Can't calibrate new XDR MacBook Pro display - missing 'Color' button, calibration option.

[Fishrrman]

badly drawn:
" I want to calibrate its display. Just wondering if anything has changed since the end of last year? Or should I use the same process described in this thread?"

I tried the process as described by Sowelu (see reply 134 above), and it works well. Just take it step-by-step.

Oddly, once I put the new Colorsync profile into use, it still does not "show up" in the Displays preference pane.
But... it IS working as intended.

Thanks and a hat tip to Sowelu for documenting how to do this.
The process he describes should become "a sticky post" at the top of the MBP sub-forum.

 

[badlydrawnboy]

badly drawn:
" I want to calibrate its display. Just wondering if anything has changed since the end of last year? Or should I use the same process described in this thread?"

I tried the process as described by Sowelu (see reply 134 above), and it works well. Just take it step-by-step.

Oddly, once I put the new Colorsync profile into use, it still does not "show up" in the Displays preference pane.
But... it IS working as intended.

Thanks and a hat tip to Sowelu for documenting how to do this.
The process he describes should become "a sticky post" at the top of the MBP sub-forum.

Did you mean reply #134? That post is not from Sowelu.

 

[Fishrrman]

"Did you mean reply #134? That post is not from Sowelu."

Read the quoted text in that reply -- ALL of it.

 

[fredsmith]

After tinkering around a bit, I think I found a workaround that will allow you to calibrate your MacBook Pro's XDR display using the built in Calibration Assistant…

The Display Calibration Assistant app is still sitting on your MacBook Pro's hard drive, and is located here:



Go to this folder, locate the Display Calibrator app, hold down the Option key, then right click on this app and select ‘Open’ (this will launch the calibrator in Expert Mode).

Calibrate and save the newly created color profile as you normally would using the Display Calibration Assistant.

Now, launch the ColorSync Utility app in the Utilities folder, click on 'Devices' on the tool bar, then click the drop down arrow next to 'Displays' on the left side of that window.

Click on 'Color LCD' (this is the default profile that your MacBook Pro is currently using), and then go to the right side of that window, and click the drop down arrow next to 'Current Profile' and choose 'Other'.



This will bring up the folder window where the default color profile (and now your newly created color profile) is saved. Select your newly created color profile and click 'Open'.

The system will bring up TouchID for authentication, but on my MacBook it just sort of hung there, so I chose ‘Use Password’ instead.

Your new profile should now be selected and will be the main color profile used until you create and select a new one using this same method, and process.

This has worked for me and has stayed put after a few restarts, so hopefully it works for you all as well.

Hopefully Apple addresses this soon. So many unnecessary steps when we could have just hit two or three buttons had they not removed (or hid) the Color Calibration Assistant and access to color profiles in the Display Preferences!

Oh Apple... ‘It just works!’

Awesome that you figured this out. I was really annoyed with the flat colors.

 

[squarebreathing]

Sowelu, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!​

I just picked up the 16 Inch M1 MBP and could not fathom why I could calibrate my external monitor the same way I had for the past decade, yet the MBP screen itself had options that really made no sense to me.

Does anyone know if this works in Ventura? It is bad enough we have to enter a Konami code now to do this (Find a program buried in the Mac HD, then open the program while pressing option...) and I'm wondering if they may have removed it in Ventura for MBP screens?

 

[llee]

After a year, this AppleScript opens pertinent stuff. Gives you two seconds in case you want to launch the Calibrator in Expert Mode by pressing (and holding) option.

do shell script "sleep 2;open -a '/System/Library/ColorSync/Calibrators/Display Calibrator.app'"
set theDlib to (path to the "dlib" as string)
tell application "Finder"
    activate
    open alias (theDlib & "ColorSync:Profiles:Displays:")
end tell

 

[Lomaxxx]

I need to bring this topic up, because i have the same issue with the colors. I already opened a topic here some while ago and the apple service switched most of the entire MBP M1 Max to new components, expect the case and the keyboard. Colors look unbelivable pale and washed out.

But the mention workaround in here works absolutely great for me. But...

