PCMag editors select and review products independently. If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn commissions, which help support our testing.

Your Mac Will Soon Mimic a Ring Light On Video Calls

The macOS Tahoe 26.2 update is readying a new feature to improve the lighting on your face in video calls.

Our Expert
LOOK INSIDE PC LABS HOW WE TEST
65 EXPERTS
43 YEARS
41,500+ REVIEWS
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)

Don't miss out on our latest stories. Add PCMag as a preferred source on Google.

Your lighting in video calls may soon look better than ever. A new feature for Mac called Edge Light mimics an external light source by running an illuminated border around the video call window on your computer.

First spotted by 9to5Mac, within macOS Tahoe 26.2 Beta 2, Edge Light is designed to better illuminate your face in a dark room. It will also automatically adjust its power depending on your current ambient lighting, improving your video quality even if you're not sat in the dark.

The feature uses your Mac’s Neural Engine to monitor your face, size, and where you are in the frame to help ensure lighting is optimized. You can also adjust the color of the lighting manually to make it either cooler or warmer.

Edge Light runs around the left, bottom and right edges of your Mac's screen. It continues across the top, but sits under the menu bar allowing you continued access to key features. If you want to access your desktop, the light begins to recede when you hover your cursor outside of the video call.

The feature is confirmed to work with FaceTime and Zoom with Apple saying it will also appear in other video conferencing apps. It will be accessible directly within those tools allowing you to make tweaks to the settings.

All Macs running an Apple silicon processor, which first debuted in 2020, will be able to use Edge Light. That's almost all Mac models capable of running macOS 26.2, but there are a few exceptions, including the MacBook Pro and Mac Pro models from 2019.

Macs from 2024 or later will also get a feature where the light automatically turns on if you're sat in a dark environment. An exact release date for macOS 26.2 has yet to be announced, but it's expected to land in December.