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MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display review: A lot more than touch
Apple unveiled the MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display last week, and it brings some of the biggest changes to the Mac in years. There’s a tandem OLED screen, a significantly lighter design, and the long-awaited addition of touch. Oh, and the Apple logo glows again.
Here’s what it’s like actually using the new MacBook Pro.
In 2016, Apple unveiled an all-new MacBook Pro design that prioritized thinness and portability above almost everything else, kickstarting what proved to be a rocky period for Apple laptops. The thinner, lighter MacBook Pro was marred by the butterfly keyboard, poor thermals, and an overall focus on form over function.
In 2021, Apple righted the ship. It unveiled a completely redesigned MacBook Pro that reversed many of those controversial decisions, bringing back ports, replacing the Touch Bar with a physical function row, and dramatically improving performance with Apple Silicon.
There was a trade-off, though: the MacBook Pro got bigger and noticeably heavier. The smaller model grew from 13 inches and 3.1 pounds to 14 inches and 3.5 pounds, while the 16-inch model went from 4.3 pounds to 4.7 pounds.
At the time, we were all willing to make that compromise. Now, with the new MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display, Apple is once again making its pro laptops lighter — but without sacrificing what made the 2021 redesign so great.
The 14-inch model has dropped from 3.5 pounds to just 3.0 pounds, while the 16-inch model has gone from 4.7 pounds to 4.0 pounds. In fact, both new MacBook Pro models weigh essentially the same as their 2016 counterparts, despite having larger displays, significantly more powerful hardware, and none of the compromises that defined that generation.
Both models are also slightly thinner than before, with the 14-inch model measuring 0.59 inches thick (down from 0.61 inches) and the 16-inch measuring 0.63 inches (down from 0.66 inches).
How did Apple pull this off? The biggest change is the switch from mini-LED to OLED. Because OLED doesn’t require a separate backlight, Apple could make the display assembly significantly thinner and lighter. The company is also using custom on-cell touch technology to integrate touch sensing into the display panel, instead of adding multiple separate layers.
But while the new display technology played a major role, the weight reduction also came from countless other smaller engineering optimizations throughout the machine.