A tiny, free, open-source macOS menu-bar app that pushes your MacBook Pro's Liquid Retina XDR or Pro Display XDR panel past the 500-nit SDR ceiling using Apple's native EDR pipeline — then dims it below the OS's 0% floor with the same overlay. No gamma hacks, no private APIs, no display risk.
Free alternative to Vivid, BrightIntosh, and Lunar's XDR mode.
Free · No sign-up · macOS 14 Sonoma or later · Apple Silicon
Crafted by ZipLyne
Install · Requirements · How it works · Safety · FAQ
- Click here to download Witz-Lyte.zip
- Open the downloaded zip — it unpacks to Witz Lyte.app.
- Drag Witz Lyte.app into your Applications folder.
- The first time you open it: right-click (or
Control+click) Witz Lyte.app → Open → Open in the dialog. You only need to do this once — macOS treats free apps like this cautiously until you approve them. - Look for the ☀️ sun icon in your menu bar (top-right of your screen).
- Click the icon → Enable Witz Lyte, then drag the slider to make your screen brighter (or dimmer).
That's it. No account, no payment, no subscription, nothing to configure.
git clone https://github.com/ZipLyne-Agency/WitzLyte.git
cd WitzLyte
./build.sh
mv "dist/Witz Lyte.app" /Applications/
open "/Applications/Witz Lyte.app"Requires Xcode Command Line Tools (xcode-select --install).
TL;DR — You need a MacBook Pro (M1 or later) or a Pro Display XDR. Intel Macs and MacBook Airs get a smaller boost. MacBook Pros with nano-texture glass are fully supported.
| Requirement | Minimum |
|---|---|
| Mac chip | Apple Silicon M1 or later (Intel not supported) |
| macOS | 14.0 Sonoma or later |
| Display | Any display reporting EDR headroom > 1.0 (boost level varies — see table below) |
| RAM / Storage | No meaningful requirement — Witz Lyte uses < 50 MB RAM at idle |
The brightness boost you get depends entirely on your display's EDR headroom. macOS reports this at runtime — Witz Lyte reads it and hard-clamps the slider so you can never exceed hardware spec.
| Display | Mac Required | Peak Brightness | Boost Level | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MacBook Pro 14" / 16" Liquid Retina XDR | M1 Pro/Max · M2 Pro/Max · M3/Pro/Max · M4/Pro/Max · M5 Max | 1600 nits | Full — 3.2× | Best experience. Nano-texture supported. |
| Apple Pro Display XDR | Any Apple Silicon Mac | 1600 nits | Full — 3.2× | Reference mode unaffected. |
| MacBook Air 15" (M2 / M3 / M4) | — | ~800 nits | Partial — ~1.6× | Real improvement, not full XDR |
| MacBook Air 13" (M1 / M2 / M3 / M4) | — | ~600 nits | Partial — ~1.5× | Noticeable outdoor boost |
| MacBook Pro 13" (M1 / M2) | — | ~600 nits | Partial — ~1.5× | Non-XDR panel |
| iMac 24" (M1 / M3 / M4) | — | 500 nits | None — 1.0× | Standard Retina, no EDR headroom |
| Apple Studio Display | Any | 600 nits | None — 1.0× | Reports zero EDR headroom to macOS |
| Third-party HDR monitor | Any Apple Silicon | Varies | Varies | Works when macOS reports EDR headroom > 1.0 |
| Intel Mac (any model) | — | — | Not supported | EDR pipeline requires Apple Silicon |
How to check your headroom: Open Terminal and run:
swift -e "import Cocoa; NSScreen.screens.forEach { print($0.localizedName, $0.maximumPotentialExtendedDynamicRangeColorComponentValue) }"Any value above
1.0means Witz Lyte will work on that display.3.2is full XDR.1.0means no boost possible.
macOS caps your 1600-nit XDR panel to ~500 nits for normal desktop content. Beautiful for color-accurate work in a dim studio — brutal outdoors, in a sunlit café, or anywhere your retinas need to overpower the environment. And if you're up at 2am, the OS brightness floor is still too bright.
