More than a brightness booster.
A brightness system.
Solis gives your 14- or 16-inch MacBook Pro direct control of its Liquid Retina XDR backlight, from true darkness to the 1600-nit peak. Then it handles the part other boosters leave to you: adapting to the room, remembering your preferences, and easing off when battery or panel temperature says it should.
Four jobs, not one
A good Mac brightness app should fit the way you use the screen—not just make a number larger.
Readable outdoors
Use the XDR panel's reserve when glare overwhelms the normal range. Current M4/M5 Macs can reach 1000 nits outdoors automatically; Solis adds direct control up to 1600 nits.
Comfortable indoors
Ambient-light automation avoids leaving the panel brighter than the room needs. Solis learns the corrections you make instead of forcing a fixed curve.
Easy at night
Fine dimming below the normal minimum, scheduled warmth and astronomy red cover the other half of a display's day.
Which kind of app do you need?
| Your priority | Best fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic built-in XDR brightness | Solis | Ambient light, learning, battery and thermal management in one focused app |
| Simple manual boost | Vivid / BrightIntosh | Focused controls when you prefer to manage the boost yourself |
| Many external monitors | Lunar / BetterDisplay | Broader DDC, presets and multi-display tooling |
| No third-party app | Apple auto-brightness | On M4/M5 models, outdoor SDR can automatically reach up to 1000 nits |
Apple's current specifications list 1000-nit outdoor SDR, 1000-nit sustained XDR and 1600-nit peak XDR brightness. Availability varies by model and conditions.
Know before you download
Full XDR boost
14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models from 2021 onward, plus Pro Display XDR on Apple silicon. The free trial checks the display before you pay.
Night tools only
MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, Intel Macs and non-XDR displays have no hidden brightness reserve. Solis still provides warmth, astronomy red and dimming to true black.