CEO of Display Supply Chain Consultants Ross Young recently revealed that Apple’s M4 MacBook Pros are using quantum dot technology for the first time — and now he’s predicting that the Pro Display XDR 2 will use it too.
Apple didn’t announce the switch from KSF to quantum dot itself, but the expert consultant firm confirmed the change by using a spectrometer on the new M4 MacBook Pro.
According to Young, the use of a quantum dot film in an LED display offers equal or better color accuracy and improved motion performance. If you’re interested in how it works, we’ve got a breakdown of QLED technology right here.
Big Apple display news, they have adopted quantum dots for the first time. The latest MacBook Pro's (M4) use a quantum dot (QD) film rather than a red KSF phosphor film.
In the past, Apple went with the KSF solution due to better efficiency and lack of cadmium (Cd), but the… pic.twitter.com/5olq9lEHs9
— Ross Young (@DSCCRoss) November 14, 2024
The technology has been around for a while in televisions and even some of the best monitors, but it previously used a toxic material called cadmium, which caused Apple executives to allegedly reject it in the past. Now, however, there are cadmium-free quantum dot films available, and they also run at an improved efficiency — making them no more expensive than KSF.
Young’s statement that the Pro Display is next could just be a personal prediction rather than information based on industry sources — but since quantum dot technology can improve display quality without affecting consumer prices, it does seem likely that it will come to more devices in the near future.
As for the not-so-near future, tandem OLED technology still wins out in terms of quality, and rumors around Apple’s plans for an OLED MacBook Pro continue to circulate. Predicted dates range from 2025 to 2027, however, and plenty of products could be upgraded to quantum dot displays in the meantime.
The Pro Display XDR hasn’t received any hardware upgrades since 2019, and although we don’t know when a successor might be released, people are hoping for a range of improvements — including a built-in camera, speakers, and a higher refresh rate.
The $5,000 price tag made it hard to stomach in 2019, especially when adding on the $1,000 adjustable “Pro Stand.” But it’s become significantly more blatantly overpriced given the explosion of more affordable OLED monitors over the past couple of years. When you look at even some of the best OLED monitors, many are falling around or under $1,000. Most of those are made for gaming, though, leaving creators looking to edit HDR video out in the cold. It’ll be interesting to see if Apple makes a price correction in the next Pro Display XDR or perhaps brings some extra capabilities to its more affordable Studio Display.
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.