I just finished a group video call with my siblings in a completely dark cabin surrounded by pine trees. And for the first time, I didn’t hear a complaint that went something like this “Please turn up the brightness, I can’t see your damn face.”
It was the same Mac as always, my favorite video calling app, and the familiar cellular internet situation. The only difference this time was the new display-controlled light fill feature that was introduced with the macOS 26.2 update and is now rolling out widely to Mac users.
Apple calls it Edge Light. Think of it like a ring light, but it’s inside your Mac’s screen and happens to be rectangular in shape. It’s the first time I’ve tried such a solution on a PC, having tried the low-light selfie version. To my surprise, it worked pretty well.
Does it work?
Well, to answer that question in advance, here is a snapshot from the same dark work cave. On the left is a Photo Booth shot in regular mode, and on the right is the same image with Edgelight enabled. You can see a clear difference:
Before we go into detail, here’s a little bit of bad news. The Edge Light feature is limited to Macs with M-series silicon. So if you have an older device with an Intel processor, you’re out of luck. Why?
Apparently this feature isn’t just about improving brightness using the existing display hardware. Instead, dynamic light adjustment occurs based on the ambient light situation and the user’s position in the image. And that requires a powerful chip.
“Apple Silicon makes this feature particularly intelligent. The Apple Neural Engine detects faces, their relative size and position in the camera image, and the image signal processor understands the lighting conditions very precisely to adjust the automatic brightness level depending on the light needed in the scene,” Apple said in a statement shared with Daily Sparkz.
Another aspect you need to keep in mind is that mileage may vary depending on the Mac display you are facing. The Pro models with their brighter mini-LED panels offer stronger illumination on the Edge.
I tried using the M4 iPad Pro (OLED screen) as a secondary display and clearly noticed the difference compared to my M4 MacBook Air. Additionally, if you have a larger display, the brightness distribution between a 13-inch laptop screen and a 24-inch monitor would be even more noticeable.
A clear difference
Let’s take a look at the effectiveness of the new Edge Light system in macOS Tahoe (version 26.2). First, it works with any video calling app of your choice. Whether Google Meet or FaceTime, the tool works perfectly.
In fact, any app that is triggered using a webcam also activates the Edge Light system. All you need to do is tap on the green video camera icon that appears at the top of the menu bar. On Macs model year 2024 or newer, the system can be set to activate automatically.
On these Macs, the device analyzes the ambient light situation and automatically activates the halo along the edges. As for controls, you can also adjust the brightness and color temperature, from bright white to a soothing warm tone.
The brightness situation is a bit tricky. You see, instead of reducing the brightness of the halo light, Apple reduces the thickness of the virtual strip of light. This is a clever way to maintain the system-wide brightness level so that the Edge Light strip doesn’t interfere when you intentionally work in a low/high brightness mode.
For optimal output, keeping the display brightness close to half-way is enough to brighten your face. However, if you want the best results, set the brightness all the way to maximum to get the most out of the edge light strip.
I prefer the calming yellow glow by keeping the temperature warm. It is gentle on the eyes and provides a more natural look. However, if you really want to make your face pop, set the color slider to the white or blue end of the slider.
If, like me, you prefer to work in a dark room, away from the flash and glare of overhead lighting, Edge Light is a real savior. You don’t need any additional equipment to light up your face for video calls.
In the last few months I have traveled a lot to remote areas. For quick video calls with family or recording a short vlog, I loved the added flexibility.
Yes, Edge Light won’t beat the sheer brilliance of a physical ring light, but it can definitely bring your face out of grainy darkness and into a well-lit camera view. But that’s not the point. This is an auxiliary tool that can significantly improve the visual quality of your video calls, especially if you use a dedicated webcam.
A clever little trick
The Edge Light feature introduced with macOS Tahoe (26.2) does a good job. But there is also a clever trick hidden. “The light is smart and moves away from your mouse cursor as you get closer to the edge of the screen, so you can access your content at any time,” says Apple.
Simply put: Depending on the position of the mouse cursor, a small area of the halo automatically becomes darker. Let’s say you have FaceTime and Google Docs open in split view mode on the screen and are referencing a document for the conversation.
Once the system detects that the cursor is on the left side of the screen (in the Google Docs window), the left edge of the halo light becomes darker. This thoughtful change ensures that the bright light is not perceived as if it is entering the other window where it is not needed.
It’s almost as if Edge Light keeps the “glare effect” under control. I really love this small but important design decision. Edge Light can also be combined with the Studio Light effect for an even better experience on video calls, especially when you’re moving but need tracking lighting.
Overall, macOS 26.2 isn’t quite the feature-rich update. But Edge Light makes it one of those small incremental updates worth tracking. Good job, Apple!