The colors switch back to factory mode always, no matter if i reboot or put the MBP into sleep mode. When i open up the MBP i need to change to my color profile manually. Most of the time i dont reboot my MBP, only when there is an update.

So my question is:
Did someone managed to get the color profile stick so i dont have to do this procress every day or always when i wake up the MBP?

Thanks fpr any help

 

[Sowelu]

I found out: Profiles stick when I select them from ...System/Library/ColorSync/Profiles/...

The are removed after every reboot/sleep when I select them from ...Library/ColorSync/Profiles/...


On the internal display of my MBP 16 M1 profiles don’t work at all.

I just tried to copy a custom color profile to the path you suggested (...System/Library/ColorSync/Profiles/...), but I am unable to paste or move any files to that folder.

When I tried to change the read/write settings in this folder's 'Get Info', I got a message saying that I do not have permissions to do so. Did you change any other security settings to save color profiles in this folder?

 

[Sowelu]

I need to bring this topic up, because i have the same issue with the colors. I already opened a topic here some while ago and the apple service switched most of the entire MBP M1 Max to new components, expect the case and the keyboard. Colors look unbelivable pale and washed out.

But the mention workaround in here works absolutely great for me. But...

The colors switch back to factory mode always, no matter if i reboot or put the MBP into sleep mode. When i open up the MBP i need to change to my color profile manually. Most of the time i dont reboot my MBP, only when there is an update.

So my question is:
Did someone managed to get the color profile stick so i dont have to do this procress every day or always when i wake up the MBP?

Thanks fpr any help

I also still cannot get the selected color profile to stick after a reboot, but it does stick after a wake from sleep on my MacBook Pro. I have the same issue with my Apple Studio Display (which is connected to my macMini), so I am glad you brought issue back up. Someone earlier in the thread posted a possible fix, but I am unable to get it to work (see above post). Hoping for more updates and or workarounds from other users.

 

[Lomaxxx]

I just tried to copy a custom color profile to the path you suggested (...System/Library/ColorSync/Profiles/...), but I am unable to paste or move any files to that folder.

When I tried to change the read/write settings in this folder's 'Get Info', I got a message saying that I do not have permissions to do so. Did you change any other security settings to save color profiles in this folder?

I got this problem too and googled my fingers red to find a solution to copy it to the mentioned folder

 

[Sowelu]

I got this problem too and googled my fingers red to find a solution to copy it to the mentioned folder

What's odd is, when you go to reselect the color profile after a reboot, it's technically still selected, just not in actual use until you select again. Make it make sense.

 

[Lomaxxx]

What's odd is, when you go to reselect the color profile after a reboot, it's technically still selected, just not in actual use until you select again. Make it make sense.

Exactly the same behavior for me. It is still selected, but you can see the massive difference. So you need to set it to factory defaults and back, then it works.

I talked to a super visor from apple and he told me i need to send the MBP M1 Max again and the techs will check this with their tools. I told him it will not make any sense to replace the display (touch id etc.) from my POV he agreed. But he also said that he would replace the whole MBP, but he got limited in making decisions, until the tried 3 times to fix it. It is some weird law in germany, that you have to give the manufacturer 3 times the chance to repair a faulty product, until it can be changed to a new/refurbished one.

I got the package from apple already to send it to them, but it will not make any sense for me. I will get it back with the same issue and then i have to make an appointment at the genius bar again. And the next apple store is 70 km far away from me and it always takes around 4-5 hours for the process. I am living in the apple eco system for a long time and i got nearly everything from apple (besides the ugly apple watch), but this MBP Display is a shame in my eyes. I need to have the ability to set my color, brightness, saturation to whatever i want. I paid over 4000 euros to find out i got limited to color profiles THEY say its perfect and in their eyes it looked great.

I do not have that issue with my Mac Studio + Studio Display. I can set the Studio Display brightness to the exact same like on my iMac 27 5k. And believe me... on my iMac i mostly used the internet RGB oder Apple RGB Profile. And this profiles is colorful like you're on an LSD trip.

If apple is going to limit the "end user" more and more it will be an option for me to switch back to windows, because i dont like limitations on that price range. I switched from Windows to apple around 2010 and never regret this step. Until today (sometimes...not always)

 

[Sowelu]

Exactly the same behavior for me. It is still selected, but you can see the massive difference. So you need to set it to factory defaults and back, then it works.

