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Apple is Bringing Night Shift Mode To Its Desktop OS (macrumors.com)

Posted by msmash on from the upcoming-features dept.

Apple is bringing Night Shift, a feature aimed at changing the tone of the display to better suit the eyes at different time of the day, to its desktop operating system. From a report: macOS Sierra 10.12.4, seeded to developers this morning, introduces a major new feature: Night Shift for the Mac. Night Shift can be toggled on and off using the new Night Shift switch located in the Today section of the Notification Center.

12 of 78 comments (clear)

  1. Courage! by ColdWetDog · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I suppose a good bit about this is that even the new MacBooks should have the horsepower to change the display color. Even if it has to calculate the time.

    Leading edge here. The future's so bright that you gotta wear shades.

    --
    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  2. Quit dinking around by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 2, Funny

    >> major new feature: Night Shift for the Mac

    Quit dinking around, Apple. You're on the path to become the next Blackberry at the moment.

  3. Welcome to 2010, Apple by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Now implement this in hardware with a light sensor instead of a switch the user has to push manually and you're almost as good as the notebook I just went and replaced with a newer model.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:Welcome to 2010, Apple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      A light sensor doesn't do... which btw Apple had in their computers to adjust display brightness since like forever.

      Nightshift is time dependent as it's only purpose is to elminate blue light at hours you should sleep.

  4. So much for color calibration by havardi · · Score: 2

    I wonder how "creative" apps will handle this-- will they get an exemption from the red-shift policy, or a warning? What about clients? Should certain content be flagged as "color sensitive" and be displayed at a standard color profile despite the rest of the screen being red-shifted? I just spent a lot of time calibrating my displays with DisplayCal, dammit!

    1. Re: So much for color calibration by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Turn the feature off. Problem solved...

  5. A me-too company by charliemerritt03 · · Score: 2

    Poor Apple. Once a leader, now a me-too.

    1. Re:A me-too company by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 4, Insightful

      They don't R&D real hardware, they buy off the shelf components from Samsung, LG, et al, and then their engineers put them together.

      Really? Where in the Samsung, LG et al Catalogs can I find an A11x SoC, for example?

      Where is the TouchBar Display and Controller? Show me the Catalog page!

      And the SSD Controller in the 2016 MacBook Pros, where can I buy that?

      I could go on and on, and if I want to look back, there is Apple-Designed custom silicon clear back to the Apple ][ days...

      You talk a lot of shit there, buddy.

  6. What would be even better would be... by tlambert · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What would be even better would be... links to medline/NIH/NEJM/Lancet papers indicating that the changing of colors is anything other than snake oil being manufactured by the people who brought you "Blue Blockers" sunglasses.

    "Blue Blockers: For when you turn 50, take up golf, and wear white polyester pants pulled up to your armpits".

    I found 15 medline articles on the idea -- all concluding that thecolor changes don't do dick. The one really reliable study -- the one on Navy pilots -- concluded that the color change *increased* alertness. Good luck getting to sleep more easily with *increased alertness*. Luckily, the same study also indicated that the effect was very short term.

    1. Re:What would be even better would be... by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 3, Informative

      Here's a Scientific America article with neuroscientists who researched it. I don't have any decent journal access, but those names might be a good starting point.

      Even if it didn't have medical effects, I still like the visual effect. When I wake up in the middle of the night and pick up my phone to check the time, the normal daytime colors sear my retinas while the orange hues don't. Any potential health benefit is just a bonus.

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      Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
  7. Re:This made the front page? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 2

    Apple did not invent it. They simply made it better and that takes courage.

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    #DeleteFacebook
  8. Re:Manual? How old-school by R.Mo_Robert · · Score: 2

    >> Night Shift can be toggled on and off using the new Night Shift switch located in the Today section of the Notification Center.

    Rather than have to manually turn it on/off, it seems like the much better approach would be to use a light sensor, or at least link it to the clock so it knows when its day/night. I agree that it should be manually overrideable though.

    Look, I know it's not cool to read the article, but...from TFA: "In [the preferences pane], users can schedule Night Shift to come on at sunset and turn off at sunrise or set a custom Night Shift schedule." The manual toggle is just one way you can activate it.

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    R.Mo