MacBook pro m4 quantum dot

Talhalpern

So who used it and have feedback?

jordan

Talhalpern my friend who is a software dev hasn't been able to use normal screens for awhile. He was tied to eink and his projector while his m1 mba screen was BRUTAL. He got a m4 mbp and it's been life changing for him. It's working fantastically for him. He said he's been able to use it for over 6 hours a day without the debilitating symptoms.

Donux

jordan Nice to hear, although there is another similar post, where people claim it is as bad as others. Maybe its due to batches, or simply how different people react to different things.

Talhalpern

Cool. What exact model?

jordan

Talhalpern I'll have to ask him the exact specs of his I forgot.

Donux yeah it seems we all have similar symptoms but different triggers. Could be panel lottery though. My friend had the 14" which was good and then he returned it for the 16" and it was also good. I'm wondering if for some people that the quantum dot display is better than ksf/psf phosphor panels.

ocean10

jordan Have you been able to try his laptop and see if it works for you? I'm in desperate need of a modern computer/laptop I can use. If I recall you seem to be similar to me in that there is very little that works for you at this point.

GBowler

I still have a look when passing the apple store and can say for certain it's way more comfortable than previous Apple M series, I'm just not 100% convinced.

what I did last time I was I was used an M4 pro for ages then had a look at an iMac, moment I looked at the iMac I was in a horrible brain fog trace… So it is certainly way less symptomatic… just hard to tell how much!

Infinite

I have recently bought one after being unable to use any Macbook and it's been working for me very well.

I can provide the serial number for the display if needed.

lukeb

Infinite did you get the 14” or 16”? Glossy or nano texture display?

Infinite

14 base, no nano texture

lukeb

Interesting. I tried a 14 with nano texture which wasn’t good

Infinite

I don't know how to decipher these but someone on the forum can help you.

"raw-panel-serial-number" = <"FMXHAF005JJ00006J3+A+GE1S4903731047+PROD+Y433743654376+K62540781Y72940816+435C9GC80224230J45Y000A42T46A46R78203IAN49W0198+92439110A441520H44151944151C44151A44161074415100">

whystrainwhy

Personally, I tried te 16" MBP M4 and it gave me some brain fog and fatigue after a couple of hours of use, even with StillColor and BetterDisplay enabled. I've also heard wonderful things about it so it may impact people different obviously heh. I'm going to wait on the M4 Macbook Air and try that out, so fingers crossed 😃

Donux

whystrainwhy Did you try in store? If, yes, then usually there are lots of ambient lighting which is flickery.

JTL

Donux Agreed. I wouldn't draw conclusions about trying any hardware in a retail store environment, barring special cases

whystrainwhy

Donux I completely agree. I purchased one and had it at home for a few days. After that first day of testing for a few hours, I felt brain fog and out of it and my body didn’t seem to want me to keep trying even a few days later

Donux

whystrainwhy Really sad to hear. Personally I had this journey:

HP Probook 15:
This one had PWM, but it was my general purpose horse for a while. It was bulky and you could sit on it, its like a tank. Used pwm control tools, and it worked ok with windows 10 and linux.
Macbook pro 15 inch 2016:
It was fine at the begining. Then screen got yellow stuf on it, aparently due to some factory fault. It was too late to return however. Then I kind of realised my productivity is low on this device, and its because of PWM. I could barely focus and was feeling ungrounded with it, up to the point of not being able to use. Never tried with the monitor.
Lenovo X1 Carbon WQHD. This was a saviour, great machine. Sometimes however I did feel ungrounded, maybe it had some PWM, I do not know. But I was able to use it a lot and have joy in daily computing. Never used any workarounds with it, just reduced WIFI transmit power and that is it. So far best memories and most productive work ever. However after moving from macbook, I realised how shitty aesthetics are of these machines. Body started to flake off, then battery died. So I had to return it. But as I see it now, I do not care about other stuff, this is the best I would always recomend to anyone with eye strain. Just avoid OLED models and go for WQHD, because low resolution is just bad experience in 2025.
HP Elitebook 845 G8: Absolute rubbish. So much tinkering, so much pain - chest pain, eye strain, brain fog, inability to function or interact with other people normaly if I used it a lot during a day. It was FHD and a total disaster.
Macbook Air M1. At the begining it was ok ish, but due to novelty factor. I was using it with sRGB, but then I have already learned to inspect objective facts from outside. So was inspecting my eyes, and those were becoming severely popout. So then I have switched to Generic RGB that helped, but over longer period, it was getting worse. Now, as I understand, Generic RGB is actually wider gammut then sRGB, but why did it help? - Well, its because it is much darker color profile, making flickering less harmful and that is the only reason. Poped out eyes - standard reaction of the eyes which are subjected with constant irritation. Overall - would not recomend to anyone.
Macbook Air m2. As other people commented in many forums, it is WORSE THAN M1. Period.
Lenovo X1 Yoga Gen 3. Its so so. I am writing from this machine. I think it has PWM also, so use dithering and PWM workarounds. It is glossy screen and touch, and usually these screens are not best for eyes. It is something I can still hand on to, just to make sure work is done. But it is not a computing experience I had with X1 Carbon, far from it.

So my winner of a day is..... wait for it....... Lenovo X1 Carbon. I think I had 7th gen with intel processor and probably GPU was also intel. Never used any workarounds, but if I did, probably that would have been not great experience, but brilient. I was litteraly very happy to start a day by opening it, or traveling with it. I hope this will give some valuable information for someone, and sorry for mixing apples with oranges. Except that quantum dot is nothing more than bullshit marketing phrases, nothing more.

sdkjbfakgljbafkjb

Donux quantum dot is nothing more than bullshit marketing phrases

I agree. although quantum dot doesn't even sound that cool. Imagine something like quantum rift displays : D

Donux

I see M4 users have mixed feedback. Could someone who is feeling good with their machine tell if they have modified some settings like installed betterDisplay, disabled dithering, changed color profile to lower grade ETC. Or you was happy with standard settings throughout the full day? @Infinite

Donux

https://www.rtings.com/laptop/reviews/apple/macbook-pro-14-2024. It Flickers on this test, together withs its quantum dots and coatings. So it is just a lipstick on a pig.

macsforme

I finally made it into an Apple store to check out the MacBook Pros with quantum dot panels. I inspected two 16-inch models side-by-side. My primary observation was that the panel lottery is real. The better of the two panels (on an M4 Pro) had a brighter screen, reasonably crisp text, and what I would subjectively call a calmer and more stable image that I could actually focus on. The worse panel (on an M4 Max) was more dim overall, had the same dull/murky orange/yellow/green undertone I had previously experienced, and seemed fuzzy and unstable in some way and was difficult to focus on. True tone definitely added irritation on both, and clarity improved after disabling it. After a brief initial impression, I would call the better panel acceptable at best, but I am skeptical about comfort after extended use. In any case, this is not a $2,500 gamble I am willing to take.

Acceptable panel raw serial number: FMXHA2003VZ00006GW+A+GE1S4902582331+PROD+Y433243564367+K60640772Y72140803+434U9GC05124190J43P000A42T46A44X78402IAN49D4882+A14383108439620E43961643961A43962643972044396100

Worse panel raw serial number: FMXH99005BT00006GW+A+GE1S4800725423+PROD+Y427442974311+K80540272Y20140801+430C9GC30424190J43F000A42C45V44X78403IAN48N3647+A24332108435710E43612643612A43611543611044361200

I did not think to try the 14-inch models in the new color (where one user here reportedly found a very comfortable panel). While I would be curious to do so, I do not find that form factor appealing.