M1 MacBook Pro screen diming with "Automatically adjust brightness" turned off

My new MacBook Pro (M1) has such a severe problem with this issue that I am returning it, and getting a replacement.

Here are the very unusual things my MacBook Pro (delivered in late December) began to produce:

1. Total inability to adjust to changing natural light.
2. Auto screen dimming when natural light actually dimmed. Yes, the display got *darker* when the room got darker.
3. The screen often dimmed for no reason, and got so dark, it could barely be seen.
4. Kept producing the "Screen Display Contrast On" message with each startup (even though it was not on), and could not be removed.
5. Kept defaulting to Auto-Brightness on, even when de-selected.

With Apple reps, we reinstalled the software, did a diagnostic, and did everything we could to turn Display Contrast on/off/on/off to try and reset it. Never worked. But while that issue was minor, the inability of the MacBook Pro to handle even the slightest changes in natural light persisted. As I said to the reps: the only conditions under which this device seems to be able to handle auto-brightness is at night, under the total control of artificial room lighting. At the end of the troubleshooting process, I was offered to go the repair route but was advised to return it for a replacement.

The MacBook Pro (M1) is an amazing and beautiful machine. But this severe and unfixable problem was a surprise to me not exactly confidence inspiring. I've owned myriad Macs for 20 years. Hope my replacement is good to go.

Hey ! I had the same issue and I solved it by changing a setting in the battery settings. I can't tell u the exact name of it because my computer is in french but it's says something like that the screen is dimming a little when u use the macbook with battery.

This morning I was hosting a Zoom call over a period of two hours using my M1 MacBook Pro. I was in a room with plenty of natural light. On four separate occasions, the screen dimmed on its own to the point I could not see anything on the display (it took a minute or so to dim completely, it was not instantaneous). Each time I increased the screen brightness using the Touch Bar, and the brightness indicator was on zero before it incereased in response to my input. This has not happened in the past when the computer was being used in the same mannor, so this is the first instance of this problem. Is there a soulution to this problem?

I'm now on my second M1 MacBook Pro, the first having been replaced by Apple in early January. When I took delivery of the current MB, I elected to not configure it using a Time Machine backup, but instead to get it going as a new machine. 99% of my apps are in the cloud anyway, so populating the new MB was pretty easy. The theory: my Time Machine configuration on the first MB likely caused two curious problems, the major one being this screen dimming issue.

For 2-3 weeks, that theory seemed quite correct. The current MB was working beautifully, adjusting to natural light changes. And then, it happened again, just a few days ago. I opened up the MB in a room and the brightness crashed to such a dim level, I couldn't see anything (barely) on the screen. And then it happened again, later in the afternoon.

Apple: you have a problem.

This is a very painful problem!! My new MBP M1 cycles up and down from bright to so dim it's barely usable, over and over within minutes. It's a clean install of Big Sur and was not restored from Time Machine.

I have a brand new M1 MacBook Pro and am experiencing the same issue. I just got it 2 days ago, and the behavior where the screen dims to 0 for no reason is absolutely infuriating. This was set up cleanly as a new device, not restored from a previous MacBook, as I'm switching over from a Thinkpad.

Based upon your experience w/ the return and the recurrence of the issue, do you think I should hold off on returning it and hope for a resolution via a future software update? I would hate for this to be a hardware issue and for me to miss out on the ability to return it, but I also don't want to go through the process of setting it all up again if it's just a software issue that I'll run into on the next device.

Thanks!

Not a typo. The thread is about extreme over-dimming as a response to changes in light, in both directions. Yes, we all understand that the screen would adjust to a less bright level as the environment dims. But this issue is about an extreme version of that response. As noted, screen also severely dims if natural light increases.

I can't verify this, bu the extreme dimming behavior has improved in the past month or so, and I wonder if Apple did a software fix. I am due to have a conversation with them about other small issues, so I will be keen to see if this problem has indeed been more widespread.

Same thing here.

Got a m1 mba in january, got it replaced last week... with the same issue. 😓

Since i had the opportunity to keep the old one while waiting for the new one, once i received the new one i did a few tests on the first one.

Even with a fully fresh install of mac OS, Nothing can change the weird behavior...

So now i'm a bit frustrated since i'm pretty sure this could be fixed with a software update (after all, these sensors work, they are just overly sensitive) and to me this just looks like a calibration issue.

I also to begin quite ashamed with the carbon footprint to resolve an issue that is so mundane, and could potentially not be resolved with a second replacement (and not even addressing the hassle of that whole reinstall/signin/signoff/sending back situation)...

Anyway, just adding my take on that issue, hoping Apple will notice and address.

Cheers guys

Just adding to the chorus of people experiencing this issue.

I appear to be unique, however, in that I DO NOT have an M1. Rather, I have a 2016 MBP Touch Bar 15" running Big Sur v11.2.3 (20D91)...

So no M1 chip for me! I believe this may point to a bug in the OS more broadly (which is strange!). If people wish to share, I think providing your particular OS might be helpful here for the engineers to narrow it down.

Im running into this same issue. Im on a MacBook Pro 16inch, 2019 with Touch Bar running Big Sur. I have auto brightness turned off and still it likes to auto dim when it feels like. Highly frustrating kinda sounds like its a os bug. Hopefully it will resolve with an update.

Just got my new MacBook Air two days ago. Love the machine, EXCEPT for this dimming issue. Clearly, as I see so many posts - it's not just me! APPLE PLEASE DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS... it's beyond annoying and makes the usability of this beautiful machine almost useless! When you're in a time sensitive situation and things are dimming on you as you're scrambling to get the work done.... shoot, who needs the extra stress?!?