s unlikely, though, that Belkin will be the only company trying to come up with clever mounts designed to work with Continuity Camera. But anyone who tries will have been beaten to the punch by Wight, who got an accessory out before the public iOS and macOS betas even arrived.