Belkin’s iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Mac Notebooks has a foul title however is an excellent accent. It permits you to clip your iPhone onto your laptop computer so you can also make use of macOS Ventura and iOS 16’s Continuity Camera function, which turns your cellphone right into a webcam that completely crushes just about something that’s constructed into MacBooks as of late. And if that was all it did, I’d nonetheless be pleased with it — however its design and options are what actually make it value contemplating, although there’s already a flood of other accessories meant to do the identical job.

Using the mount to show your cellphone right into a webcam is straightforward: you magnetically snap it on, flip out slightly foot with Belkin’s brand on it, and relaxation it on high of your pc. Then you simply select your iPhone because the digicam in no matter video chat app you’re utilizing. It’s a reasonably easy mechanism that works nicely, and since the mount is round, you’ll be able to connect your cellphone in both portrait or panorama mode.

Its versatile form does, nevertheless, imply that there’s not that further stabilizing magnet on the backside like another MagSafe equipment have. That most likely gained’t trigger a energy drawback; my iPhone 12 Mini by no means slid off Belkin’s mount or something, even after I examined it and not using a case, and none of my colleagues who’ve used the mount with larger telephones famous any points. But it does imply that you’ll have to spend a second twisting the mount a tiny bit to ensure your video doesn’t find yourself barely crooked.

Where the mount actually shines is its construct high quality and bonus kickstand / grip ring (sadly, the kickstand can’t actually be used if you wish to prop your cellphone’s digicam up on a desk as a substitute of your pc; it’s simply not in the appropriate place). The complete factor feels very easy and stable, like a rock that’s been polished by shifting water. It’s additionally coated in a type of grippy rubber, which feels nice and may be very unobtrusive. When I’m utilizing it with my cellphone on, the low-profile dome matches just about completely into my palm, and I barely discover it’s there. If you really need Continuity Camera to be helpful, it’s important to be sure you’ve at all times acquired a mount with you. The Belkin is good sufficient that I wish to maintain it on my cellphone, which implies I gained’t neglect it after I go away the home.

With that mentioned, I don’t suppose this mount and Continuity Camera are going to revolutionize my informal FaceTimes or Discord calls with family and friends for one easy motive: when my laptop computer is definitely on my lap, placing a cellphone on the high of the lid makes it very tippy, even with my mini cellphone. When I used to be utilizing it with my legs crossed, it my laptop computer would simply fall over and yeet my cellphone throughout the room if I didn’t catch it. Even if I’ve acquired my arm on the palm relaxation, it solely takes the slightest bump for the burden of the cellphone to tug my 13-inch MacEbook Pro’s display screen again to its most open place, normally leading to a really unflattering angle (and maybe an uncomfortable quantity of pressure on my show?).

To be clear, this most likely gained’t be an issue on a desk except you’re utilizing the diminutive 12-inch MacEbook. One of my co-workers mentioned that his MacEbook Air was completely secure when sitting on a desk with an iPhone 13 connected to it, and the identical was true for an additional co-worker who used the mount with a Pro Max and 16-inch MacEbook Pro. But it does imply that I’ll most likely solely use this accent for extra formal video calls the place I’ll be at a desk or counter slightly than the much more frequent ones that I do from the sofa. That’s not Belkin’s fault; it’s simply physics, and actually, I don’t suppose my mother or sister are going to thoughts seeing me in fuzzy 720p (or, at the very least, I haven’t gotten any complaints prior to now few years).

Even with this limitation, I nonetheless really feel just like the Belkin mount is value its $29.95 price ticket for anybody who cares what they seem like on video, has an iPhone, and plans on upgrading to macOS Ventura when it comes out on Monday (and who doesn’t need the trouble of establishing a devoted digicam / tripod / gentle).

However, in case you largely work from a desk with a monitor, it could be value ready for the desktop model, which Belkin says will allow you to tilt your cellphone to reframe the shot. That model is “coming soon,” in accordance with Belkin’s press release, although it doesn’t point out whether or not it’ll function some type of energy supply that’s extra elegant than simply plugging your cellphone in utilizing a Lightning cable. That type of function wouldn’t make sense on the moveable model, but it surely’d most likely be a pleasant add for individuals who are in conferences all day lengthy.