With the arrival of macOS Tahoe 26.2, Apple has added an Edge Light feature. It requires an Apple Silicon Mac using macOS 26.2 or later.
Edge Light can light up the edges of your Mac’s display when you’re on a video call. It allows you to control the thickness and the temperature (blue, neutral, amber) of the edge light. Let’s look at how to use it:
From the Video menu that appears in the menu bar when a video call is in progress, choose Edge Light to turn the effect on or off. If using your computer’s built-in camera, the effect appears on your built-in display.
If using Continuity Camera or other external camera, the effect appears on your primary display. When using multiple displays, this is the display that you assigned the menu bar when arranging displays in Displays settings.
When Edge Light is turned on, click the forward facing arrow button next to Edge Light in the menu to reveal additional controls:
- A brightness slider to adjust illumination by changing the width of the effect.
- A color temperature slider to make the effect more or less warm. Warmer color temperatures show more yellow and less blue.
- A setting to enable Edge Light to turn on automatically when you start a video call and the ambient light is low. This setting is available on Mac models introduced in 2024 or later.
Edge Light works best in low-light conditions, such as dim indoor lighting at night. You can combine it with any of the other effects.
It works on my MacBook Air, but I noticed one drawback. I wear glasses, and when Edge Light is bright enough to light up my face, my glasses reflect the light enough that my eyes are hidden. I do have lighting in the main room that I use for video calls, and that leaves my face partly in shadow. Not sure that overall Edge Light is an improvement in this situation.