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unibody Macbook vs new 13" Macbook Pro display comparison?

D

deanshu

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 7, 2008
73
0
I had returned the unibody Macbook I bought last December primarily due to the low quality screen. I'm wondering if anyone has comparison photos between the two (especially at different viewing angles), as I'm seriously considering purchasing the 13" again.

Thanks in advance.
 
Why not go to an Apple store for yourself an see?

Give it about a week, that's when the majority of the moaning commitee will find something to complain about... If it's not related to the MBP, then buy it. :)

By the sounds of it though, Apple did acknowledge that the uMB's screens just weren't great, which is why they boasted it at WWDC.
 
Schtumple said:
Why not go to an Apple store for yourself an see?

Give it about a week, that's when the majority of the moaning commitee will find something to complain about... If it's not related to the MBP, then buy it. :)

By the sounds of it though, Apple did acknowledge that the uMB's screens just weren't great, which is why they boasted it at WWDC.
Click to expand...

My nearest Apple store is 40 minutes away...thanks for the suggestion, though. It'd also be easier for me to see the new one and the old one side by side so I have a frame of reference. :)
 
andrew upstairs said:
Apple stores will no longer have the unibody MacBooks on display.

There have been comparison pics posted on this here forum, though. The new screens are immensely better.
Click to expand...

Hey Andrew,

Thanks for the feedback... do you have a link to these pics? I searched for "screen comparison unibody macbook 13" macbook pro" on the forum (without the quotation marks, of course) and nothing related to what I was looking for turned up.

Thanks
 
I know this is completely unscientific and I have no pictures to prove my comparison, but the new screens are much, much better. I bought a refurbished uMB and a 24" LED cinema display. The cinema display way waaaaay better than the uMB display, so much so that it slightly irked me (which says something). The new MBP Jr is not as good as the cinema display, but it's much closer. My wife even noticed without me mentioning it.
 
I think there is growing evidence that the display panels in the new MacBook Pros (both 13" and 15") are the same as what were being shipped on the previous generation units. It is only the LED backlight that was changed and this is what was used to improve the color gamut by Apple's stated 60%.

In the case of the 13" MacBook Pro, it looks like it is using the same panels that were used in the so-called silent update that took place back in late March or early April. That update reportedly made significant improvements in the viewing angles and black levels over what Apple shipped on the original Aluminum MacBook back last October.

Thus, if you have a 13" Aluminum MacBook that was purchased in the last month or two (or more precisely, one that was manufactured in the last two months) then you may see little to no difference in the quality of the viewing angles or contrast ratios. However, the color gamut should be improved but it could be difficult to say how much "better" that will make the overall viewing experience.
 
I'm too lazy to go through the process to post pics, sorry, but I'm posting this on a new 13" and the difference in screen quality from a macbook is pretty funny. Beautiful screen. None of the black issues or viewing angles.
 
fpnc said:
I think these is growing evidence that the display panels in the new MacBook Pros (both 13" and 15") are the same as what were being shipped on the previous generation units. It is only the LED backlight that was changed and this is what was used to improve the color gamut by Apple's stated 60%.

In the case of the 13" MacBook Pro, it looks like it is using the same panels that were used in the so-called silent update that took place back in late March or early April. That update reportedly made significant improvements in the viewing angles and black levels over what Apple shipped on the original Aluminum MacBook back last October.

Thus, if you have a 13" Aluminum MacBook that was purchased in the last month or two (or more precisely, one that was manufactured in the last two months) then you may see little to no difference in the quality of the viewing angles or contrast ratios. However, the color gamut should be improved but it could be difficult to say how much "better" that will make the overall viewing experience.
Click to expand...

The one I returned was bought last December.

Oh well, I expect Engadget or a similar site to post up comparison pics.

Thanks for everyone's help, and it would still be great if someone could post up a pic of a unibody Macbook with the 13" Macbook Pro side by side.
 
I think that the color gamut improved in the sense that the colors pop a bit more. If I could live with the anemic battery life of the last gen macbook unibodies and macbook pros, I would absolutely have gotten the last gen 15" at a steal of a price. The battery life of the newest ones are dramatically improved.
 
You can expect the new 13" MBP displays to be at least as good as the Macbook Air displays.

One of the screen used is actually being used in the MBA (9c9f).
 
well, i guess i don't understand why people who live 40 minutes away complain. i have never been closer to an apple store than about an hour and that was a small trip. now i am several countries away. 40 minutes is nothing if an excuse.
 
shigzeo said:
well, i guess i don't understand why people who live 40 minutes away complain. i have never been closer to an apple store than about an hour and that was a small trip. now i am several countries away. 40 minutes is nothing if an excuse.
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Haha totally true. It takes me a bit over an hour to commute to the Sydney store from where I am staying using public transportation (which ain't nearly as comfy as one's own car) and I don't find it to be a big deal at all to go there.

