The Backglow app lets you dim, pulse or turn off the glowing Apple logo on the MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display from a small dot in the menu bar. Turning the logo off takes one click and no password, while Apple’s own method needs a Terminal command and an administrator password.
Apple dims and brightens the logo on its own, following the built-in screen and the ambient light sensor, and you can only turn off the glowing Apple logo with that Terminal command. Developer Juan Buis built Backglow to put those controls in one place, and you can download it free from backglow.app.
The Backglow app puts logo brightness and modes in the menu bar
You change the logo’s brightness from the menu bar dot, and the change applies only to the logo’s own setting in macOS. Your screen brightness stays where it was.
The free version has two light modes, Steady and Breathe. Breathe fades the logo in and out like the old MacBook sleep light, with a speed slider. Turn Logo Off switches the logo dark, and it stays dark after you quit Backglow.
When you quit the app without turning the logo off, the logo goes back to Apple’s settings. Backglow pauses while the display sleeps and while the Mac is locked, and it also pauses whenever Low Power Mode is on.
i love the glowing apple logo on the new macbook pro
so i made it dance to your music and blink when claude needs you
https://t.co/WZTWMq5yAf https://t.co/SUbp5llRFY
— juan (@juanbuis) November 6, 2026
Pro adds a Music mode and a Claude Code mode for $9
Music pulses the logo to the beat of whatever your Mac is playing, with an intensity slider and an optional strobe. It does not use the microphone, and nothing is recorded or sent anywhere.
Agents mode shows what your Claude Code sessions are doing. The logo glows softly while Claude Code waits, pulses steadily while it works and blinks twice quickly when it needs your attention and you are away from the Mac. Agents needs a Connect step that adds hooks to Claude Code’s settings, and Disconnect in Backglow’s settings removes them.
Pro costs $9 at launch and $15 later, paid once, with one license per Mac. You get a 14-day money-back guarantee, and a refund if a macOS update breaks Pro and the problem cannot be fixed.
Backglow runs only on the MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display
Other Macs are not supported, including the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6, which has a Liquid Retina XDR display. You need Claude Code installed only if you want Agents mode.
Backglow comes from the developer’s website, and Juan Buis says it is not made by or affiliated with Apple.
