Studies have shown that exposure to bright blue light in the evening can affect your circadian rhythms and make it harder to fall asleep. Night Shift uses your computer's clock and geolocation to determine when it's sunset in your location. It then automatically shifts the colors in your display to the warmer end of the spectrum. In the morning it returns the display to its regular settings.
How to set up Night Shift
As part of a recent update for macOS (10.12.4), Apple added support for Night Shift to the Mac for the first time.Night Shift, which had previously been available only for iOS, is a feature that automatically adjusts the color temperature of your Mac’s display based on factors such as time of day and ambient light. When I choosed schedule settings on my Mac, manual option is automatically ticked by default, and it’s work for me, night shift from sunset to sunrise automatically. So I think you need to check manual box as well. Apparently Apple made Manual checkbox functioning as on-off switch in notifications centre.
Make sure that your Mac meets the system requirements for Night Shift, then follow these steps:
- Choose Apple menu () > System Preferences, then click Displays.
- Click the Night Shift tab.
Schedule: Create a custom Night Shift schedule or have Night Shift turn on automatically from sunset to sunrise.
Manual: Control Night Shift manually.
- If Night Shift is off, select the checkbox to turn Night Shift on until 7 a.m. If you're using a schedule, Night Shift automatically turns off at the scheduled time.
- If Night Shift is on, deselect the checkbox to turn Night Shift off. If you're using a schedule, Night Shift turns on again at the scheduled time.
Color Temperature: Drag the slider to make the color temperature more or less warm when Night Shift is on. Warmer color temperatures show more yellow and less blue.
You can control the Manual setting from Notification Center as well. Click the Notification Center icon in the menu bar, or swipe left with two fingers from the right side of your trackpad. Then scroll up to reveal the Night Shift setting.
System requirements for Night Shift
Night Shift requires macOS Sierra 10.12.4 and one of these Mac computers, using the built-in display or the displays listed:
- MacBook models from early 2015 or later
- MacBook Air models from mid 2012 or later
- MacBook Pro models from mid 2012 or later
- Mac mini models from late 2012 or later
- iMac models from late 2012 or later
- Mac Pro models from late 2013 or later
- Apple LED Cinema Display
- Apple Thunderbolt Display
- LG UltraFine 5K Display
- LG UltraFine 4K Display
Learn more
Working Night Shift Health
- Learn how to use Night Shift on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
- If you have a Mac that supports True Tone, you can use True Tone and Night Shift at the same time.