Back in the day, light mode wasn’t called “light mode”. It was just the way that computers were, we didn’t really think about turning everything light or dark. Sure, some applications were often dark (photo editors, IDEs, terminals) but everything else was light, and that was fine. What we didn’t notice is that light mode has been slowly getting lighter, and I’ve got a graph to prove it. I did what any normal person would do, I downloaded the same...

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MacOS light mode has been getting progressively brighter over the past 16 years, increasing from 71% average brightness in Snow Leopard (2012) to 100% in recent versions. Analysis of historical screenshots shows this steady inflation trend, with Big Sur's jump from 85% to 97% brightness being particularly significant. This brightness creep makes dark mode increasingly necessary for extended screen use, though it eliminates the visual contrast between different window types. The trend may continue with iOS 26 introducing HDR elements that exceed traditional white levels.

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