Apple has confirmed that owners of the new MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display can disable the machine’s illuminated Apple logo, which lights up on the lid whenever the laptop is awake.
The logo, a longtime hallmark of older MacBook designs that disappeared for roughly a decade after the 2016 redesign, has returned on the latest models. Unlike earlier versions that simply passed light through from the display backlight, the new implementation on the OLED-based PROLED XDR Display uses a separate illumination system. It is managed in software and tied to the CoreBrightness framework.
According to Apple’s support documentation, the logo illuminates whenever the Mac is awake. Its brightness automatically adjusts based on the brightness of the built-in screen and the ambient light detected by the laptop’s sensor. At any given screen brightness level, the logo appears dimmer in a dark room and brighter in a well-lit one.
There is no toggle in System Settings. Users who want the logo to remain dark in all conditions must use Terminal (located in Applications > Utilities, or accessible via Spotlight). The command is:
sudo defaults write com.apple.CoreBrightness LEBacklightMode -int 0
After entering an administrator password (which Terminal does not display as it is typed), the logo turns off immediately. The change applies system-wide to all user accounts, including when booting into macOS Recovery, and it carries over if data is migrated to a new Mac.
To restore the illumination, users run:
sudo defaults delete com.apple.CoreBrightness LEBacklightMode
Reinstalling macOS also returns the logo to its default illuminated state.
The feature has drawn mixed reactions. Some welcome the return of the classic glowing logo and the automatic brightness adjustment that helps it blend into different environments. Others prefer a completely dark lid for privacy in meetings, theaters, or dark rooms, or simply to avoid the extra (albeit very small) power draw. The lack of a simple settings switch has prompted questions about why Apple routed the option through Terminal rather than a user-facing control.
The support page applies specifically to MacBook Pro models with the PROLED XDR Display. Those machines began arriving to customers around the same time the documentation appeared.
MacDailyNews Take: We’ll be leaving it on, for the most part, but can see times when it’d be beneficial to toggle it off.
Please help support MacDailyNews — and enjoy subscriber-only articles, comments, chat, and more — by subscribing to our Substack: macdailynews.substack.com. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
Like 🙂 or dislike 🙁 this post below!
who would want to do that? that is the only reason to buy it.
One needs to be mindful of those that might be offended.