The latest macOS dev beta can turn your MacBook screen into a workable ring light

• Edge Light brings a ring light feature to the MacBook
• It's part of the next macOS Tahoe 26 update
• The dev beta drops today with early access to the new feature

We've all been there: the last-minute video call on our MacBooks where we park ourselves in front of a window and end up looking like our shadow selves. A ring light could've solved the issue, but who has time to scramble for one and set it up? But what if the screen could be your light? The next macOS Tahoe update introduces Edge Light, and as the name suggests, it turns your best MacBook screen into a rectangular ring light.

Coming to the macOS 26.2 Dev beta today (Nov. 12) and shipping later this year, Edge Light creates a band of light around the edge of your MacBook, provided it's running an Apple Silicon CPU.

As you might expect, the effect, which comes as part of Apple's MacBook Video Effects Suite (which also includes Portrait Mode, effects, voice isolation, and Studio Light), illuminates a wide border around the outer edge of your MacBook screen. It does not cover the menu bar at the top, thereby avoiding the notch.

For MacBooks made after 2024, Edge Light can be set to turn on automatically, say, when the system detects that the ambient room lighting has dropped and you're in shadow. As you can imagine, this might come in handy for late-afternoon, post-Daylight-Savings, calls when the sun sets earlier and earlier and, by 4 PM, you're thrust into darkness.

There's no word for now on if and when Edge Light might also come to iPadOS 26 and Apple Silicon iPads.

There is a smattering of controls, mainly to slide between warm and cool light; if you want the harsh brightness of whiter light or the complexion-pleasing warmth of a slightly more orange hue.

Using the system's integrated Neural Engine, Edge Light can detect where your face is and even multiple faces and adjust the Edge Light accordingly.

It's not clear how Apple manages the balance between the screen display and the Micro LED backlight on, say, the new and excellent MacBook Pro 14-inch M5. However, the intent is not harsh, to the full-nit capabilities of the screen, brightness, and instead leans toward pleasing illumination and less eye strain.

Edge Light is also smart enough to know that this is still a laptop screen and will move itself out of the way if you push your cursor over it, so as not to block important on-screen information.

Since we don't know the lumen level, it's not clear whether Edge Light can be a true substitute for a decent Amazon-purchased ring light or even a small one that clips to the top of your screen. That said, it does sound like it'll shed enough light on your smiling video conference face to ensure you're heard and seen.

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