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New MacBook Pros Feature Brighter Displays Outdoors, Also Even Dimmer in Low Light

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The new MacBook Pro models unveiled today feature display brightness enhancements in both bright outdoor lighting and low lighting.

Apple MacBook Pro M4 hero
Apple's tech specs page says all of the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models have a peak display brightness of 1,000 nits for standard content in bright outdoor lighting, such as on a sunny day. The previous-generation MacBook Pro models have a peak display brightness of 600 nits for standard content, in any lighting conditions.

Keep in mind that apps like Vivid allow you to unlock full-screen HDR brightness levels of up to 1,000 nits at any time on MacBook Pro models with the Liquid Retina XDR display, but this will obviously drain your battery faster.

Just like all iPhone 16 models and select Apple Watch models, Apple's website says the latest MacBook Pro displays can dim to one nit in "low-light situations." The minimum brightness for previous-generation MacBook Pro models was two nits.

Display brightness specifications for HDR content have not changed on the latest MacBook Pro models compared to the previous models.

The new MacBook Pro models can be pre-ordered now and launch on Friday, November 8. To learn more about other new features, read our earlier coverage of Apple's announcements for the base 14-inch MacBook Pro and the higher-end MacBook Pros.

Related Roundup: MacBook Pro
Buyer's Guide: MacBook Pro (Buy Now)
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Top Rated Comments

MrGimper Avatar
MrGimper
20 months ago
So is the SDR brightness of the M3 Pro of 600 nits just a software lock then?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
turbineseaplane
20 months ago
I wish they'd gone OLED

The blooming on these displays sucks
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
S
sunny5
20 months ago
Technically, M1,2,3 Max MBP also have 1000 nit for SDR. It was only blocked by software. But the problem is the power consumption is much higher and it easily over heats which is quite difficult to use. There are demands for high brightness for outdoor production but they need to last at least 8 hours so it would be quite challenging unless they adopt dual stack OLED soon.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple Knowledge Navigator Avatar
Apple Knowledge Navigator
20 months ago
The fewer the nits, the better.

And as for my screen…
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Z
Zest28
20 months ago
The display on the 16" M1 Max MacBook Pro can also do 1000 nits in SDR. But Apple put a software limitation in place. With 3rd party software, you can unlock the 1000 nits on M1.

So I'm pretty sure the displays on the M4 are nothing new, as hardware wise, the M1 were able to do this too. And Apple was simply waiting for the right time to "unlock" this feature and say it's an "improvement", while this was always possible.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
P
Pezimak
20 months ago
Meh means nothing, it’ll be 2026 when they get OLED the screens will get exciting, they better get the same dual layer OLED tech the new iPad pros have as they truly are stunning.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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