Witz Lyte uses a single EDR-backed overlay to solve both problems. One slider — slide left to dim below the OS floor, slide right to boost past the SDR cap — powered by Apple's own rendering stack.
| One unified slider | Dim ← → Boost. Identity (1.0) in the middle snaps magnetically like macOS volume |
| Full EDR boost | Up to your display's reported headroom — no gamma tricks |
| Sub-zero dim | Goes below macOS's 0% brightness floor using multiply blend mode |
| Global hotkeys | ⌘⌥⇧B toggles the overlay · ⌘⌥⇧0 resets to Normal |
| Multi-display aware | One overlay per screen, auto-rebuilds when displays change |
| Battery protection | Optional auto-disable on battery power |
| Thermal protection | Optional auto-disable on .serious / .critical thermal state |
| Auto-off timer | 15m · 30m · 1h · 2h |
| Launch at login | Wired to SMAppService — real macOS login item |
| Nits estimate | Live tooltip shows approximate nit output |
| Dependency-free | ~600 lines of Swift, single menu-bar process, < 5 MB on disk |
Each screen gets a borderless, click-through, full-screen NSWindow at .screenSaver level with an NSView hosting a manually-configured CAMetalLayer:
metalLayer.pixelFormat = .rgba16Float
metalLayer.wantsExtendedDynamicRangeContent = true
metalLayer.colorspace = CGColorSpace(name: .extendedLinearDisplayP3)
metalLayer.compositingFilter = "multiplyBlendMode"The layer clears to (v, v, v, 1.0) in extended linear Display P3. With multiplyBlendMode, the compositor does:
final_pixel = overlay_rgb × underlying_rgb
v = 1.0 is identity (invisible). v = 2.0 doubles brightness of every pixel straight into the display's reserved XDR headroom. v = 0.5 halves every pixel — genuine sub-zero dimming below the OS brightness floor. Atomic present (commit → waitUntilScheduled → present) prevents compositor flashes. 1 Hz keep-alive stops macOS from disengaging EDR on idle.
No LUT manipulation, no private APIs, no SPI, no IOKit trickery.
Yes. The display's panel is rated by Apple for sustained HDR output at these levels — this is the same rendering path as HDR video. Things to know:
- Higher brightness = more power and more heat. The thermal-protection toggle handles spikes.
- The slider is hard-clamped to the OS-reported EDR headroom — you can't exceed hardware spec.
- OLED/mini-LED panels age slightly faster under sustained peak brightness over years of heavy use.
I got a warning that the app is from an unidentified developer — is it safe?
Yes. Witz Lyte is ad-hoc signed (not notarized) because notarization requires a paid Apple Developer account. The source code is right here in this repository — you can read every line yourself. To open it the first time: right-click the app → Open → Open. You only need to do this once.
Does it work on an M5 Max MacBook Pro with nano-texture?
Yes — fully. Nano-texture etched glass scatters some emitted light so perceived peak is marginally lower than the glossy variant, but the boost still drives the panel well past the 500-nit SDR cap toward the full 1600-nit XDR ceiling.
Why does my MacBook Air get less boost than a MacBook Pro?
The Air uses a standard IPS panel (Liquid Retina, not XDR) with limited HDR headroom (~1.5–1.6×). The Pro's Liquid Retina XDR panel uses mini-LED backlighting rated at 1600 nits with ~3.2× headroom. Witz Lyte reads the hardware-reported ceiling — it can't exceed what the display supports.
Does it work with the Studio Display?
No. The Studio Display reports zero EDR headroom to macOS. Witz Lyte detects this and the slider will have no visible effect.
Does it work on Intel Macs?
No. The EDR metal pipeline that Witz Lyte uses requires Apple Silicon.
Will this get me banned from the App Store?
Witz Lyte is distributed outside the App Store because App Store review rejects EDR-boost apps under §2.5.1. The APIs themselves are 100% public and documented. Download it here.
How do I uninstall?
Click the ☀️ icon → Quit Witz Lyte, then drag Witz Lyte.app from /Applications to the Trash. That's it.
WitzLyte/
├── Package.swift
├── build.sh # builds + bundles .app
├── Resources/
│ └── Info.plist
└── Sources/WitzLyte/
├── main.swift
├── AppDelegate.swift
├── Settings.swift # UserDefaults wrapper
├── BrightnessController.swift
├── OverlayWindow.swift # NSWindow subclass, per-screen
├── EDRMetalView.swift # the actual brightness trick
├── MenuBarController.swift
└── PowerMonitor.swift # battery + thermal auto-off
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