Now that I’ve seen and touched the touchscreen MacBook Pro, I’m starting to understand that, despite the invention of a Frankenstein-ed new display term (‘PROLED’?), this display might be something special. It looks extraordinary, and when compared visually with, say, the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i Aura Edition, which also has a Tandem OLED, it doesn’t even seem to be of the same species.
There are good reasons for this, which span from the fabrication process to the core specs of what is clearly Apple‘s most advanced laptop display yet.
Starting with manufacturing, Apple says it employed an unnamed manufacturing partner to build these panels in what’s known as a Gen-8 OLED Fab. Seeing as there are just four of these cutting-edge facilities in the world, and that one of them is operated by Samsung Display, which has reportedly partnered with Apple on display tech previously, I’d guess it’s Samsung.
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One of the most notable features of these manufacturing facilities is their massive size. Whoever the partner is, we know that the touchscreen MacBook Pro’s panels are being manufactured in a chamber around the size of the Colosseum in Rome. These huge facilities improve yield, efficiency, and costs.
Though less than a millimeter thick, the laptop PROLED XDR panel is comprised of 50 layers. Even what appear to be individual panels have many layers, sometimes just a nanometer thick. The two stacks of OLED have, for instance, 30 layers, though the organic self-emissive material is layered onto the panels and dried, making the layers range from one nanometer to hundreds of nanometers thick. FWIW, I held some of these individual panels, and they are incredibly thin and light.
Behind the OLED is the TFT (thin-film transistor) glass substrate that powers and drives the imagery on the surface.
What’s not mentioned here is the digitizing layer (basically the same touch technology you find on the iPhone and iPad) that drives touch; that’s because it’s integrated with the whole in a process that, if it isn’t already, probably should be patented.
Despite working with a third party, the production is another Apple trademark bespoke process, and one not necessarily replicated in other Tandem OLED or even basic OLED display manufacturing processes.
The specs bear that out. Where the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i Aura Edition touch display has a pleasing 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, Apple’s touchscreen MacBook Pro boasts 10,000,000:1. In person, and even under bright lighting conditions, the blacks and definition I saw on the touchscreen MacBook Pro PROLED XDR are stunning.
The MacBook Pro display also looks better because Apple equipped it with up to 2,000 nits for HDR and SDR content, and both an anti-reflective screen and the option of the nano-etched one, as well. Essentially, I could see myself reflected in the Lenovo, and could not detect my reflection in the MacBook Pro.
Also, for those concerned about fingerprints collecting on the touchscreen MacBook Pro, Apple has applied an oleophobic coating to the standard and etched displays. In my hands-on time with several of the new laptops, I didn’t notice any significant fingerprints.
(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)
Compared to the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i’s 1,600 nits, the touchscreen MacBook Pro looks better equipped for working in direct sunlight. Based on what I saw, the MacBook Pro also maintains much better off-axis color quality.
Looking beyond direct visual comparisons with pro-grade Windows laptops, Apple is positioning the touchscreen MacBook Pro display as both a color reference screen and one that has grayscale precision reportedly sufficient for medical diagnostics. This is basically a reference monitor on a laptop frame.
So, sure, the story is that we finally have a touchscreen MacBook, but it may be the visual quality that ultimately wins over creative, business, medical, and film professionals. It’s probably the best display Apple has ever produced, not just for a laptop, but possibly for any Mac system.
Of course, a screen panel alone does not make a laptop, and there are questions around whether everyone wants or needs touch, if the redesigned hinge is stable enough to keep the laptop from wobbling with every touch — and if touch capability is worth the almost $1,000 premium.
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lance.ulanoff@futurenet.com (Lance Ulanoff)
