Laptops can be convenient computers for businesses to use and deploy, but they are also easy mediums for software and hardware producers to release new features such as Microsoft’s popular Copilot key to these Copilot Plus laptops. Still, there is a real mix of manufacturers to buy a laptop from, and they will all have their own intentions and designs for their products. So why do they all seem to make holes next to the webcam?
Obviously there is a hole for the camera itself, which is useful for lectures and discussions. There may also be an LED indicator to let you know that your camera is operational. Not necessarily a “hole”, but a decent selection of devices will include a cover mechanism of some sort to ensure some level of privacy even if your camera is accessed without your knowledge. Many laptop manufacturers will also place microphone arrays next to the camera, away from the computer body, where the cooling fans will generate a deafening roar.
As for that extra hole that also looks like a camera (seen below)… well, it’s a camera, and it’s used for Windows Hello, Microsoft’s biometrics-based authentication system. In simpler terms, it helps Windows verify your identity through facial or fingerprint recognition and lets you log in to your computer as well as other sites that support passwords.
What do these cameras have to do with authentication?
Jules Wang/BGR
Access keys are not passwords or PINs, but cryptographic relationships between a host service and a form of physical authentication on your device, such as a USB dongle or biometric scan. You insert the key or scan and negotiate between the host and the device that allows you to connect. Since it is generally more difficult to replicate a facial print than to brute force hundreds of passwords per second, we could argue that there is no longer a need for password managers.
And that’s where we arrive at the usefulness of the additional camera: When Windows Hello launched in 2015, it accepted input from fingerprint sensors, infrared sensors, and multi-camera systems capable of generating 3D composite signatures – the vast majority of laptops came with infrared sensors for facial scans and still do today. The heat-sensing capabilities of infrared cameras meant you could authenticate with your face in the dark, but a software vulnerability patched by Microsoft in 2025 led to a change requiring color camera input to be paired with infrared data for a facial scan.
Along the same lines, we’ve long wondered if Apple will ever replace Touch ID on its MacBooks with Face ID. iPhones and iPads have had TrueDepth camera systems for about a decade and it’s kind of crazy that we haven’t seen them ported to laptops.
