M1 graphics - text over white background in dark mode is weird on MBA 7-GPU

[tyron]

Edit: fixed on Big Sur 11.1

I know it's hard to understand the problem with this title, so here we go:

1) I have a Macbook Air M1 (7-GPU)
2) I use Dark Mode on Big Sur
3) Night Shift is turned on
4) I have any app open with a predominant white color (for example, Google search results)
5) I open Spotlight and start typing something

In this case, the text color becomes a weird blue-ish color. If I take a screenshot, the resulting picture is normal. I tried taking a photo of my screen to show this behaviour.

Picture of my screen (what I actually see, "pre" is kinda blue, and very different from text of items under it):

But a screenshot of my screen, opening in the same computer right away, shows normal ("pre" text is white, and consistent with everything below it):

I'm looking at that screenshot on the same computer, calibration, everything, where the original was created.

Anyone else facing this type of issue? Wondering if this is a Big Sur "feature", a M1 general issue, something specific with 7-GPU MBA or even just my unit...

 

[Nick.haley]

Can't replicate this on an 8/8 MBA, can you take it to an Apple Store to show them?

 

[dmccloud]

Try going into System Preferences > Display and toggling True Tone on and off. I know from experience that screenshots capture the actual output to the screen before any True Tone adjustments are made, which would explain in part the differences between what the built-in screenshot captured and what your phone/tablet external device captured.

 

[tyron]

Thanks for testing @Nick.haley . I've scheduled genius bar appt, but it's only for next week.. They have big line-ups these days..

@dmccloud I tried and doesn't seem to make a difference. What I noticed this morning is that the behaviour is only visible while Night Shift is turned on (yeah, one extra item on the list). My settings are around this:

I also noticed I can make it better by tweaking the calibration mode. I'm not a big fan of this solution, as I prefer things working out of the box rather than a workaround (which seems to be the case here). Nevertheless, this is a calibration that takes me closer to the look I expected (by default, it would be on D65):

 

[acidfast7_redux]

It's standard night shift or reading mode for low light cert. It's part of the blue-light TÜV cert.

If you move from a dark area to lighted area or do the experiment by turning the sole light in the room off, you'll observe this.

I turn it off on my mobile phone and haven't encountered an environmental condition where this occurs on the MBA yet. If I do, I will turn off that setting

 

[acidfast7_redux]

Thanks for testing @Nick.haley . I've scheduled genius bar appt, but it's only for next week.. They have big line-ups these days..

@dmccloud I tried and doesn't seem to make a difference. What I noticed this morning is that the behaviour is only visible while Night Shift is turned on (yeah, one extra item on the list). My settings are around this:
View attachment 1673617
I also noticed I can make it better by tweaking the calibration mode. I'm not a big fan of this solution, as I prefer things working out of the box rather than a workaround (which seems to be the case here). Nevertheless, this is a calibration that takes me closer to the look I expected (by default, it would be on D65):
View attachment 1673618

technically, this is working out of the box as it should.

here is more information: https://www.tuvsud.com/en-gb/servic...-cert/certification-mark-for-blue-light-ratio

this is more from Apple itself:

Use Night Shift on your Mac – Apple Support (UK)

Night Shift automatically shifts the colours of your display to the warmer end of the colour spectrum when it gets dark.

support.apple.com

 

[tyron]

It's standard night shift or reading mode for low light cert. It's part of the blue-light TÜV cert.

If you move from a dark area to lighted area or do the experiment by turning the sole light in the room off, you'll observe this.

I turn it off on my mobile phone and haven't encountered an environmental condition where this occurs on the MBA yet. If I do, I will turn off that setting

Yeah, but for some reason it's really prominent in this OS or MBA. My MBP (running Catalina) right beside it displays colors just fine. That's why I wanted more people to test so that I could compare.

But @acidfast7_redux would that explain why a screenshot taken and opened right away in the same conditions won't display this behaviour?

 

[acidfast7_redux]

Yeah, but for some reason it's really prominent in this OS or MBA. My MBP (running Catalina) right beside it displays colors just fine. That's why I wanted more people to test so that I could compare.

Just disable it if you don't like it.

It's not a hardware issue.

I hate the option and disable it on all of my hardware.

Blue light here I come!

 

[palemonkey]

I know it's hard to understand the problem with this title, so here we go:

1) I have a Macbook Air M1 (7-GPU)
2) I use Dark Mode on Big Sur
3) I have any app open with a predominant white color (for example, Google search results)
4) I open Spotlight and start typing something

In this case, the text color becomes a weird blue-ish color. If I take a screenshot, the resulting picture is normal. I tried taking a photo of my screen to show this behaviour.

Screenshot ("pre" text is white, as I would expect):
View attachment 1673192

Picture of my screen (what I actually see, "pre" is kinda blue):

View attachment 1673191

I'm looking at that screenshot on the same computer, calibration, everything, where the original was created.

Anyone else facing this type of issue? Wondering if this is a Big Sur "feature", a M1 general issue, something specific with 7-GPU MBA or even just my unit...

I have the same MacBook as you and noticed this too. I figured it’s a software issue and should sort itself out in the next update.

 

[tyron]

Just disable it if you don't like it.

It's not a hardware issue.

I hate the option and disable it on all of my hardware.

Blue light here I come!

The problem is: I like it! Night Shift (as working on my previous computer) is great for working at night. It's just this small detail that's bugging me. And, well, if it's something in my unit, I have a small window to get it replaced.

I have the same MacBook as you and noticed this too. I figured it’s a software issue and should sort itself out in the next update.

