11" MacBook Air (2015) Screen Issue

[matjamca]

Hi there,

I've just bought an early 2015, 11" MacBook Air.

Sadly, I am very disappointed with the screen.

The screen seems very blurry and washed out. Furthermore, on the standard resolution setting, the text seems incredibly small and pixelated so I'm using the 1280x720 scaled resolution.

Is it normal for the screen to be blurred/washed out? It's actually causing me eye strain and headaches.

 

[Significant1]

Sadly the screen on Macbook 11" is not very good. And running it at 1280x720 is definitely not helping on clarity.

I suggest you switch back to native resolution and try adjust the fonts with Tinkertool:
http://www.bresink.com/osx/TinkerTool.html

Various apps also have local settings for font-sizes:
https://support.apple.com/kb/PH18831?locale=en_US

I also have a color profile for sharp text and one the original for movie. I use profilemenu to easy switch between them:
http://osxdaily.com/2012/06/01/chan...-from-the-mac-os-x-menu-bar-with-profilemenu/
Sadly the authors homepage does not work anymore, but if you google a bit, you can find forums with link to an uploaded version.

it is sad that Apple's is handicapping such a great machine, with such a poor display :-(

 

[matjamca]

Sadly the screen on Macbook 11" is not very good. And running it at 1280x720 is definitely not helping on clarity.

I suggest you switch back to native resolution and try adjust the fonts with Tinkertool:
http://www.bresink.com/osx/TinkerTool.html

Various apps also have local settings for font-sizes:
https://support.apple.com/kb/PH18831?locale=en_US

I also have a color profile for sharp text and one the original for movie. I use profilemenu to easy switch between them:
http://osxdaily.com/2012/06/01/chan...-from-the-mac-os-x-menu-bar-with-profilemenu/
Sadly the authors homepage does not work anymore, but if you google a bit, you can find forums with link to an uploaded version.

it is sad that Apple's is handicapping such a great machine, with such a poor display :-(

Thanks for the advice. I've downloaded Tinker Tool, but the font options don't seem to make much of a difference.

 

[throAU]

The scaling will be doing horrible things to your text - the native res on that screen is 1366x768, scaling it to 1280x720 which is not an integer ratio of the native resolution will be causing the blurring.

If you're unhappy with the display, i'd return it and go for an rMB (if you can deal with the lack of ports) or an rMBP 13" (more money unfortunately).

 

[motrek]

Hi there,

I've just bought an early 2015, 11" MacBook Air.

Sadly, I am very disappointed with the screen.

The screen seems very blurry and washed out. Furthermore, on the standard resolution setting, the text seems incredibly small and pixelated so I'm using the 1280x720 scaled resolution.

Is it normal for the screen to be blurred/washed out? It's actually causing me eye strain and headaches.

As mentioned by throAU, the blurriness is due to you changing the resolution.

The laptop is computing a 1280x720 image and then it has to scale it up to a screen with 1366x768 physical pixels. That means each logical pixel corresponds to 1.14 physical pixels, so basically none of the physical pixels are lined up with the logical pixels. So each physical pixel is displaying the average color of multiple logical pixels instead of any one exact color. Hence blurriness.

The solution is to set the resolution back to the native resolution. I suspect your eyes and brain will quickly adjust to how small everything is over the next few days. While you're adjusting, you can do things like increase the zoom on web pages to make them render bigger.

 

[sarah11918]

Is it normal for the screen to be blurred/washed out? It's actually causing me eye strain and headaches.

Are you coming from a machine that was running an earlier version of OS X, or from a non-Mac?

The problem might actually be with the system font for Yosemite. Many people complained about headaches etc. after upgrading from Mavericks, especially on machines without Retina screens. I couldn't use my 2012 Macbook Air for two minutes without terrible headaches after upgrading. It was immediately an issue.

This link is the method I used to change the system font back to the old system font used in Mavericks:

https://github.com/schreiberstein/lucidagrandeyosemite (which also links to this MacRumors thread about the issue)

I don't know whether it will help you like the screen overall, but it absolutely makes the text feel "normal" again and might solve the eye strain/headaches.

 

[SSD-GUY]

Yosemite could be the problem. I've kept my 11 Air on Mavericks for this very reason.

Another reason could be the panel manufacturer.

I first had a Samsung Screen which I repaired as it was getting yellower for some reason. Apple replaced it with a AUO screen and it was horrible. Colours were washed out and the whites were bad. Apple then reluctantly replaced it for a LG screen and it is perfect.

Follow this link and report back on what Terminal gives you. This should tell us the screen manufacturer.

http://osxdaily.com/2011/10/30/how-...lay-in-a-macbook-air-and-make-it-look-better/

 

[matjamca]

I have an LG Screen

 

[SSD-GUY]

I have an LG Screen

Has it always been "bad"?

Try and take it into the Apple store and compare it with other MacBook Air 11's. It could be a bad panel. There is literally a night and day difference between the two panels I had.