MacBook Pro M5 brightness increases in Photoshop Camera Raw

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MacBook Pro M5 brightness increases in Photoshop Camera Raw

MacBook Pro M5 brightness increasing opening RAW photo files in Photoshop Camera RAW. It appears this started after I upgraded to MacOS 27. My Photoshop and Lightroom are running the newest version. Any feedback would be much appreciated.

Camera Raw version: 18.6.0.2698

Photoshop version: 27.10.0

Example:

I open Adobe Bridge. Open any RAW files which opens Photoshop Camera Raw. The brightness would increase. The brightness level indicator stays where it originally was (around 50%) but the display's brightness shows otherwise. The kicker is I am not able to adjust the brightness using the Brightness keys on my keyboard. As soon as I close the file, the brightness goes back to normal usually after about +/-10-15 seconds.

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 27.0

Posted on Sep 25, 2026 3:14 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

neuroanatomist

Level 9

66,797 points

Sep 25, 2026 8:14 PM in response to Len Solo

The first step is to make sure you are using the current versions of Adobe software. ACR is on 18.6.

Have you rebooted your Mac? If not, that's the second step. If that does not help, then see if the problem is present when you boot in safe mode. That process performs some system cleanup and clears caches, and also disables 3rd party extensions that may cause problems.

Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support

If that does not correct the issue, test in a new user account. A newly-created user account will have all settings at default, and if the issue does not occur in that new account then it provides guidance on what may need to be changed to correct the issue.

Add a user or group on Mac - Apple Support

Once the testing is complete, the new account can easily be deleted.

Delete a user or group on Mac – Apple Support

Those steps will help to isolate the problem.

Personally, I cannot replicate the issue that you describe on my 16" M4 Pro MBP running macOS 27 Golden Gate. I don't use Bridge, but when I open a Canon RAW file (.CR3) in Photoshop CC, that opens ACR (both are current versions). There is no change in brightness on the internal display (nor on an external display in clamshell mode). On the internal display, I can adjust brightness with the keyboard controls while a RAW image is open in ACR:

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