Stop the MacBook Pro and MacBook screen from dimming
The MacBook and MacBook Pro screen backlighting is set to automatically dim and adjust in different situations. For the MacBook, it will adjust based on the power source and based on how long the computer is not in use. For the MacBook Pro, the same is also true, in addition to the screen adjusting it’s brightness based upon ambient light. Here is how to disable both of these features to stop the MacBook and MacBook Pro screen from dimming.
Stop the MacBook & MacBook Pro screen from dimming
The MacBook and MacBook Pro will both automatically dim the screen if running on battery, or if the computer is left alone for a period of time. Here is how to disable these features:
* Open “System Preferences”
* Click on “Energy Saver”
* Unselect the check box next to “Slightly dim the display when using this power source”
* Unselect the checkbox next to “Automatically reduce brightness before display goes to sleep”
* Close System Preferences
Stop the MacBook Pro screen from dimming with ambient light
Now if you have a MacBook Pro and your screen is still dimming, it is because of the ambient light sensor. Here’s how to adjust that:
* Open System Preferences
* Click on “Display”
* Unselect the checkbox next to “Automatically adjust brightness as ambient light changes”
* Close System Preferences
Changes to both of these take effect immediately. Note that if you are running on battery and you disable the screen dimming features you will lose some length in battery life.
What I would love to know is how I can set mains power to be full brightness and power to be 50% brightness so I don’t have to change it each time. Any tips out there?
You can set specific dim brightness/adjustment controls to the power source, so just disable the automatic adjustments for Power Adapter and keep them enabled on Battery. If you combine this with disabling the automatic brightness adjustments based on ambient lighting, you can have relatively decent controls over the brightness level.
I wish Apple made it easier to just have a brightness slider depending on the power source, but for now they don’t other than just hitting the F1 and F2 keys yourself in conjunction with the above options.
Or download free menu bar utility Caffeine.
http://lightheadsw.com/caffeine/
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Thank-you! This has been driving me crazy!