Continuity Camera disappears when USB webcam is disconnected on Mac mini M4 (macOS 27)

Hello Apple Support, I am experiencing a reproducible Continuity Camera issue on my Mac mini M4 running macOS 27. Problem description My iPhone 17 works as a Continuity Camera when a USB webcam is connected to my Mac mini. However, when I disconnect the USB webcam, the iPhone disappears as an available camera from all applications, including FaceTime and OBS. The issue appears to be related to how macOS publishes or registers the Continuity Camera device, rather than the Mac being unable to discover the iPhone. I would like to use my iPhone 17 as a wireless Continuity Camera without having to keep a USB webcam connected. System information

• Mac: Mac mini M4
• Operating system: macOS 27
• iPhone: iPhone 17
• Third-party application tested: OBS
• Apple application tested: FaceTime

Troubleshooting performed I have already tried the following:

1. Verified that the iPhone is detected by macOS using: system_profiler SPCameraDataType

   The output lists both devices: WEB CAMER: Model ID: UVC Camera VendorID_19530 ProductID_19029

   iPhone 17 Camera: Model ID: iPhone18,3 Unique ID: CA29F0DB-099C-4589-AF19-CE9500000001

2. Checked the relevant Continuity and camera processes: launchctl list | grep -Ei 'continuity|camera|avconference|cameracapture'

   The output included: com.apple.mediacontinuityd com.apple.cmio.ContinuityCaptureAgent com.apple.ptpcamerad com.apple.videoconference.camera

3. Inspected the Continuity Capture agent using: launchctl print gui/$(id -u)/com.apple.cmio.ContinuityCaptureAgent

   The agent was running, with PID 652.

4. Inspected mediacontinuityd. It was initially not running in the user GUI session: state = not running runs = 0

5. Attempted to restart the Continuity Capture agent: launchctl kickstart -k gui/$(id -u)/com.apple.cmio.ContinuityCaptureAgent

   macOS returned: Could not kickstart service "com.apple.cmio.ContinuityCaptureAgent": 150: Operation not permitted while System Integrity Protection is engaged

6. Attempted to refresh the Continuity service: launchctl kickstart -k gui/$(id -u)/com.apple.mediacontinuityd

   The command completed without an error, but the issue remained.

7. Attempted to refresh device discovery: sudo killall -HUP rapportd

   This did not resolve the issue.

8. Checked for camera helper processes: killall VDCAssistant killall AppleCameraAssistant

   Neither process was found under my user account.

9. Checked the system logs: log show --last 2m --style compact
   --predicate 'process == "ContinuityCaptureAgent"'
   2>/dev/null | grep -E 'magic:|skip headless|present' | tail -8

   The logs repeatedly show that the iPhone is discovered, but its camera is not published. Relevant log messages: Device ... name iPhone 17 present

   magic:0 (usable:0 nearby:1 wired:0 skipNearByCheck:0) reported magic:0

   skip headless device publishing in non magic, non wired state

   These messages appear repeatedly while the iPhone is detected over Rapport.

10. Restarted the Mac and tested with the USB webcam disconnected. The problem persisted.

11. Tested the iPhone in different physical positions and orientations. This did not resolve the issue.

12. Confirmed that the iPhone disappears from FaceTime and OBS when the USB webcam is disconnected.

Expected behaviour The iPhone 17 should remain available as a wireless Continuity Camera when the USB webcam is disconnected. Actual behaviour The iPhone is discovered by the Continuity Capture agent, but the logs show: skip headless device publishing in non magic, non wired state

The iPhone camera disappears from all applications when the USB webcam is disconnected. Connecting the USB webcam makes the iPhone camera available again. Questions for Apple Engineering

1. Is this a known issue in macOS 27 affecting Mac mini M4 or other Macs without a built-in camera?
2. What does skip headless device publishing in non magic, non wired state mean in this context?
3. Why does ContinuityCaptureAgent discover the iPhone but refuse to publish it as an available camera?
4. Is there a supported way to refresh or re-register the Continuity Camera service without disabling System Integrity Protection?
5. Is there a known workaround or a planned fix for this issue?

I would appreciate help identifying the underlying cause and a permanent solution that allows Continuity Camera to work wirelessly without a USB webcam connected. Thank you.