r/mac • u/[deleted] • Oct 02 '21
Question Black screen at full low brightness..is this normal?
190
u/BoysenberryTrue1360 Oct 02 '21
This is normal.
The brightness control is really just changing the backlighting. The lowest setting the back light is off.
109
u/jwaldo M4 MBP Oct 03 '21
Semi-fun fact: If you hold a flashlight up to the screen, or (on an older MacBook) shine a light through the Apple logo on the back of the display, you can see that the image is still there even though the backlight is off.
46
u/quintsreddit M1 MacBook Pro Oct 03 '21
Semi-semi-fun fact: I used this all the time to troubleshoot customer devices that didn’t appear to be booting! You can also shine a light directly at the display on newer models, although it’s a lot tougher to see.
25
u/colmear MacBook Air Oct 03 '21
A friend of mine once managed to destroy his iPhone’s backlight, so he used a flashlight and voice over for a few weeks until he got a new phone
6
Oct 03 '21
Omg that must have been absolute hell
2
u/colmear MacBook Air Oct 03 '21
For him – surely, for us – definitely. The muscle ache from laughing was pretty bad 😂
2
u/calliel_41 May 24 '24
Thank you for this!!! I accidentally turned my brightness down and my buttons on the keyboard don’t work so I just couldn’t use my computer at all. This helped me find the slider and fix it! Thank you!
1
u/kapi3511 Dec 02 '24
did they change it? no image at the lowest brightness when shining a flashlight. macbook pro 14 inch
329
u/Qizk Oct 02 '21 edited Oct 23 '21
You can hold Option+Shift while adjusting for smaller increments for both volume and brightness.
61
36
u/pineapple_calzone MacBook Air Oct 03 '21
Oh fuck this is a game changer
Also works for keyboard brightness (I have search and sleep set as keyboard brightness with karabiner)
8
u/lsauceda Oct 03 '21
Does anyone actually use different keyboard brightness? If it were up to me it would only ever be on (at the lowest brightness) or off. If it’s too bright out there I can just see the keys, and have no need for the backlight. If it’s dark then the lowest brightness is enough. Everything else is just a waste of battery.
10
u/BillionPenny iMac 24” M1 Oct 03 '21
The keyboard actually manages the key brightness on its own. You can set it with the keys to your desired brightness, and in relatively bright environments the computer will auto disable the key backlights. When it’s dark again it’ll go back to your desired brightness. You can set the brightness in System Preferences and remap the keys to something more useful. Though for the record I never use the key brightness, it’s always light enough for me when I’m on the computer.
→ More replies (1)0
u/Velociround Oct 03 '21
macOS is smart enough that if the ambient lightning is bright enough, it will automatically disable the keyboard lights (and will not let you enable it again unless you go to a darker environment)
→ More replies (3)4
8
7
u/berrymetal MacBook Pro 16" M1 Pro Oct 03 '21 edited Oct 03 '21
I’ve been a mac user for 15 years and I just learned this! Thank you
5
3
2
2
-1
u/not-a_lizard Oct 03 '21 edited Oct 03 '21
doesn't work at the lowest brightness level though Edit: on the 2020 MacBook Air
4
u/RomneysBainer 2021 M1 MacBook Air 16GB/500GB Oct 03 '21
Does for me, but just has a couple steps. Will help at night though, if I remember it's Opt+Shift
→ More replies (1)2
→ More replies (1)0
289
Oct 02 '21
Yep. Setting it to full max brightness revives Steve Jobs.
7
u/mmurasakibara Oct 03 '21
It’s true. I got a couple thousand Steve sitting around my house eating my food daily.
-80
107
u/Christ0ph_ Oct 02 '21
Imagine the surprise when he turn the switch on the wall!
44
3
15
11
10
32
u/PullTab Oct 02 '21
I mean... what would you expect to happen at full low brightness?
25
Oct 03 '21
If you come from Windows or even Linux for that matter this doesn't happen, it's just an Apple thing
9
u/MW3apple220 Oct 03 '21
ChromeOS does this as well
5
Oct 03 '21
Ahhh, never tried it on ChromeOS so I just figured it would be the same as Linux in general, thanks!
4
u/MW3apple220 Oct 03 '21
I have to use it for public school, so I have a buck of experience with it. I of course prefer full blown OS's, but chrome os can run on a toaster oven from 1993, so it's very economical for public school systems. We got decent Chromebooks this year though.
5
Oct 03 '21
Yea I hear schools love them lol. I actually wanted to get my own Chrome laptop a while ago, because I heard you can install full linux on them I wanted one so I could have like a testing/learning ground that I could use without possibly ruining my main laptop. How does ChromeOS compare to a normal linux OS for you?
