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

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 (Neutral)
Related Forum: MacBook Pro

Popular Stories

iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
watchOS 11 Thumb 2 1

Apple Releases watchOS 11.4 With Sleep Alarm Update

Tuesday April 1, 2025 10:34 am PDT by
Apple today released watchOS 11.4, the fourth major update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.4 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2. watchOS 11.4 can be downloaded on a connected iPhone by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software,...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday March 31, 2025 11:27 am PDT by
Apple today released new firmware updates for all AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 models. The new firmware is version 7E93, up from the 7B21 firmware that was installed on the AirPods Pro 2 and the 7B20 firmware available on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in the new firmware, but we'll update this article should we find ...
macOS Sequoia Feature

Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.4 With Mail Categorization and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.4, the fourth major update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that launched in September. macOS Sequoia 15.4 comes two months after the launch of macOS Sequoia 15.3. Mac users can download the ‌‌macOS Sequoia‌‌ update through the Software Update section of System Settings. It is available for free on all Macs able to run macOS 15. With...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
Apple Card iPhone 16 Pro Feature

Visa and American Express Vying to Win Apple Card Deal in 'Fierce' Fight

Tuesday April 1, 2025 1:50 pm PDT by
Visa wants to pay Apple approximately $100 million to be the new payment network for the Apple Card, reports The Wall Street Journal. As of right now, the Apple Card is on the Mastercard payment network, but that is set to change because Apple is ending its partnership with Goldman Sachs. Both American Express and Visa are vying to replace Mastercard as Apple's card services provider, while...

Top Rated Comments

MrGimper Avatar
22 weeks 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
22 weeks ago
I wish they'd gone OLED

The blooming on these displays sucks
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple Knowledge Navigator Avatar
22 weeks ago
The fewer the nits, the better.

And as for my screen…
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sunny5 Avatar
22 weeks 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)
Pezimak Avatar
22 weeks 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)
Zest28 Avatar
22 weeks 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)