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Screen quality of MBA 13

Muscle Master

Muscle Master

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 15, 2010
581
113
Philadelphia
How is the screen quality and clarity? compared to the clamshell MBP 13. is it that bad taking resoulution out of the equation. I thougt I was sold on the late model 17 but I changed my mind. both retinas sizes are out of my price range and I was sold on an air... never really liked them. especailly since when it was first launched... took awhile to grow on me and then I reading that it has a TN panel... what:confused:

So current gen owners and last year as well. whats your take
 
Last edited:
S

Saturn1217

macrumors 65816
Apr 28, 2008
1,267
839
This concerned me as well. Coming from a 2009 MBP to a 2012 MBA.

I think the screen on the MBP is better but the screen on my MBA is fine. Viewing angles seem about the same. Once I found the right color profile colors seem about the same too. Reds are just a tiny bit duller than my MBP but nothing major. I am also unfortunate enough to have an uneven back lite on mine at the bottom. My MBP display was perfect in this regard. But you won't necessarily have the same issue.

The level of gloss is much better than the MBP although I was using an antiglare film so I am still getting used to the mildly glossy screen of the air.

Unless you are super picky I think you will be fine. One thing you may want to do is go into your library folder and save the color profile that you currently use (I'm assuming you already have a Mac). I know that color profiles are not supposed to look the same on different screens but once I switched to the color profile I was using on my MBP (I manually added it from my old computer) my MBA display went from being slightly dissapointing to near perfect.
 
pgiguere1

pgiguere1

macrumors 68020
May 28, 2009
2,167
1,200
Montreal, Canada
It's basically a lot less glossy, has less accurate/saturated colors but a higher resolution.

If you reference is a 13" cMBP then I'd say it's about on par in terms of image quality (colors are worse but sharpness is better), and it's better in terms of productivity because of the bigger screen estate.

It's not a bad screen by any means, definitely better than the average 1366x768 screen in Windows notebooks, but it's not impressive either. For a computer of that price, it's slowly starting to feel like one of its weak points, but overall I'd still pick it over the one in the 13" cMBP.
 
Muscle Master

Muscle Master

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 15, 2010
581
113
Philadelphia
Saturn1217 said:
This concerned me as well. Coming from a 2009 MBP to a 2012 MBA.

I think the screen on the MBP is better but the screen on my MBA is fine. Viewing angles seem about the same. Once I found the right color profile colors seem about the same too. Reds are just a tiny bit duller than my MBP but nothing major. I am also unfortunate enough to have an uneven back lite on mine at the bottom. My MBP display was perfect in this regard. But you won't necessarily have the same issue.

The level of gloss is much better than the MBP although I was using an antiglare film so I am still getting used to the mildly glossy screen of the air.

Unless you are super picky I think you will be fine. One thing you may want to do is go into your library folder and save the color profile that you currently use (I'm assuming you already have a Mac). I know that color profiles are not supposed to look the same on different screens but once I switched to the color profile I was using on my MBP (I manually added it from my old computer) my MBA display went from being slightly dissapointing to near perfect.
Click to expand...

pgiguere1 said:
It's basically a lot less glossy, has less accurate/saturated colors but a higher resolution.

If you reference is a 13" cMBP then I'd say it's about on par in terms of image quality (colors are worse but sharpness is better), and it's better in terms of productivity because of the bigger screen estate.

It's not a bad screen by any means, definitely better than the average 1366x768 screen in Windows notebooks, but it's not impressive either. For a computer of that price, it's slowly starting to feel like one of its weak points, but overall I'd still pick it over the one in the 13" cMBP.
Click to expand...

I see, guess I need to play with one in the apple store.. I actullay prefer glossy screens and don't like the sound of it being a bit dull... also hate the aluminum screen border
 
MTD's Mac

MTD's Mac

macrumors 6502
Mar 18, 2010
320
305
Los Angeles
I've been pleasantly surprised by the quality if the MacBook Air display. With calibration is does well next to me IPS Cinema Display.
 
yanksrock100

yanksrock100

macrumors 6502a
Oct 30, 2010
673
245
San Diego
I love the display quality. While some may say its quality is not as good as a cMBP, I dont see a difference. I do see a difference in resolution, and the less glossy-ness however, which are both great. :D
 
FreakinEurekan

FreakinEurekan

macrumors 603
Sep 8, 2011
5,518
2,583
Muscle Master said:
How is the screen quality and clarity? compared to the clamshell MBP 13. is it that bad taking resoulution out of the equation. I thougt I was sold on the late model 17 but I changed my mind. both retinas sizes are out of my price range and I was sold on an air... never really liked them. especailly since when it was first launched... took awhile to grow on me and then I reading that it has a TN panel... what:confused:

So current gen owners and last year as well. whats your take
Click to expand...

With the new pricing on the Retina models the choice between MBA and rMBP can be pretty close in pricing now. A basic 13" MBA with 8GB RAM and 128GB SSD is $1,299 and a 13" rMBP 8GB RAM and 128GB SSD is $1,499. For $200 you're getting a faster processor and a MUCH nicer display, similar battery life, and not much more weight (20% heavier).
 
H

hkim1983

macrumors 6502
Feb 5, 2009
354
9
pgiguere1 said:
It's basically a lot less glossy, has less accurate/saturated colors but a higher resolution.

If you reference is a 13" cMBP then I'd say it's about on par in terms of image quality (colors are worse but sharpness is better), and it's better in terms of productivity because of the bigger screen estate.

It's not a bad screen by any means, definitely better than the average 1366x768 screen in Windows notebooks, but it's not impressive either. For a computer of that price, it's slowly starting to feel like one of its weak points, but overall I'd still pick it over the one in the 13" cMBP.
Click to expand...

Best post, pretty much completely answers the question.
 
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