I talked to a super visor from apple and he told me i need to send the MBP M1 Max again and the techs will check this with their tools. I told him it will not make any sense to replace the display (touch id etc.) from my POV he agreed. But he also said that he would replace the whole MBP, but he got limited in making decisions, until the tried 3 times to fix it. It is some weird law in germany, that you have to give the manufacturer 3 times the chance to repair a faulty product, until it can be changed to a new/refurbished one.

I got the package from apple already to send it to them, but it will not make any sense for me. I will get it back with the same issue and then i have to make an appointment at the genius bar again. And the next apple store is 70 km far away from me and it always takes around 4-5 hours for the process. I am living in the apple eco system for a long time and i got nearly everything from apple (besides the ugly apple watch), but this MBP Display is a shame in my eyes. I need to have the ability to set my color, brightness, saturation to whatever i want. I paid over 4000 euros to find out i got limited to color profiles THEY say its perfect and in their eyes it looked great.

I do not have that issue with my Mac Studio + Studio Display. I can set the Studio Display brightness to the exact same like on my iMac 27 5k. And believe me... on my iMac i mostly used the internet RGB oder Apple RGB Profile. And this profiles is colorful like you're on an LSD trip.

If apple is going to limit the "end user" more and more it will be an option for me to switch back to windows, because i dont like limitations on that price range. I switched from Windows to apple around 2010 and never regret this step. Until today (sometimes...not always)

I agree, at first I thought Apple was working on a way to make both color profiles and XDR pre-sets co-exist, but once again Apple thinks it knows what's best for their customers ('Pros', no less).

When I first started this thread, before finding the workaround, I called Apple Support and had this issue elevated to higher-ups. Initially they were stumped and said that this shouldn't be, and maybe since the displays were knew Apple had to catch up and update macOS to accommodate. They kept in touch for weeks and finally determined that this is not an issue, flaw or lack of options, this is just how Apple is (deliberately) implementing color settings with higher end displays.

My new M2 MacBook Air allows you to create and select custom profiles, and the settings stick, so I guess this is due to it being a 'regular' display. My Apple Studio Display connected to my M2 mac Mini behaves the same way that my MacBook Pro does, and I have to reselect the color profile after a reboot, or very long sleep.

So if this is the only issue you have with your Mac, sending it to Apple for repairs or replacement won't remedy anything. Perhaps a Genius Bar visit will bring more visibility to this issue, so that may not be a bad idea. And, who knows, maybe Apple is going to change this limitation but it's just not read to go yet.

 

[zorinlynx]

I agree, at first I thought Apple was working on a way to make both color profiles and XDR pre-sets co-exist, but once again Apple thinks it knows what's best for their customers ('Pros', no less).

When I first started this thread, before finding the workaround, I called Apple Support and had this issue elevated to higher-ups. Initially they were stumped and said that this shouldn't be, and maybe since the displays were knew Apple had to catch up and update macOS to accommodate. They kept in touch for weeks and finally determined that this is not an issue, flaw or lack of options, this is just how Apple is (deliberately) implementing color settings with higher end displays.

My new M2 MacBook Air allows you to create and select custom profiles, and the settings stick, so I guess this is due to it being a 'regular' display. My Apple Studio Display connected to my M2 mac Mini behaves the same way that my MacBook Pro does, and I have to reselect the color profile after a reboot, or very long sleep.

So if this is the only issue you have with your Mac, sending it to Apple for repairs or replacement won't remedy anything. Perhaps a Genius Bar visit will bring more visibility to this issue, so that may not be a bad idea. And, who knows, maybe Apple is going to change this limitation but it's just not read to go yet.

I'd settle for them just allowing us to adjust the white point. For me personally Apple displays are just too blue out of the box, even during the day time when night shift is off. The color filters trick mentioned above works pretty well as a workaround but I doubt it's suitable for professional work.

White point is very much a subjective thing with people having different preferences, much like some people preferring daylight light bulbs and others preferring soft white. Apple ONLY letting us pick from predefined profiles, most of which don't even allow brightness adjustment, is pretty short-sighted.

