What Apple changed
Apple markets the panel as PROLED XDR. Notebookcheck says it is the first tandem OLED, two stacked emissive layers, in a MacBook. It also says it is the first MacBook touchscreen.
Notebookcheck's full review covers the 14-inch M5 Pro model and was published on November 5, 2026. It says the new display beats the old Mini-LED panel on blooming, response time and power draw at high brightness. Those are the reviewer's conclusions. They are not a ranking of every laptop screen.
The measurements Notebookcheck reports:
- HDR brightness: Microsoft's Surface Laptop Ultra panel reaches 2,000 nits in HDR. Notebookcheck measured a peak of roughly 2,085 nits on the MacBook and says that beats Microsoft's panel.
- SDR brightness: about 600 nits with the ambient light sensor off, and up to 1,025 nits in bright surroundings with it on.
- Colour coverage: about 98% of P3 and 97.8% of Adobe RGB. Notebookcheck's own comparison table shows the Dell XPS 14's OLED panel scoring higher, at 98.2% Adobe RGB, so the MacBook's figure is not unmatched. The Asus ProArt P14 and the HP OLED laptops in the same table sit between 89% and 95.6%.
- Response time: around 0.3 ms for both grey-to-grey and black-to-white transitions.
The fine print on the display
Colour profiles. Notebookcheck found the default XDR profile has a slight blue cast and a cool colour temperature. It says most people won't notice with True Tone on. The Photography profiles measured excellent. But they lock brightness at 84 nits for sRGB and 167 nits for P3 and Adobe RGB. 84 nits is dim, and you can't change it. Colour-critical users should check whether that fits their workflow.
Flicker. Notebookcheck detected 240 Hz PWM at 99% brightness and below, with DC dimming also present. It warns that people sensitive to flicker may notice it. Competing OLED laptops in its table flicker at higher or lower frequencies, so this is not unique to Apple.
Battery life. Notebookcheck says the OLED is more efficient than the Mini-LED. Other reviewers show results vary a lot with model and workload:
- Engadget got about 12.5 hours from the 14-inch model on a mixed workflow.
- Engadget got 10 hours 15 minutes from the 16-inch model on a coding-style benchmark script.
- Tom's Hardware tested a 16-inch M5 Max and, per its testing, found the earlier Mini-LED model lasted longer.
Those tests used different models and methods, so don't line them up as a head-to-head. Notebookcheck's own numbers look better than Engadget's, but the setups differ.
Is the touchscreen a gimmick?
Notebookcheck's argument is about ergonomics. If you're sitting normally, your hands are on the keyboard and trackpad. Reaching up to a screen that doesn't fold back means lifting your arm or leaning forward. It also says Apple would have been more serious about touch if it had added Apple Pencil support. That is a judgment call, not a measured result.
Other reviewers reached a similar verdict in milder terms:
- Engadget's headline is that the touchscreen "doesn't add much." Its reviewer says touch behaves like a mouse click and works everywhere in macOS. He says it is nice for casual scrolling "like I can on most Windows PCs," but not a game changer.
- Engadget says Apple has named creative partners including Adobe and Blackmagic, who plan to fully support touch. It found no Pencil support.
- Engadget notes the hinges are stiffer to handle touch, and that the laptop does not convert to a tablet.
- Tom's Hardware reports that touch also works for trackpad gestures such as pinch-to-zoom and three-finger swipes. In Final Cut Pro and Cinema 4D it was an extra input option, not a better one than keyboard and mouse.
Notebookcheck does grant one point in the touchscreen's favour. It says touch hardware does not hurt image quality. It contrasts this with many Windows touch laptops, where bright content can look slightly grainy. That is Notebookcheck's observation, and it gives no list of which laptops it means.
What it means for Windows buyers
Windows laptops have had touchscreens for over a decade, including convertibles that flip into tablets. Apple arrives late and with a more conservative design. Its edge is in the panel itself.
The Surface Laptop Ultra is the most direct Windows comparison. It is Microsoft's first Mini-LED screen, and Windows Central says it has 1,344 local dimming zones. Notebookcheck is harsher. It says it could not find a way to enable local dimming, so the panel behaves like a regular IPS screen. Notebookcheck also lists slow response times as a weakness. Windows Central is milder but also says the Mini-LED panel is good, but not the best on the market, and is certainly no OLED. Windows Central says Microsoft told it that it chose Mini-LED over OLED mainly for brightness and efficiency.
Windows Central notes that tandem OLED can reach similar peak brightness these days. That undercuts Microsoft's stated reason. Notebookcheck also reports that Microsoft has since fixed a screen flicker issue on the Surface Laptop Ultra, according to a headline on its site. I have no details on that fix, so treat it as a lead and not a confirmed detail.
The comparison is narrower than "Apple beats Windows." Notebookcheck's claims cover brightness and Adobe RGB coverage in its own tests. No source here tests every Windows OLED and Mini-LED laptop side by side. Windows OLED laptops still win on convertible hinges, pen support and pricing choice.
Price and who should care
Notebookcheck lists the 14-inch OLED model at $2,899 with an M5 Pro, 24 GB of memory and 1 TB of storage. Its review unit, with 64 GB and 4 TB, is $5,599. Engadget says the 14-inch is $900 over the standard model, and the 16-inch PROLED starts at $3,399, $400 over the standard version. Engadget thinks the 16-inch is the better value and recommends the 14-inch only if you want the lightest MacBook Pro. These are November 2026 prices and may change.
Other points from the reviews:
- Engadget says the 14-inch weighs 3 pounds, down from 3.7. Notebookcheck says the chassis is more than 200 grams lighter.
- Notebookcheck says the fans are louder under load, chassis temperatures are higher, and Apple still caps power draw at 96 W.
- Chips are the same M5 Pro and M5 Max as before, so performance does not change.
Bottom line
The reviews broadly agree the display is excellent, with the strongest case on peak brightness, Adobe RGB coverage and response time. The brightness-locked profiles, PWM flicker, mixed battery results and high prices are real trade-offs. The "gimmick" label is Notebookcheck's opinion, and Engadget largely shares it. Apple's touch implementation is basic and Pencil support is absent. That makes it a convenience feature, not a reason to buy.
Correction (November 7, 2026): The colour-coverage section originally said no other OLED panel matched the MacBook's 97.8% Adobe RGB figure. Notebookcheck's own comparison table shows the Dell XPS 14's OLED panel at 98.2% Adobe RGB, above the MacBook's 97.8%, so the figure is not unmatched. The text now reflects the table.