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MyAppleWorld

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 1, 2005
602
86
Birmingham, UK
Hi

I had pretty much decided to buy a new 13" MBA and was just working out this week if I could get away with 256GB or if I needed 512GB. In fact I know I can get away with 256GB now.

I was going to get the i7 and 8gb ram upgrade.

I had been holding off to buy one because of the 13" retina announcement that was due and I am in no rush for a machine.

Anyway, playing devils advocate I checked out the 13" rmbp at my local apple store this weekend and I was like WOW it is so much smaller than I thought, and that screen is amazing!!! I played around on some websites for a bit.

Then after that, I went straight over to the 13" MBA for a comparison and geez for the first time ever I noticed the screen was completely washed out, like someone needs to crank up the colour saturation by another 50% or something! It was very obvious after seeing the rMBP.

I came away thinking, forget it, I will get the RMBP instead. But I am unsure because this is a first generation and I noticed lag scrolling the verge website, which I didn't notice on the air. I am concerned I will be disappointed with the RMBP video performance hooking up to an external display - I loath UI lag!

I suppose my question is, how much can the colours on the air screen be fixed ? Anyone got any comparisons before/after calibration?
 

Calot

macrumors regular
Aug 6, 2012
153
0
I don't have a comparison.

But after searching around a bit, I found a color profile and I find my MBA's screen to be very, very decent. Can't notice anything wrong with it.

BTW, my screen is the much-hated LG one. The color profile does make it a lot better.

There is bound to be a lot of lag in the 13" rMBP, as it has the Intel HD4000, which are great, but just not for Retina-quality graphics.

I can run plenty of games on med-high settings with my 8GB i7 MBA
 
Last edited:

Mrbobb

macrumors 603
Aug 27, 2012
5,009
209
A retina notebook on non-retina monitor would be a waste.

Since you don't need one now, wait next year for the HD5000.
 

danistyping

macrumors regular
Dec 8, 2009
181
100
Boston, MA
BTW, my screen is the much-hated LG one. The color profile does make it a lot better.

How do you tell which company made your screen? I'm curious as to which one my MBA uses.

Also, if LG makes the less desired one, who makes the good one?


Thanks!
 

53x12

macrumors 68000
Feb 16, 2009
1,544
4
How do you tell which company made your screen? I'm curious as to which one my MBA uses.

Also, if LG makes the less desired one, who makes the good one?


Thanks!


Supposedly Samsung makes the better screen than LG. That is what reviewers have said.

Go to About this Mac> More Info> System Report> Graphics/Displays.
 

danistyping

macrumors regular
Dec 8, 2009
181
100
Boston, MA
Go to About this Mac> More Info> System Report> Graphics/Displays.

No brand when I followed your instructions.
That showed this:

Color LCD:
Display Type: LCD
Resolution: 1440 x 900
Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Built-In: Yes


Anyone know how to figure out whether my display is samsung or LG?
 

53x12

macrumors 68000
Feb 16, 2009
1,544
4
Anyone know how to figure out whether my display is samsung or LG?



Try going to terminal and put this in:

"ioreg -lw0 | grep IODisplayEDID | sed "/[^<]*</s///" | xxd -p -r | strings -6"


without using the quotes.
 

Mjmar

macrumors 65816
May 20, 2008
1,189
495
I have a retina iPad and iPhone, and a MacBook Air 2012. While the screen on the Air does have less PPI and worse saturation than that of the iPhone and iPad, it doesn't really bother me much. The distance that I sit from the Air is far enough so that text still looks crisp and I don't usually notice pixelation. And this is coming from someone who swears by retina iOS devices. As far as color gamut and saturation go you need to decide whether you're willing to spend a little bit more for it and lose the portability of the Air. In my case the Air won because I use it for things that wouldn't really benefit from better color saturation. If you're a photographer I could see why the screen would be worth losing the benefits of the Air, but for most things you'll get used to the screen and forget about it.

Edit: After playing around with he screen calibration tool that Apple offers I was able to drastically improve the look of the display compared to the default settings.
 

localhost8080

macrumors member
Jun 18, 2012
50
0
i got the 2012 mba when it came out. I didnt know if i should pick that or the 15 mbp retina.

im glad i gotthe mba, its the perfect size for a laptop and anything else feels like a dinosaur!!!
 
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