Modern MacBook displays are equipped with advanced ambient light sensors and a feature called “True Tone.” This technology constantly monitors the color temperature of the lighting in your physical environment. If you are sitting in a room with warm, yellow incandescent bulbs, True Tone automatically shifts the colors on your Mac’s screen to appear warmer (more orange/yellow). If you move outside into harsh sunlight, it shifts the screen to a cooler, blue tint.
While this makes reading text easier on the eyes, it is an absolute disaster for creative professionals. If you are editing a photograph in Lightroom or color-grading a video in Final Cut Pro, you need your display to be 100% color accurate. Having the operating system secretly change the white balance of your monitor based on the clouds passing outside will cause you to completely ruin the colors in your project.
To ensure your display remains perfectly color-accurate, you must disable True Tone.
How to Turn Off True Tone on a Mac
You can disable this color-shifting feature in the Displays menu.
- Open the System Settings (or System Preferences) via the Apple Logo in the top-left menu bar.
- Scroll down the left sidebar and click on Displays.
- In the right pane, look under your main built-in display settings.
- Locate the toggle switch (or checkbox) labeled True Tone. (Note: This feature is only available on MacBooks with built-in ambient light sensors, or when using an Apple Studio Display).
- Turn the toggle switch to the Off position.
Your Mac’s screen will instantly snap back to its true, calibrated white balance and will remain locked at that color temperature indefinitely, allowing you to edit photos with confidence.