A new "Backglow" app created by designer Juan Buis lets you customize the illuminated Apple logo on the lid of the new MacBook Pro models.
The free version of the app allows you to manually adjust the brightness level of the Apple logo, independent of the MacBook Pro's display brightness level. You can also turn it off entirely with a single click, rather than having to use Terminal.
Another free option is a "Breathe" mode that makes the logo's light gently pulse similarly to the sleep indicator light on older MacBooks.
A one-time payment unlocks the Pro version of the app: $9 for a limited time or $15 later. This gives you two additional modes: "Music" mode makes the logo's light move to the beat of the music you play on your Mac, while "Agents" mode makes the light pulse while Claude Code is working and blinks when your attention is needed.
here's what it can do: - manually set logo brightness (apple doesn't let you)
- breathe slowly, like the old mac sleep light
- pulse to your music
- blink when claude needs you
- turn the logo light off with one click try it here: https://t.co/WZTWMq5yAf https://t.co/FI0o9ayKBZ — juan (@juanbuis) November 6, 2026
Apple began phasing out the glowing logo on MacBooks in 2015, but it brought back the feature with the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with PROLED XDR displays released on Friday. On older MacBooks, the logo was illuminated by the display's backlight, but OLED displays do not have a backlight, so a new method was required.
Daring Fireball's John Gruber was told that Apple engineered a "custom light source just to enable the logo to glow once again, without adding any additional thickness to the lid." Why? "Because it's awesome," he heard an Apple representative say.
By default, Apple says the logo is illuminated whenever the Mac is awake. It automatically brightens or dims based on the screen's brightness level and your environment's lighting conditions detected by the computer's ambient light sensor.
Buis said the logo is lit by a white LED that does not change colors.
