Can't change brightness after 10.12.4/5 update

I can only suggest you download and run the 10.12.5 COMBO Update.

This contains everything that is needed to update any Sierra OS since 10.12.0 to 10.12.5.

If some needed files went missing in between they will be reinstated.

Same exact problem with a 2012 Retina, that had the screen replaced by apple some time in 2014. I also was unable to solve it, and ended up rolling back to a time machine backup with 10.12.3 where the brightness works again.

The only other mention I could find of this is in the hackintosh community, where it is widely known that the AppleBacklight.kext and AppleBacklightExpert.kext files were changed/updated in 10.12.5, (and also 10.12.4 I believe,) and they have developed various patches for them to work with whatever Dell or other systems they are running macOS on. (This of course doesn't apply to an actual Mac.)

I have a feeling this has to do with the new implementation of night shift in the displays...which wasn't present in 10.12.3 and would require a rewriting of the backlight driver...that somehow has broken compatibility with our machines.

How were you able to determine the hardware model of your screen?

I also tried this with my early 2011 mbp and the combo update did not help.

this also started around two months ago and the apple engineer i have been speaking too said that no one else had this problem. They tried to blame me for changing my HDD to SSD and i have did various tests, reboots etc and pretty much ruled it out to them. now they have run out of options and still can't figure out a solution.

It is annoying me now

Have you also had your screen replaced?

Muppet17 wrote:

Not that i know off.

I wonder if your problem might be different from the other posters here.

Sometimes it is the simplest things... check in System Preferences->Keyboard->Keyboard, the status of the box "Use F1, F2, etc. keys...". If it is checked, UNcheck it.

Luis,

I tried this yesterday and still no fix. An apple engineer gave me a call back with an update and are well aware of the problem now. He said that the next update should fix all the problems people have been having with adjusting the screen brightness, he did not say when apple were bringing this update out but i would imagine within the next month or two.

Hope this helps everyone who is experiencing this problem, this has been annoying me for over a couple of months now.

Just hope it will be resolved in the next update.

You may try installing the beta of High Sierra in a separate drive and test that. I believe someone has written that this issue appeared to be fixed for him (no guarantees, and keep in mind that beta software may be buggy, by definition, but if it works it may at least comforting that the issue won't be around for much longer).

Unfortunately yes. I installed 10.10.5 on a separate drive and brightness controls worked but retina scaling resolutions were still off. Could it be that the replacement display has a different controller that affects retina resolutions? Even SwitchResX can't produce my old 1440x900 HiDPI resolution....

i updated to 10.12.6 and did not solve my problem.

i try to clean installation 10.12.2. after installation everything is OK!

after update to 10.12.6 brightness control damage again.

I Chatting with support and not helped.

Sorry for Apple

I had this same exact issue. I was unable to adjust my brightness on my MacBook Pro mid 2014 Retina display after updating past 10.12.3. Staying at 10.12.3 or earlier and I was able to adjust my brightness just fine. If I updated to anything after 10.12.3 the brightness would not adjust at all. I also updated to high Sierra hoping there would be a fix, but to no avail. After working heavily with senior engineers at Apple to determine how to fix or patch this issue we were finally able to find a solution. I updated to high Sierra OS. (Brightness still not adjusting at this point) then they sent me to the Apple store to have the retina screen replaced with a brand new one. (They covered the cost of this repair).

After they replaced the screen, the brightness now adjusts and I’m running high Sierra!!! This issue I have been battling for months is finally resolved. I thought for sure this was an application issue in the OS, but something about the new screen hardware works with the new OS where the original screen on my MacBook does not work right with anything past 10.12.3.

If you are having this issue, it’s worth a shot to contact apple to see about a screen replacement. Worked for me! Best of luck.

Mostly through their chat support. After nonr of their trouble shooting steps worked they eventually assigned my case to a senior engineer who called me to let me know they would like to do a screen replacement at no charge to me.

Doesn't help me. I have the same problem.

I have the same problem as well. No one can point me in the right direction and it's really frustrating.

Same problem and combo update doesn't help.

It's two months that I have this problem and there are dozens of people who have it!

After the discomfort of replacing the screen, now this too. 😠

Same problem and combo update doesn't help.

It's two months that I have this problem and there are dozens of people who have it!

After the discomfort of replacing the screen, now this too. 😠