The M4 MacBook Pro features a quantum dot display

The new M4 MacBook Pros that launched last month have an unadvertised change with new quantum dot displays, according to display industry analyst Ross Young and reported by 9to5Mac.

Young posted on X that Apple is adopting quantum dot displays for the first time and that it’s using a version of the film that is free of cadmium, which is toxic to humans. “In the past, Apple went with the KSF solution due to better efficiency and lack of cadmium (Cd),” writes Ross. TV manufacturers have been using a version of quantum dot displays with no cadmium traces for years.

The operator of the display motion blur testing website Blur Busters, which features flying UFO animations to help nitpick at display tech, also noted the M4 display’s improvement, writing that “Pixel response is pretty clearly significantly faster.” The new displays also feature “as good or better color gamut and better motion performance,” according to Ross.

The M4 MacBook Pro’s underlying technology is still an IPS panel with Mini LED backlighting, meaning you get the same brightness and contrast improvements that debuted with the M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pros in 2021.