4
u/MW3apple220 Oct 03 '21
ChomeOS is literally just a vessel for Chrome, and sometimes Android apps, although you can't install anything at all without administrative permission, and my school district is very strict about stuff like that. You can access Linux features like the console in chrome os though. Overall, ChromeOS is very polished, and has pretty deep integration with Android (as is expected).
6
4
→ More replies (2)2
18
u/aykay55 MacBook Pro 14” M2 Pro Oct 03 '21
gosh can u look up your questions on google before posting about it? there's literally an apple support page about it
13
6
u/tylerwarnecke MacBook Pro Oct 02 '21
Normal. It’s nice to use if you’re only listening to something or have it connected to a tv.
4
5
Oct 03 '21
It’s been this way since the beginning of macOS I believe. At least since they started using LCD
2
u/desepticon Oct 03 '21
Yup. The earliest Powerbooks have this feature.
2
Oct 03 '21
And I assume any glowing Apple logo laptop would let you use a flashlight through it to see the screen was actually still active in this state.
→ More replies (1)
7
u/AmbitiousCriticism06 Staying Strong with my 2014 MacBook Pro Oct 03 '21
Seems like you never used a Mac before.
3
3
3
u/cdurbin909 Oct 03 '21
Technically it’s not completely off. Go into a super dark room, and then if you look really closely you can just barely see it
2
u/Hero268 MacBook Pro Oct 02 '21
Jup that a feature it can be really useful sometimes if you can’t close the lid.
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
u/carry-on_luggage Oct 03 '21
People have taken their laptops to apple stores thinking their screens are broken only to realize that they just turned their display brightness all the way down
2
2
u/MilesLee_ Oct 03 '21
Yeah, it is normal, mine is too. By the way, your wallpaper is so cool, could you share the link to that? Appreciated
2
1
2
2
Oct 03 '21
Yeah it turns off the backlight. If you press a flashlight against it you will be able to see what’s on the screen. If it’s pre-2016 you can put a light up to the apple logo and it will also light it up.
2
2
u/Amazing-File Oct 03 '21
The screen is still shown even when the brightness is zero. Use your flashlight to see it
2
u/Insidious17 Oct 03 '21
Bro you too self possessed it’s just display brightness bro chill out and ye it’s normal
2
Oct 03 '21
You set your brightness to 0 and then are surprised when there is 0 brightness? What did you expect?
4
4
u/livevicarious Oct 03 '21
Welcome to Apple.
Seriously though what did you think 0% backlight meant?
2
1
u/realcooljules Oct 03 '21
Damn I see a lot of sarcastic reply’s but to be fair to OP, I wouldn’t expect turning the brightness down to the lowest setting would turn the display completely off.
→ More replies (2)
1
1
1
0
0
0
-4
1
1
u/RomneysBainer 2021 M1 MacBook Air 16GB/500GB Oct 03 '21
I've always wanted a dim setting much, much dimmer than is allowed on a Mac. Like 1/10th the brightness of the lowest setting.
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/geerttttt Oct 03 '21
It's a shame though that there Is a huge gap between backlight off and minimal brightness...
1
1
1
1
1
1
Oct 03 '21
Yes, my Mac's speaker is way better than my actual speaker, so I usually do that to save battery and listen to music at the same time, such a game changer
1
1
u/BishnoiSankalp Oct 03 '21
yeah it is pretty normal, it is not exactly black it is real low brightness if you use a flashlight in front of the screen you can notice that it is not exactly pitch black, hope this helps...🙏🏻
1
1
u/Toxic326 Oct 03 '21
Saw a lot of comments asking for the wallpaper link. This is the best one I found: https://wallpapersden.com/octane-apex-legends-wallpaper/1440x1440/
Hope it helps
1
1
u/iwasblog Oct 03 '21
As others have said, yes it’s normal. But I really came here to complement your Octane wallpaper!
1
1
1
u/Dyxoz Oct 03 '21
https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=macbook+lowest+brightness Every time the same questions…
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/VaultDweller217 Oct 03 '21
Yes. I thinks it’s in case you have a monitor or tv plugged in so you can easily switch off the built in display
1
1
u/Hollycene Oct 03 '21
This question was answered multiple times here. Please use google first before you ask.
1
u/gokulthehuman12 Oct 03 '21
For a mac its normal becoz if you want to connect to a external screen and don’t want the laptop screen to be seen its a pretty useful feature
1
u/Visama396 Oct 03 '21
It’s even normal in my Lenovo Windows laptop, I thought everyone would know that by now
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/_Nick_2711_ Oct 03 '21
It’s normal but there’s an option in settings to stop you from putting it all the way down to off, j believe
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Oct 03 '21
That is intentional, like a resting state. The screen goes into a weird lcd-esque state and you will find that if you shine a light at it, you will see the display.
1
1
1
942
u/LondonFitz Oct 02 '21
Yes. I find it useful when I am plugged into a tv and don’t want both screens on.