MacBook Air Displays - Higher PPI -- 11.6" or 13" ?

WardC said:

OK, my question is, which MacBook Air display has the higher PPI (in other words, text and everything else appears a smaller size). The 11.6" is 1366x768 resolution while the 13" is 1440x900. I have heard that the 13" has a very high PPI (pixels-per-inch) but is the 11.6" actually higher? Does anybody know?

Click to expand...

11.6": 135.09 PPI
13.3": 127.68 PPI

Source: http://members.ping.de/~sven/dpi.html

There's a great article on this here:

http://www.leancrew.com/all-this/2010/10/new-macs’-resolutions/

Another reason I returned my 11" Air - it has the HIGHEST PPI of any mac.

UI elements on the 11" Air are 30% smaller than the UI elements on the 21" iMac. Now that's TINY. And it was too tiny for me.

The higher DPI for me is one of the reasons I love this machine. For me the higher the better.

High DPI was one of the reasons I almost bought a Sony P series; it has a 8" 1600x768 display (for a kick ass 221.85 dpi).

alphaod said:

The higher DPI for me is one of the reasons I love this machine. For me the higher the better.

High DPI was one of the reasons I almost bought a Sony P series; it has a 8" 1600x768 display (for a kick ass 221.85 dpi).

Click to expand...

Same here, I prefer the higher DPI. But no TOO high or else my eyes would fall off. I think the 1366x768 on the 11.6" is perfect. I wouldn't go any smaller (or larger DPI) than that.

Side by side under incandescent (not florescent like in the Apple Store) the difference between the 11" @ 135 PPI & 13" @ 127 PPI is not that noticeable.

Certainly not a deal breaker in my opinion. Generally it takes at least a 15 PPI difference to be truly noticeable.

If you were doing a double blind test, and didn't know the specs in advance, I challenge anyone to be able to identify which one has a higher PPI. In general it' can't be done.

It's far more important to choose based on display size when choosing the one you are going to stare at, for hours and hours over the life of the computer.

WardC said:

Much better than the 13" or 15" MacBook Pro, as far as PPI and DPI go. Even higher PPI than the hi-res 15" model @ 1680x1050

Click to expand...

For sake of comparison:

11.6" 1366x768 = 135.09 PPI

13.3" 1440x900 = 127.68 PPI

15.4" 1680x1050 = 128.65 PPI

WardC said:

But everything in the UI interface would be very tiny.

Click to expand...

Apple just needs to optimize the OS X for hi res displays. Resolution independence would be great

wirelessmacuser said:

For sake of comparison:

11.6" 1366x768 = 135.09 PPI

13.3" 1440x900 = 127.68 PPI

15.4" 1680x1050 = 128.65 PPI

Click to expand...

I can tell you that moving from my 15" Hi-Res MPB to my 13.3" MBA I hardly notice any difference in screen resolution at all.

Now I see why!

fyrefly said:

Another reason I returned my 11" Air - it has the HIGHEST PPI of any mac.

Click to expand...

That's the reason I BOUGHT a 11". The PPI of macs has always been too low.

i can't use anymore my early 2010 macbook pro 2.4 with 1280x800 after using this new 13,3 MBA... the old pro looks totally blurry

I don't think 8 PPI extra would make a difference. *

And the 13" is beautiful, I have been using 1280x800 on the 13.3" for two years and is crispier:

1280x800 13.3" 113.49 PPI

is 14 PPI extra

* However, 14 is subtle but noticible. Sure it's worth to have 7PPI extra on 11.6" and not the 13.3" where you get more screen estate?

try using a 13.3" 1440x900 and then return to the 1280x800.. and you'll see

by screen size:

iPhone 3.5" 480x320 164.83 PPI

iPhone4 3.5" 960x640 329.65 PPI

iPad 9.7" 1024x768 131.96 PPI

MacBookAir 11.6" 1366x768 135.09 PPI

MacBookAir 13.3" 1440x900 127.68 PPI

MacBook 13.3" 1280x800 113.49 PPI

MacBookPro 13.3" 1280x800 113.49 PPI

MacBookPro 15.4" 1440x900 110.27 PPI

MacBookPro 17" 1920x1200 133.19 PPI

iMac 21.5" 1920x1080 102.46 PPI

iMac 27" 2560x1440 108.79 PPI

~Sony Vaio VPCZ11Z9E/B 13.1" 1920x1080 168.16 PPI



by PPI:

iPhone4 329.65 PPI

~Sony Vaio 168.16 PPI

iPhone 164.83 PPI

MacBookAir 11" 135.09 PPI

MacBookPro 17" 133.19 PPI

iPad 131.96 PPI

MacBookAir 13" 127.68 PPI

MacBook 113.49 PPI

MacBookPro 13" 113.49 PPI

MacBookPro 15" 110.27 PPI

iMac 27" 108.79 PPI

iMac 21" 102.46 PPI

If you want a 11.6" display with a 1024x576, then you'd have nice big pictures and font, but then you'd also have scrolling desktops like the netbook users out there.

EDIT: You guys really need to post your sources; I know the latter wasn't made fresh seeing I've already seen that chart before.

alphaod said:

If you want a 11.6" display with a 1024x576, then you'd have nice big pictures and font, but then you'd also have scrolling desktops like the netbook users out there.

EDIT: You guys really need to post your sources; I know the latter wasn't made fresh seeing I've already seen that chart before.

Click to expand...

What sources?

If you mean the PPI there is a link on the 2nd post to where you can calculate. Screen size and resolution frommmy post is from Apple's website.