Both go brighter.
Only Solis manages it.
Vivid and Solis both extend your MacBook Pro into its XDR brightness range with true color. The difference is everything that happens after you turn it on—Solis eases the boost by battery, heat and the light in your room, and handles warmth and dimming too. Vivid gives you the brightness; Solis gives you the brightness, managed.
Solis vs Vivid
| Solis | Vivid | |
|---|---|---|
| Published XDR claim | 1600 peak | 1000 sustained |
| True-color boost | ✓ | ✓ |
| Battery-aware auto | ✓ | ✕ |
| Thermal-aware auto | ✓ | ✕ |
| Adapts to light & learns your taste | ✓ | ✕ |
| Warmth / blue-light | ✓ | ✕ |
| Astronomy (red) mode | ✓ | ✕ |
| Night dim to total darkness | ✓ | ✕ |
| Night tools on non-XDR Macs | ✓ | ✕ |
| Price | $9.99 one-time | €10 one-time |
Which should you pick?
Vivid is a good fit if…
You want a simple, well-known brightness toggle and nothing else, or you specifically want it on the Mac App Store. Vivid is a polished, established app that does one thing.
Solis is a better fit if…
You want the brightness to look after itself — full on AC, easing on battery and heat, adapting to your room and learning the level you like — and you want warmth, deep-red astronomy mode, and dimming below the macOS minimum in the same app. It also reaches the panel's full 1600-nit peak, and works as a Night-tools app even on Macs without an XDR display.
Published brightness claims use each developer's current wording and do not imply identical sustained/peak behavior. We keep this comparison honest — if anything here is out of date, email hello@heysolis.com and we'll fix it. The free trial checks your Mac for you before you pay a cent.
See also: Solis vs Lunar · BrightIntosh alternative · Solis vs f.lux · Brighter than 100% guide