Glowing Apple logo on MacBook Pro OLED gets new features with Backglow app

The new MacBook Pro with an OLED display is more expensive than its predecessor, but offers not only an OLED touchscreen and a slightly thinner and lighter chassis, but also an Apple logo with built-in lighting. Unlike in the past, however, it uses dedicated LEDs rather than the display backlight to illuminate the logo.

While this increases power consumption, it has the advantage that the LEDs can not only be switched off, but also controlled via software. The Backglow app from developer Juan Buis now gives users control over these LEDs, allowing them, among other things, to turn the logo off and on at the touch of a button, adjust its brightness, or activate a "breathing" effect that gradually decreases the brightness and then increases it again. It is also possible to link the brightness to the battery level.

Those who purchase the Pro version for $9 get two additional features. First, the option to use the glowing Apple logo as a visualizer for the music currently playing. And second, Claude Code integration – while the bot is working, the logo blinks slowly, but when the user's attention is required, it blinks quickly. The app also allows the logo to remain lit even when the laptop is closed and the display is turned off. The Backglow app shows how macOS software could use the Apple logo in the future to communicate with users without them having to look at the screen, much like the Glowbar on Googlebooks.