 

[Sowelu]

I'd settle for them just allowing us to adjust the white point. For me personally Apple displays are just too blue out of the box, even during the day time when night shift is off. The color filters trick mentioned above works pretty well as a workaround but I doubt it's suitable for professional work.

White point is very much a subjective thing with people having different preferences, much like some people preferring daylight light bulbs and others preferring soft white. Apple ONLY letting us pick from predefined profiles, most of which don't even allow brightness adjustment, is pretty short-sighted.

Yes, to have such limitations on 'Pro' machines is just insane to me.

I know that I am personally very sensitive to green/dingy leaning displays and need to reduce green on just about every display I own, but it is shocking how many people think that Apple's factory calibration is just fine out of the box. I guess we all (literally) see things differently.

I personally set my whitepoint at around 5K or so, which may be way too warm for some people, but I also add a magenta color filter (at lowest setting) which makes whites more pleasant to view (to my eyes) and adds a subtle vibrancy to all whiling removing any lingering dinginess that even a color profile couldn't correct.

 

[Lomaxxx]

And exactly that is the point! As a graphic designer i absolutely need to be able to set my display to whatever i want and need. I got a customer with very very rare type of colors in his Logo and the whole CI. When i do work for them i need to setup my display to a very oversatured settings, to beome a feeling for the match in combination with other colors.

I am speaking for the print category and we have to keep in mind, that my customer calls me, i have to go to him and he shows me on HIS displays what it should has to look. I told this to apple too and they answered me it is unusual to work with oversaturated colors. Hello? We are talking about a PRO machine. I pay a lot of money extra on top to get a machine with much less "limitations" and extra power. Otherwise i could use one of the 08/15 notebooks on the market. Imagine buying a ferrari with a top speed of 120 km/h, because of limitations, but the car can easily make it to 300+ km/h. I just dont get it...

The next thing is, that we HAVE a good workaround, but we got limited to copy a file to a folder, because we are not allowed to. Imagine are color sensitive like Sowelu, buying a pro machine, working as a PRO and you are not able to match the display to your need.

I am really sorry, but i dont get it too.

@Sowelu i dont know why you have the issue also on your studio display. I can speak only for me, but on the studio display i can use ANY color profile (also very old ones from my spider calibration tool) and it sticks forever, also after updating to a newer version of macOS Ventura. And for most of the time i am working on both machines parallel to get a good feeling on the color match. but is that why i bought a mobile computer if i always need to use an extra desktop to do my work properly? I do not think so and it makes absolutely no sense for me

 

[Sowelu]

And exactly that is the point! As a graphic designer i absolutely need to be able to set my display to whatever i want and need. I got a customer with very very rare type of colors in his Logo and the whole CI. When i do work for them i need to setup my display to a very oversatured settings, to beome a feeling for the match in combination with other colors.

I am speaking for the print category and we have to keep in mind, that my customer calls me, i have to go to him and he shows me on HIS displays what it should has to look. I told this to apple too and they answered me it is unusual to work with oversaturated colors. Hello? We are talking about a PRO machine. I pay a lot of money extra on top to get a machine with much less "limitations" and extra power. Otherwise i could use one of the 08/15 notebooks on the market. Imagine buying a ferrari with a top speed of 120 km/h, because of limitations, but the car can easily make it to 300+ km/h. I just dont get it...

The next thing is, that we HAVE a good workaround, but we got limited to copy a file to a folder, because we are not allowed to. Imagine are color sensitive like Sowelu, buying a pro machine, working as a PRO and you are not able to match the display to your need.

I am really sorry, but i dont get it too.

@Sowelu i dont know why you have the issue also on your studio display. I can speak only for me, but on the studio display i can use ANY color profile (also very old ones from my spider calibration tool) and it sticks forever, also after updating to a newer version of macOS Ventura. And for most of the time i am working on both machines parallel to get a good feeling on the color match. but is that why i bought a mobile computer if i always need to use an extra desktop to do my work properly? I do not think so and it makes absolutely no sense for me

Hmmm, that's not the case for me - my M2 Mac mini and Apple Studio Display shows this for Display Options (just like with my MacBook Pro):

Just presets, unlike my M2 MacBook Air, which shows the traditional 'Color Profile' instead of 'Preset'. So your Apple Studio Display shows 'Color Profile' in Display Settings?

