MacBook Pro PROLED XDR vs MacBook Pro M6

Apple’s PROLED XDR panel is a tandem OLED with up to 1,000 nits sustained and 2,000 nits peak brightness for both HDR and SDR, a 10,000,000:1 contrast ratio and P3 plus Adobe RGB color. Tom’s Hardware^[2] measured 1,964 nits in its HDR test. The touch sensor is built into the panel; macOS turns taps into clicks, and Logic Pro, Final Cut Pro and Pixelmator Pro add touch features. Reviewers quoted by MacRumors^[3][6] say there’s no on-screen keyboard and the Apple Pencil doesn’t work, and Tom’s Hardware found the hinge still wobbles when tapped.

The PROLED XDR MacBook Pro uses the same M5 Pro and M5 Max chips as the existing mini-LED models, so MacRumors^[3][6] says performance is similar to them. The M6 has fewer cores (12 CPU, 12 GPU) but is a newer generation; Tom’s Hardware^[2] says you can get much better single-core performance from the M6 MacBook Pro for simple work. For heavy multi-core, GPU or memory-hungry work, the M5 Pro’s extra cores and higher memory ceiling matter more, TechRepublic^[4] says.

Apple claims up to 24 hours for both lines. In Tom’s Hardware’s^[2] test, a 16-inch PROLED model with M5 Max lasted 15 hours 57 minutes, while a 14-inch mini-LED M5 Max it tested earlier ran just under 18 hours. Apple says the 14-inch PROLED model weighs 3.0 lb, half a pound less than before; the M6 model is 3.4 lb.

Skip both if you mainly browse, write and stream: a MacBook Air is far cheaper; see MacBook Air M5 vs MacBook Pro M5. Skip both if you want a touchscreen with pen input; an iPad Pro with Apple Pencil is the better tool, compared in iPad Pro M5 vs MacBook Air M5. Skip the PROLED XDR model if you mostly use an external monitor with the lid closed, since its main advantage is the built-in screen. Skip the M6 model if you need more than 32GB of memory or more than two external displays. Developers can also check our best laptops for programming.