Can BetterDisplay change the native XDR brightness upscaling setting on my MacBook depending on whether an external monitor is connected?

[cdzombak]

Context: I have an M3 MacBook Pro and an Apple Studio Display. On my MacBook Pro I use BetterDisplay pro to set the native XDR brightness scaling to 600 nits, so that it matches the brightness of the Studio Display when I adjust brightness.

However, when I am not working at my desk I like to change the MacBook's max XDR brightness to 1000 nits, to help when using it outdoors.

Can BetterDisplay automatically change the MacBook's native XDR brightness upscaling setting depending on whether or not the Studio Display is connected?

[waydabber]

No, this did not come up yet as a request. But the M3 MBP should have 600 nits by default right? So you should simply turn XDR upscaling on/off.

[cdzombak]

But the M3 MBP should have 600 nits by default right?

Hmm, I thought it had 500 by default, but I'll go back and check.

Yes, that is correct! I was mistaken for some reason.

Can BetterDisplay turn XDR upscaling on/off automatically depending on whether the Studio Display is connected?

[waydabber]

For the M3 they raised it to 600 nits to match the Studio Display, but it was indeed 500 nits for M1 and M2. :)

[waydabber]

I'll add an option to run scripts when a display is connected or disconnected. The XDR upscaling can be turned on/off using CLI so it could be automated that way.

[cdzombak]

That would be great; in the meantime I'll look into using my existing Hammerspoon-based automation to turn upscaling on/off, so this is not an urgent feature request.

Thanks for the info!