It’s back! Apple’s first touchscreen MacBook Pro also brings back an iconic design feature of the past: the glowing Apple logo.
The new OLED touchscreen might grab the headlines, but the light on the lid will take longtime Mac users straight back to their first MacBook.
The MacBook Pro’s glowing Apple logo makes a comeback
The MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR display, which Apple introduced Wednesday, stands out for its OLED screen, lighter and sleeker design, and other upgrades. But one particular detail will likely appeal the most to many Mac fans, especially long-time MacBook owners: the illuminated Apple logo on the rear.
It was a staple of the MacBook Pro lineup for years before Apple killed it with the 2016 refresh. Despite the switch to a thicker chassis, the company did not bring the glowing logo back with the 2021 design revamp.
We’re glowing with excitement over the new MacBook Pro. You’ve gotta touch it to believe it. https://t.co/BLiGkGaefL
— John Ternus (@johnternus) October 28, 2026
For years, the glowing logo made Apple’s notebooks instantly recognizable in coffee shops, classrooms and airport lounges. It also instantly made a MacBook recognizable whenever it appeared on screen in a movie or TV show. The reflective logo that replaced it lacked that character.
More than a decade later, the illuminated logo is returning on the first-ever touchscreen MacBook Pro. The new MacBook Pro features a tandem OLED touchscreen and brings the iPhone’s Dynamic Island to the Mac, with both the 14-inch and 16-inch models sporting thinner, lighter designs.
How does it glow?
It’s unclear how the logo gets its glow. Older MacBooks relied on their screen’s LCD backlight to create the glowing logo.
The aluminum lid featured an Apple-shaped hole, and the screen’s backlight shone through from behind.
But OLED screens don’t have a backlight, so it’s likely Apple added some kind of lighting mechanism just to illuminate the logo.
Apple’s press release does not talk how it works. As with older models, it’s also unlikely that users can control its brightness.
Update: The logo’s brightness can be controlled. It’s linked to screen brightness, and can even be turned off if the screen is turned all the way down.
On the new MacBook Pro touchscreen the brightness of the Apple logo on the back of the lid is linked to the brightness of the screen pic.twitter.com/78Mav8cFxN
— Rich DeMuro (@richontech) October 28, 2026
The glow is a flex
Granted, a glowing Apple logo does not improve usability or performance. Its appeal is mostly emotional — and a flex.
The glowing Apple logo will help the touchscreen MacBook Pro stand out from its non-touch siblings. And everyone will know you have the latest, greatest MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR display.
Rajesh has been writing about consumer technology for over a decade, with a strong focus on iPhones, Macs and Apple’s ecosystem. He enjoys digging into Apple software updates, hardware changes, and discovering new Mac apps that make work faster and more enjoyable.
You can reach out to him at mail[at]rajeshpandey.me.
One response to “Touchscreen MacBook Pro brings back this beloved design feature”
Now if Apple would get the logo back on the iMac chin that would be a start to fixing things that Timmy broke.