I'm hoping for this too, even thought about getting 11.1 Beta to find out soon. But I'm still concerned if this could be a result of the malfunctional 8th-gpu chip. I'd like to see this happening on 8-gpu MBA or even M1 MBP just for the sake of it -- or even in non-M1 computers. The fact that it's so minimal makes me wonder if it's not happening with others, or if nobody noticed.

 

[DeanL]

I know it's hard to understand the problem with this title, so here we go:

1) I have a Macbook Air M1 (7-GPU)
2) I use Dark Mode on Big Sur
3) Night Shift is turned on
4) I have any app open with a predominant white color (for example, Google search results)
5) I open Spotlight and start typing something

In this case, the text color becomes a weird blue-ish color. If I take a screenshot, the resulting picture is normal. I tried taking a photo of my screen to show this behaviour.

Picture of my screen (what I actually see, "pre" is kinda blue, and very different from text of items under it):

View attachment 1673191

But a screenshot of my screen, opening in the same computer right away, shows normal ("pre" text is white, and consistent with everything below it):
View attachment 1673192



I'm looking at that screenshot on the same computer, calibration, everything, where the original was created.

Anyone else facing this type of issue? Wondering if this is a Big Sur "feature", a M1 general issue, something specific with 7-GPU MBA or even just my unit...

I have the same MacBook as you and noticed this too. I figured it’s a software issue and should sort itself out in the next update.

I have this issue too on my MacBook Pro M1, but not on my old Intel.
Like you, it happens with Dark Mode, True Tone and Night Shift on.

 

[DeanL]

Just disable it if you don't like it.

It's not a hardware issue.

I hate the option and disable it on all of my hardware.

Blue light here I come!

I have the same issue and my intel MacBook is not like that, so it’s definitely a bug.
Thanks though

 

[matrix07]

I have the same issue and my intel MacBook is not like that, so it’s definitely a bug.
Thanks though

Does your old Intel MacBook has true tone?

 

[FreeWoRLD83]

I know it's hard to understand the problem with this title, so here we go:

1) I have a Macbook Air M1 (7-GPU)
2) I use Dark Mode on Big Sur
3) Night Shift is turned on
4) I have any app open with a predominant white color (for example, Google search results)
5) I open Spotlight and start typing something

In this case, the text color becomes a weird blue-ish color. If I take a screenshot, the resulting picture is normal. I tried taking a photo of my screen to show this behaviour.

Picture of my screen (what I actually see, "pre" is kinda blue, and very different from text of items under it):

View attachment 1673191

But a screenshot of my screen, opening in the same computer right away, shows normal ("pre" text is white, and consistent with everything below it):
View attachment 1673192



I'm looking at that screenshot on the same computer, calibration, everything, where the original was created.

Anyone else facing this type of issue? Wondering if this is a Big Sur "feature", a M1 general issue, something specific with 7-GPU MBA or even just my unit...

I've noticed the same with my M1 Air the first day. Good to see I am not alone.

 

[tyron]

I've noticed the same with my M1 Air the first day. Good to see I am not alone.

7-gpu? 8-gpu?

 

[tyron]

Added a poll at the top to better understand the issue spread

 

[DeanL]

Does your old Intel MacBook has true tone?

Yes, it's a 2019 T2 MacBook Pro.

 

[tyron]

Sorry for the spam, but would you be able to vote the appropriate answer in the poll? Please only vote if you're on Big Sur already.
@Nick.haley , @palemonkey , @FreeStyLeMaSTeR , @dmccloud , @acidfast7_redux

 

[aednichols]

I have this issue and voted in the poll. I think this is a software text rendering issue, I would contact Apple support to report it but a store appointment is probably not useful, especially in the pandemic.

 

[aednichols]

It's standard night shift or reading mode for low light cert. It's part of the blue-light TÜV cert.

If you move from a dark area to lighted area or do the experiment by turning the sole light in the room off, you'll observe this.

I turn it off on my mobile phone and haven't encountered an environmental condition where this occurs on the MBA yet. If I do, I will turn off that setting

I think you missed the nuance in OP's screenshot.

The complaint is not about color shift. It's about certain text failing to be color-shifted, when everything else on screen is adjusted normally. This makes it stand out as jarring blue.

 

[FreeWoRLD83]

7-gpu? 8-gpu?

7

 

[SBruv]

It's standard night shift or reading mode for low light cert. It's part of the blue-light TÜV cert.

If you move from a dark area to lighted area or do the experiment by turning the sole light in the room off, you'll observe this.

I turn it off on my mobile phone and haven't encountered an environmental condition where this occurs on the MBA yet. If I do, I will turn off that setting

It's absolutely nothing to do with this. I have it too on an M1 MBP, and it's obviously a bug.

8-GPU.

 

[tyron]

Thanks everybody for voting. My initial concern -- finding if this would be only me, or perhaps a defect on 7-gpu model only -- has been answered by you, seems to be a general bug affecting M1 as of now.

Last Thursday I managed to speak to an Advisor, then a Sr Advisor and finally a Sr Specialist on Apple Support that logged a ticket with Engineering to investigate. They captured screenshots and said they would update me early this week. I'll let you know if I hear something!

 

[SBruv]

Any news on this odd issue?

 

[bill-p]

So I saw this one time on my computer, but it affected not just texts but also any white windows as well. All of them appeared pink-ish for some reason.

What I did to fix it was... I changed the wallpaper. That seems to have reset something. Then I could change the wallpaper back again to whatever it was before, and the issue went away.