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Why does my screen sometimes change to a red amber tint to blue bluish tint?

I have a new Macbook Pro 16". I got it in about March.


Intermittently, I have seen the screen suddenly change tinting. I have not been able to replicate it nor figure out a certain timing. Just, out of the blue, it goes from a normal view to a view with a blue tint. I have included a video at https://youtu.be/BSRi4HCGj-Y. You will see it happen at 0:04, 3:25, and 3:44. There are clickable links in the description.


I brought it in to the Genius Bar. He saw it himself. He did a hardware and software check. No issues. He suggested I reinstall the OS. I did that. It's still happening.

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jul 26, 2020 10:52 AM

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Posted on Jul 26, 2020 1:48 PM

Your addition notwithstanding, I was just suggesting you turn it off and see if anything changes.


Standard troubleshooting stuff:


Does this occur for a different user, e.g., Guest? How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac.


Does this occur after starting up in Safe Mode


Consider the possibility of a third party software conflict.  EtreCheck can be used to investigate what is installed.  You can post the report here. Someone might spot something.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 26, 2020 1:48 PM in response to boldleigh

Your addition notwithstanding, I was just suggesting you turn it off and see if anything changes.


Standard troubleshooting stuff:


Does this occur for a different user, e.g., Guest? How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac.


Does this occur after starting up in Safe Mode


Consider the possibility of a third party software conflict.  EtreCheck can be used to investigate what is installed.  You can post the report here. Someone might spot something.

Jul 26, 2020 2:28 PM in response to CT

One of the issues I have is that it's so intermittent that it's difficult to trace. For example, since my genius appointment 2 weeks ago, it's only happened for one day, and that was like 2 days ago. So for 2 weeks, it "worked fine".


I think unchecking True Tone is a good tactic, but, given that I can't trace it, I'm unsure how to troubleshoot appropriately. If it doesn't happen for a month, is that enough time? Will it take 2 months? It's hard to trace.


Same thing with the "guest user" or "safe mode" situation. Hard to trace or track because I can't seem to recreate it on cue. It just "happens". I was fortunate to catch it on video and for the Apple Genius person to see it in person. But, of course, that doesn't help you or me. Ugh.


Below is my report.


Thanks for the suggestions.





Jul 26, 2020 12:54 PM in response to CT

True tone is checked. But that doesn't register with me as the issue. When I've seen my display change for what I think is True Tone, it's been a smooth transition--never a snap.


Is this expected behavior that it would "snap" into the new shade? That is part of my observation. It's not a smooth transition. For example, when I've observed a device go from "regular" mode to "night shift", the transition from one shade to another is a smooth transition. When I open up the "night shift" settings in the display settings and move the color temperature dial left and right, it smoothly oozes between shades.


Meanwhile, this issue I'm experiencing is a instantaneous SNAP from one shade to another. That doesn't add up to me.

Jul 26, 2020 2:46 PM in response to boldleigh

Just for comparison, I have a similarly configured 2019 MBP 16" which does not exhibit this problem. It seems to me that a defective sensor could cause the Truetone thing to misbehave. But I could imagine software causes as well. You have some software from Vidyo which may be considered a suspect, but you have quite a number of other third party things running which could be suspect as well. It's tough to rule things out when the problem is intermittent, I know.

Why does my screen sometimes change to a red amber tint to blue bluish tint?

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