Blackground :
We deal with lots of designers and video editors at my company and they can't do a proper white balance with True Tone. As far as I know, there is no MDM key to manage this setting.
Solution :
I created an Apple Script (embedded in a bash script) that will open and automatically click the right menus in order to turn off True Tone and Auto Brightness. It only works with an English UI but you'll find a French version on my website. It was written for macOS Monterey and Ventura.
Scripts : disable_truetone_english.sh
Blog post : https://clementine.la/scripts/desactiver-true-tone-par-script/
#!/bin/bash
###
#
# Author : https://clementine.la
# Created : 2022-09-09
# Last Modified : 2022-10-24
# Version : 2.0
# Tested with : macOS 12.6 / macOS 13.0
#
###
# Read logged in user
loggedInUser=$(scutil <<< "show State:/Users/ConsoleUser" | awk '/Name 
&& ! /loginwindow/ { print $3 }')
echo "Hello, I am $loggedInUser"
# Read macOS version
macos=$(sw_vers -productVersion)
#############
# FUNCTIONS #
#############
# Disable True Tone & Auto Brightness
# Doesn't work if you have an external monitor plugged in
truetone_monterey() {
open "/System/Applications/System Preferences.app"
sleep 3
open "/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Displays.prefPane"
sleep 1
sudo -u "$loggedInUser" osascript -e '
activate application "System Preferences"
tell application "System Events"
tell process "System Preferences"
repeat until exists group 1 of window "Displays"
end repeat
if (value of checkbox "Automatically adjust brightness" of group 1 of window "Displays" as boolean) then
click checkbox "Automatically adjust brightness" of group 1 of window "Displays"
end if
if (value of checkbox "True Tone, Automatically adapt display to make colours appear consistent in different ambient lighting conditions." of group 1 of window "Displays" as boolean) then
click checkbox "True Tone, Automatically adapt display to make colours appear consistent in different ambient lighting conditions." of group 1 of window "Displays"
end if
end tell
delay 1.0
quit application "System Preferences"
end tell
'
}
truetone_ventura() {
open "/System/Applications/System Settings.app"
sleep 3
open "/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Displays.prefPane"
sleep 1
sudo -u "$loggedInUser" osascript -e '
activate application "System Settings"
tell application "System Events"
tell process "System Settings"
repeat until exists group 1 of window "Displays"
end repeat
if (value of checkbox 1 of group 2 of scroll area 2 of group 1 of group 2 of splitter group 1 of group 1 of window "Displays" as boolean) then
click checkbox 1 of group 2 of scroll area 2 of group 1 of group 2 of splitter group 1 of group 1 of window "Displays"
end if
if (value of checkbox 2 of group 2 of scroll area 2 of group 1 of group 2 of splitter group 1 of group 1 of window "Displays" as boolean) then
click checkbox 2 of group 2 of scroll area 2 of group 1 of group 2 of splitter group 1 of group 1 of window "Displays"
end if
end tell
delay 1.0
quit application "System Settings"
end tell
'
}
#################
# END FUNCTIONS #
#################
if [[ "$macos" == "12."* ]]; then
echo "MONTEREY"
truetone_monterey
elif [[ "$macos" == "13."* ]]; then
echo "VENTURA"
truetone_ventura
else
echo "UNKNOWN OS"
exit 0
fi
exit 0