The Real Story of Dark Mode: Research Shows It Does not Always Reduce Battery Drain
Dark mode is available in practically any operating system or suitable application and can be used only for a few moments of light to protect the eyes, the ability to save energy or simply as desired.
Whatever the case, there has always been a belief that using dark mode not only makes the eyes less tired in low-light environments, but it is a mode that can contribute to less battery usage compared to when we use light mode.
But studies exist to discredit these types of beliefs, and a BBC study shows that it's not beneficial to switch to dark mode if this human behavior isn't later corrected.
To do this, they ran an experiment on a 2017 MacBook Pro running macOS Ventura 13.6.4, with an Intel Core i5 processor and a 13.3-inch LCD display.
To measure energy consumption, they used the BBC Sounds homepage in light and dark mode and recorded the data using a power monitor and specific software.
To assess user behavior, 10 participants were asked to adjust the screen brightness to what they considered appropriate, all under different lighting conditions.
They then recorded their preferred brightness levels and implemented them using apps and comparative charts, and interestingly, they found no significant differences in power consumption between light and dark modes, but there is an effect in terms of brightness level with consumption increasing as brightness increases.
What this study means is that at least in devices with LCD screens, the dark color problem does not directly affect power consumption but rather affects user behavior.
During the experiment, scientists noticed that users preferred to increase the brightness in dark mode, regardless of the ambient light, thus not saving potential energy in the end.
At least on this type of LCD, the belief that dark mode reduces power consumption has been disproven.
It remains to be seen if the results are significantly different with an OLED display given the black balance of this type of display.