Skip to main content

Apple’s latest macOS software update may have made your new MacBook Air brighter

Apple’s latest macOS software update may have made your new MacBook Air brighter

/

You need macOS 10.14.4 to see the changes

Share this story

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Apple’s latest macOS software update may have made your 2018 MacBook Air’s display brighter. Those who eventually install the update might be pleasantly surprised to find that their laptop’s Retina display is suddenly 100 nits brighter than it was before, for a new total of 400 nits brightness.

The brightness change has been confirmed by users on Reddit and MacRumors; Apple’s recent macOS 10.14.4 update released on March 25th “corrects the default screen brightness” of the newest MacBook Air models. Apple has also updated the new MacBook Air’s technical specifications page to note that the laptop’s Retina display has a 400 nit max brightness, up from the 300 nits or so that other tech publications and reviewers noted in their systems prior to the late-March macOS update.

Brightness was one of the main issues we had with the Air’s new Retina display when we reviewed it last fall. Hopefully the new macOS update will visibly address that problem.