Google Meet gets 1080p video, but there's a twist

Google Meet is getting nicer to look at, but only in certain, very limited scenarios.

Until recently, the maximum supported video resolution on Google Meet was capped to 720p, which is a little low for today's standards. Earlier this week, however, Google announced support for 1080p resolution on Meet.

The new feature is off by default, but it can be turned on in the app's settings, under the "Video" section (see image below). Additionally, eligible users should get a popup allowing them to choose the new 1080p resolution if they want.

There are a number of caveats to this, though. To be able to send video in 1080p resolution, your webcam has to support it (mine doesn't, even though I have a recently new, 13-inch MacBook Pro. Only the company's new, 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro laptops support the 1080p resolution). The feature is only available on the web, not on mobile. Furthermore, sending video in 1080p requires more bandwidth and computing power than lower resolutions, and Meet will automatically adjust the resolution in low bandwidth scenarios.

The biggest caveat of them all is that 1080p resolution is currently only available in meetings with two participants.

Finally, the new feature is only available to certain Google Workspace Business, Enterprise, and Education accounts, and is not available to users with personal Google accounts. Check out the full availability list on Google's Workspace Updates feed.

The feature is rolling out gradually, and should be available to all eligible accounts by May 19.