Belkin’s mount to turn your iPhone into a camera is now available

The Belkin accessory that Apple showed off during its announcement of Continuity Camera — an iOS 16 / macOS Ventura feature that turns your iPhone into an excellent webcam — is now available for $29.95. It uses a hook, which also doubles as a kickstand, to latch onto your laptop’s display and MagSafe to hold your phone up in portrait or landscape mode so its cameras can see you.

Belkin’s press release also says that there’ll be a version of the mount meant to be used with desktops and external monitors coming soon, but for now, the “for notebooks” is the only version that’s available. It’s compatible with most of Apple’s laptops, including MacBook Airs from 2018 on, 13-, 14-, 15-, and 16-inch MacBook Pros, and even the MacBook Retina 12-inch. The desktop version will let you adjust the viewing angle in case your monitor is above your face.

Apple’s Continuity Camera has quietly been one of my favorite features to play with while using the macOS Ventura beta, but it has led to me having to prop my phone up on various household objects to get a good shot. In theory, this mount should solve that problem and let me properly try out the Desk View feature that’s supposed to show off whatever’s sitting on the table in front of your computer.

If you go out and buy the mount now, you likely won’t get much use out of it for a few days; the macOS update that supports Continuity Camera isn’t due until October 24th. If you like to be prepared, though, or are using the beta, the Belkin iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Mac Notebooks is available from Apple’s website in both black and white.