The 2020 MacBook Air gets a 30 percent boost in screen brightness when using the Windows operating system, according to the latest NotebookCheck test.
To perform a series of benchmark tests, NotebookCheck chose to operate under the newly installed Windows 10 operating system throughout.
However, compared to the macOS operating system, when connecting to a wireless network and performing battery life tests, the screen brightness surprisingly increased from slightly over 400 nits to nearly 550 nits in a BootCamp environment.
However, the maximum brightness is 415 cd/m2 for macOS and 547 cd/m2 for Windows 10. Even when attempting to activate the ambient light sensor with a flashlight, the test results were still significantly off.
In addition to the maximum brightness, the grayscale values measured in macOS and BootCamp environments are different (Windows 10 is slightly worse). In addition, even with nearly identical contrast ratios (both 1200:1), the color accuracy is slightly lower when using Windows operating systems.
While the difference in actual use was negligible, we were still confused. Until Apple officially gives a clear explanation, NotebookCheck speculates that there are several possibilities.
Not all panels can achieve the same maximum brightness.
Apple wanted to ensure a consistent experience and thus limited the brightness in a macOS environment to the nominal 400 nits or so.
Oddly enough, even if NotebookCheck calibrates the system color profile, the color accuracy when using Windows systems is not comparable to macOS environments.
According to this speculation, the 2020 MacBook Air may only be at a lower brightness level to ensure a better display.
