Brightness locked/Unable to adjust on Studio Display

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Level 1

14 points

Brightness locked/Unable to adjust on Studio Display

I have a mac mini M4 Pro Sequoia and all software/firmware is up to date. Today I noticed that I cannot change the brightness on my Mac Studio display. I've tried everything I could find in the community and online. No unplugging, re-plugging, changing display options/adjustments makes any difference. I cannot adjust display brightness from system preferences, control center, nor from a keyboard. There is a lock icon on the brightness icon on screen when I try from the keyboard, otherwise, brightness and auto brightness is grayed out under all display options in system preferences. I've gone through the energy adjustments and nothing there either. I've disconnected all peripherals, including another Dell monitor I used as an extended desktop. Adding them back makes no difference because the brightness doesn't unlock with nothing but the mac mini connected. I've tried switching the order, main, extended, and resolutions. Has anyone ever found an answer? None in the Community except call Apple Support, which will just make me go through all this again.

Mac mini, macOS 15.6

Posted on Aug 6, 2025 06:59 PM

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Answer 1

Edward A. Author

Level 1

14 points

Aug 6, 2025 07:47 PM in response to Edward A.

I tried other wording in google instead of other search engines and I found this from Gloria M (but not in an Apple Community search - of course). You can only change the brightness on the studio display in one setting. For presets, like photography or web and print, etc., the brightness is predetermined. You can, however, create custom presets using a standard preset as a base. Check out ArtIsRight's https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJuruNqxiP4 Apple Studio Display Preset Mode Explained & how to create custom preset for Pro Workflow.

Thank you Gloria M! And ArtIsRight.

Gloria M

Author

User level:

Level 1

5 points

May 24, 2022 5:53 PM in response to Gloria M

UPDATE!

I am in shock! After chatting with two Apple Support representatives and they making me repeat and do tests, then then refer me to phone calls with Apple Advisors. Long story short, after many tries to "fix" the problem, the last Advisor asked me to perform a Recovery of my brand new Studio. I had to erase a external hard drive to make a quick backup. She sent me instructions on how to do it and then said, if the problem was not resolved, to call back. I did the Restore :-( and the "problem" persisted. I was too tired to call back today and decided to look in other forums to see, if someone else had my problem and I found another person asking the same question, "Why can't I adjust the Brightness only in the default Preset?". Someone replied that it IS SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE THAT and to watch this video I am attaching. I can't believe this.

I don't think it's the people I spoke to fault. Obviously they have not been taught about this. Four Apple Advisors trying to see why I could not adjust the brightness.

Hope this helps others!

https://youtu.be/bJuruNqxiP4

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Answer 2

tbirdvet

Level 6

16,697 points

Aug 7, 2025 04:34 PM in response to Edward A.

You are correct. The preset must be "Apple Display". If you pick another preset the system with auto set to the brightness it believes is needed. For what I do I keep it at the default of "Apple Display".

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