I also had an hour long commute (again via public transport) each way to both high school and college (8 years combined), and that wasn't a big deal either (and had to be done daily in the case of high school, and almost daily in college).

To go 40 minutes (or similar) to a store to take a look at a purchase in person which you are considering investing over $1,000 into seems like an obvious and thing to do (part of due diligence when buying a product like this), especially given that it's a one time event (to check out the product) and it's for something that also occurs once in a year or two (buying a new computer).

Plus, it's just FUN to visit an Apple store! I'd jump on any excuse to go there, especially if new products just launched. (In fact, I just visited the Sydney store today and had a look at the new MBPs, and they were interesting. I did notice that the colors did not fade into different shades as they did on prior models.)
 
Can ANYONE point me to a comparison of displays between the older 13' unibody and the new 13' pro? I've searched, and found absolutely NOTHING online about this, apart from a few words. I want to see some photos and detailed impressions of the screen quality. Its pretty ridiculous that none of the tech/apple blogs have this yet, since it's the first thing I would have done. I have the 13' unibody, and my decision to upgrade will hinge on the quality of the new screens. There's no Apple store where I am, and most places need like a month to get new units in. I'd order online, but thats why I need some reliable impressions/comparisons, etc about the screen first.
 
Slurpy2k8 said:
Can ANYONE point me to a comparison of displays between the older 13' unibody and the new 13' pro? I've searched, and found absolutely NOTHING online about this, apart from a few words. I want to see some photos and detailed impressions of the screen quality. Its pretty ridiculous that none of the tech/apple blogs have this yet, since it's the first thing I would have done. I have the 13' unibody, and my decision to upgrade will hinge on the quality of the new screens. There's no Apple store where I am, and most places need like a month to get new units in. I'd order online, but thats why I need some reliable impressions/comparisons, etc about the screen first.
Click to expand...

I made a video of the "old" unibody macbook which I got 2 weeks ago - it has an updated screen compared to the ones introduced in october. But I returned it, and today I received the new Macbook Pro 13" - and the display is just as good - so the video might be helpful, although its not a comparison.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2es0ryPrnk
 
larzy said:
I made a video of the "old" unibody macbook which I got 2 weeks ago - it has an updated screen compared to the ones introduced in october. But I returned it, and today I received the new Macbook Pro 13" - and the display is just as good - so the video might be helpful, although its not a comparison.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2es0ryPrnk
Click to expand...

Thanks, but I'm not looking for the display to be 'just as good' as the old one- I'm looking for it to be significantly better, since Apple implied the 13' now has a 'pro' screen. The screen on the older unibody in no way, shape, or form compared to the pro screens.
 
Slurpy2k8 said:
Thanks, but I'm not looking for the display to be 'just as good' as the old one- I'm looking for it to be significantly better, since Apple implied the 13' now has a 'pro' screen. The screen on the older unibody in no way, shape, or form compared to the pro screens.
Click to expand...
My post from yesterday, which is just a few lines up from here, does a pretty good job of describing the situation with the new MacBook Pro display. There are also posts within this forum (again from yesterday) that have pictures comparing the new 13" to the previous generation 15" MacBook Pro (link is below).

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/713578/
 
Slurpy2k8 said:
Thanks, but I'm not looking for the display to be 'just as good' as the old one- I'm looking for it to be significantly better, since Apple implied the 13' now has a 'pro' screen. The screen on the older unibody in no way, shape, or form compared to the pro screens.
Click to expand...

You misread his post. He was saying that his unibody macbook is one of the "silently updated" models that happened in April/May, which got newer panels that are on par with the panel in the Air. His new 13" MBP is just as good as his MB, so one would assume they are using the same quality panel.
 
The 13" screen is now absolutely in the top tier of 13" screens out there. I can't think of one that is better, and I've seen them all.

It is absolutely a pro-level screen. I honestly would take a look at it, and if it's something besides the glare that makes it's not good enough, don't get a 13" laptop.

I propose that we adopt the name macbook pro junior for the 13" model now.
 
andrew upstairs said:
Apple stores will no longer have the unibody MacBooks on display.

There have been comparison pics posted on this here forum, though. The new screens are immensely better.
Click to expand...

The Apple store that I bought mine from last night didn't have them on display last night, nor this morning. The Macbooks were still out on display. The only place the 13" Pro was was in the window viewable from the rest of the mall.
 
ddeadserious said:
The Apple store that I bought mine from last night didn't have them on display last night, nor this morning. The Macbooks were still out on display. The only place the 13" Pro was was in the window viewable from the rest of the mall.
Click to expand...

Hmm, that's odd. What are the contrast ratio of the new display vs the old displays?
 
2 words. "night and day"

night and day
ddeadserious said:
The Apple store that I bought mine from last night didn't have them on display last night, nor this morning. The Macbooks were still out on display. The only place the 13" Pro was was in the window viewable from the rest of the mall.
Click to expand...
 
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