'Backglow' Lets You Customize New MacBook Pro's Glowing Apple Logo

Designer Juan Buis has introduced a new app called Backglow, enabling users to personalize the illuminated Apple logo on the lid of the latest MacBook Pro models. The free version of the app lets users individually adjust the brightness of the Apple logo, separate from the system's display brightness. Additionally, a "Breathe" mode offers a gentle pulsing light effect, reminiscent of the sleep indicator light on older MacBooks.

For $9 one-time payment or $15 later, users can unlock the Pro version of Backglow, which introduces two additional modes: "Music" makes the logo's light move in sync with the rhythm of the music being played on the Mac, while "Agents" mode causes the light to pulse when Claude Code is active and to blink when immediate attention is required.

The return of the glowing Apple logo on the new MacBook Pro models, featuring PROLED XDR displays, was a departure from Apple's decision to phase it out in 2015. Apple engineered a custom light source to achieve this, without increasing the lid's thickness. According to Apple, the logo is illuminated when the MacBook is awake, automatically adjusting its brightness based on the screen's brightness level and the ambient light conditions detected by the computer's sensor. Buis confirmed that the logo light is emitted by a white LED that remains colorless.