Apple Documents Keyboard Illumination Flaw on OS X Lion

In a Support document talking about the "Automatically Illuminate Keyboard in Low Light" setting, Apple seems to admit there’s a problem with this function in Lion. The company doesn’t mention plans to address the problem, though.

Knowledge-base article HT5031 is there primarily to help you learn “how to disable the illuminated keyboard on portables running OS X Lion.”

“When the ‘Automatically Illuminate Keyboard in Low Light’ check box is unchecked in the Keyboard pane of System Preferences, you may notice that the keyboard remains illuminated even when used in areas with bright lighting,” Apple explains.

Basically, this is Apple admitting that Lion sometimes doesn’t get along with a Mac’s ambient sensors all that well.

The company’s resolution - “press F5 until the keyboard is no longer illuminated.”

So what about those times when you don’t notice the backlighting and it sucks your battery dry?