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Created May 1, 2017 03:30
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Enable Night Shift on older (pre 2012) Macs
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howto.md

** Credit to ryanmvc at https://pikeralpha.wordpress.com/2017/01/30/4398/#comment-9146

Here are step-by-step instructions that I created. You will need Xcode or any basic hex editor.

  1. Disable System Integrity Protection by booting into Recovery mode (hold down Command + R during boot-up), opening Terminal, and typing: csrutil disable
  2. Restart your Mac and open Finder. Navigate to System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/
  3. Make a copy of the entire CoreBrightness.framework folder (save it to your desktop or a similar place).
  4. In Xcode, open the copy of CoreBrightness.framework that you just created. File > Open; Browse to where you just saved CoreBrightness.framework; from within that .framework folder, choose the CoreBrightness icon at the top that looks like a shortcut.
  5. In Xcode, press Shift + Command + J on your keyboard. A navigation column will appear on the left-hand side. Secondary/right-click CoreBrightness at the top of that column and choose Open As > Hex.
  6. Once the hex code appears, press Command + F to open the Find tool. Search for the following: 09 00 00 00 0d 00 00 00 06 00 00 00 05 00 00 00 06 00 00 00 08 00 00 00

These numbers tell the system which Mac models can used Night Shift.

MacBookPro9,x = “09” in the above hex bits iMac13,x = “0d” Macmini6,x = “06” MacBookAir5,x = “05” MacPro6,x = second “06” MacBook8,x = “08”

  1. In my case, I needed to allow my early 2011 MacBook Pro (MacBookPro8,2) to use Night Shift. So, in Xcode, I changed “09” in the original hex string to 08. You will need to find the exact model number of your Mac and make the adjustment in Xcode accordingly.
  2. Save the file in Xcode (File > Save) and exit. Copy your newly-edited CoreBrightness.framework folder over the existing one in System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/
  3. Open Terminal and re-sign the new binary by pasting in this command:

sudo codesign -f -s - /S*/L*/PrivateFrameworks/CoreBrightness.framework/ Version/Current/CoreBrightness

  1. Boot back into Recovery mode and re-enable System Integrity Protection (open Terminal and type csrutil enable).
  2. Restart your Mac, open System Preferences > Displays, and you should see the Night Shift tab.
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