 

[zorinlynx]

I personally set my whitepoint at around 5K or so, which may be way too warm for some people

I run mine at around D45, which is even warmer than yours. I don't know if my eyes are just different than everyone else's but any higher than this is just too blue and cold.

Could it be that I'm older and grew up on CRTs, which were fairly warm, so I got used to them and strove for the same white point when we moved on to LCDs?

 

[Sowelu]

I run mine at around D45, which is even warmer than yours. I don't know if my eyes are just different than everyone else's but any higher than this is just too blue and cold.

Could it be that I'm older and grew up on CRTs, which were fairly warm, so I got used to them and strove for the same white point when we moved on to LCDs?

Yes, I think we just all see colors differently - everyone's eyes are different. I am very sensitive to green and to my eyes, most display manufacturers ship panels with the green amped way up, which is odd, because it makes the panel look dingy. If they wanted to make the panel colors pop (even artificially), a bump in blue and red would do the trick, even if not color accurate.

This is why I would never use a hardware external calibrator. I don't care what the numbers show, if it's not pleasing to my eyes, it's not a good calibration. Apple thinks their factory calibrations are perfect and all one would ever need, but to me, they are heavy green tinted and dingy before being corrected. Not to mention the fact that not all panels are the same, there can be significant variances with panels of the same exact part by the same manufacturer, yet, the exact factory calibration is applied to all.

While my whitepoint is set to 5K, I also have either TrueTone or Shifty active, so I too prefer much warmer display. The eyes adjust and what may look too warm to others, looks just right for me. My eyes never adjust, however, to green hued dingy factory calibrations.

 

[Lomaxxx]

I run mine at around D45, which is even warmer than yours. I don't know if my eyes are just different than everyone else's but any higher than this is just too blue and cold.

Could it be that I'm older and grew up on CRTs, which were fairly warm, so I got used to them and strove for the same white point when we moved on to LCDs?

I am 50 and i can tell you, that i had lots of CRT monitors. But i prefer cold tones and i find it horrible to watch when truetone is active. It looks like someone throws a cup of coffee all over my screen. Eyes are all totally different and everyone sees colors different. There is no perfect calibration, like sowelu said. and that is good like it is. And because of this "issue" we need to calibrate our display to our needs, and not what other tell us to be the best.

The supervisor from apple told me we need to fill out the form at https://www.apple.com/feedback/
And he also said that the DO read every single feedback and put them together. What i find funny is the fact that he said, that around 90% off all users did not know this site. And i am not gonna lie... i heard it for the first time too :-D

 

[Lem3ssie]

Has anynone tried to add a fixed profil to start it up with the session ?

 

[Lomaxxx]

Has anynone tried to add a fixed profil to start it up with the session ?

I guess we discussed this already in this topic and we could not figure out how to make the profile sticky, because we cannot copy the profile to the folder for the "apple presets"

 

[Lem3ssie]

I guess we discussed this already in this topic and we could not figure out how to make the profile sticky, because we cannot copy the profile to the folder for the "apple presets"

I meant, what about adding a profil to startup items in settings and see if it opens anytime you reboot.

 

[Lem3ssie]

Hi everyone. Being helped by some friends of mine, we managed to get a profil being loaded at startup.
First download https://github.com/timsutton/customdisplayprofiles then add the script to startup items. don't Forget chmod +x .sh and you're done. Or use betterdisplay pro.

 

[Lomaxxx]

Hi everyone. Being helped by some friends of mine, we managed to get a profil being loaded at startup.
First download https://github.com/timsutton/customdisplayprofiles then add the script to startup items. don't Forget chmod +x .sh and you're done. Or use betterdisplay pro.

Thanks for your post. Can you please be a little bit more specific? When i use BetterDisplay Pro i do not need the terminal script? I am not familar with BT Pro, but it looks kinda interesting. Would love to have a permanent solution for this "issue", but i cant follow the tutorial on that site.

Thank you