The New M4 MacBook Pro Has a Quantum Dot Display; What Is It?

Apple’s latest M4 MacBook Pro models have an unadvertised upgrade to their displays: quantum dot technology. This development, reported by display industry analyst Ross Young and corroborated by 9to5Mac, This is Apple’s first use of quantum dot displays in their MacBook lineup.

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

Quantum dot displays use tiny semiconductor particles that emit light of specific colors. This technology has:

1. Improved color gamut
2. Better motion performance
3. Potentially better energy efficiency

In the case of the M4 MacBook Pro, the quantum dot film is cadmium-free; it’s been revealed after previous concerns about the toxicity of cadmium in such displays.

The M4 MacBook Pro’s display still uses an IPS panel with Mini LED backlighting, similar to the M1 Pro and M1 Max models from 2021.

Ross Young notes that the new displays offer “as good or better color gamut” compared to previous models. The operator of Blur Busters, a display motion blur testing website, observed that “Pixel response is pretty clearly significantly faster” in the new models.

But if you really want to see an upgraded screen on a MacBook Pro, rumors say that you should wait for 2026 as the then M6 MacBook Pro will be the 20th Anniversary edition of the product line and will come with substantial changes, including the OLED display.