It's not recent. In late 2021, many apps didn't even support 120 Hz yet. The cap was definitely implemented in macOS Monterey, just might not be on the first release.
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15" MacBook Air First Impressions
- Thread starter IJBrekke
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I just use the built in Display Calibrator Assistant (by eye). They've changed things around a bit in Ventura so you have to make a few more clicks to get to it.
Click on 'Color profile' menu in the Display Settings, scroll down and select 'Customize...', when that window pops up, hit the '+' symbol (on the lower left side) while holding down the Option Key (this will bring up the traditional Display Calibrator Assistant in 'Expert Mode').
From there, just create your profile as usual by moving the sliders around a bit within each screen (this behaves the same as it always has - no changes there). Once created, just name it, save it, and it will be selectable in the Color profile menu moving forward.
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I just sold my 14” MBP to get a 15” air, and earlier this year I gave my iPhone 13 Pro to my mom and “upgraded” to a regular iPhone 13. I also went from a 2020 iPad Pro to a 9th generation iPad last year. I do see the difference with promotion, but to me the 60 Hz screens are totally fine and I prefer the other benefits (i.e. lighter weight, lower cost, same single-core speed as top end models) of the non-pro options. That said, I have a 27” dell external display that runs at 75 Hz, which for some reason is way more noticeable to me than the promotion screens Apple uses.
Maybe I’m just getting old?
I would love to see a test that compares the two in terms of performance.
For the rest, if you’re not picky, can get a lot more for your money.
Apple way overcharges for its upgrades, and the Gram even allows for a second ssd to be installed later. They should give coupons for a free Apple config upgrade instead of gift card to be used later.
What do you mean with this?
What is eye fatigue, what is causing it and why specifically the M-based processors?
Anyone gone from a MBA M2 13' to the new 15"? Is it worth it in terms of battery life being better? Not fussed about the screen real estate, I just like the thought of travelling with my Laptop the while day without needing the charger at all etc.
This is kind of a peculiar post since both the 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air are claimed to have the same battery life.
I would say that anyone going for the 15" Air would be doing so for the display size and added screen real estate. The 13" and 15" are virtual the same Mac otherwise - only difference is the size. You'll never notice or feel the negligible differences shown on comparison YouTube videos.
I have a use-case for both sizes, so I own both. A large display on a thin and relatively light MacBook is a great option over the bulky and heavy 16" MacBook Pro which many (like me) only bought for the display size, not the heft or power.
that’s the claim anyway. the hope is the bigger capacity will offset the bigger screen and then some. i can see apple not wanting to advertise better battery life claims, so it can say the macbook pro is king in that regard. we’ll see in the coming days and weeks what the actual battery life is like.
I have a Mac Mini as my main computer and an iPad Pro 12.9 (2018) as my consuming device. I am thinking of getting a MBA 15 to replace my Mac Mini so I can do more work while on holidays, weekends out, etc… is it noticeable the 13” vs 15” screen space? With the Mac Mini I use a 32” 4K screen and I find my 12.9” iPad Pro screen way too small for any serious work (on top of the non serious Office apps) but not sure if the 15” version would really be so noticeable bigger than the 13” one.
This happened on the previous gen...
Cooling was so bad the processor could not even sustain above 1GHz for more than mere 3 minutes. I know because I did toy with the idea of having the LG Gram myself. Promptly returned it and ate the restocking fee.
If it's purely performance, I have no doubt M2 will prevail because the MacBook Air 15" is able to sustain my Fusion 360 workflow even on a 4K120 display. Clearly it's not as smooth and fast as the 14" but it's not a slideshow like it was on the LG Gram 16 after a few minutes.
Apple used to overcharge for their devices, but if you have not used any MacBook with the new M chips, it's easy to overlook them based on just specifications alone. In this case, I would gladly take even a MacBook Air 15" with 8GB RAM over an LG Gram 16 with 32GB any day for any workflow.
I do remember checking this initially up until around mid 2022 during some trips where I didn't have regular access to outlets, and I'm pretty sure the entire ProMotion option is just gone when Low Power Mode is toggled, leaving only refresh rate options in the System Settings page.
Granted, I have not checked it at all for the past year and doing it now does indeed keep "ProMotion" around. They also completely redesigned the System Settings app with Ventura, so maybe they did also fix a few long-standing bugs with the UI in Monterey. There were a few more odd ones related to the Display page and how HDR can be enabled/disabled.
Still, MacBook is not the same as iPhone. Apps and games not made with Apple's specific UI frameworks will still kick refresh rate to max. For instance, here's Shenzhen I/O, which is static and can work just fine at 24Hz but doesn't.
In this case, playing this game on the Pro 14" without any limit to ProMotion can cause massively higher power draw than the fixed 60Hz display on Air 15". Sure, you'll say... this is probably just because of the game. But it isn't even the only case where this happens. Here's more:
Why would a blank white page need to stay at 80fps and kick the display up to 120Hz?
So yes, ProMotion may help with battery life on iPhone, but not really on MacBook. At least not because of the max 120Hz option. There are plenty of examples of apps and games that cause massively higher power draw for no reason while ProMotion is running. These apps and games are not as uncommon as you think.
P.S.: also there's currently no way to "Limit Frame Rate" on MacOS as far as I can tell with ProMotion on MacBook like there is on iPhone. Not without engaging Low Power Mode. So if battery life is needed but no compromise elsewhere, setting the display to fixed 60Hz is still the only way that I can see.
Apple often uses a variety of screen suppliers, meaning that two identical machines can look pretty different out of the box.
Back in 2015 with the MacBook Pro it was either LG or Samsung, I think. LG's screens had a noticeable green/grey tinge to them. I said at the time it was like looking at the screen through a rainy day. I literally had two of them side-by-side to make this observation.
You used to be able to tell via the serial number of the screen. I'm unsure that's possible nowadays.
Incredibly helpful information! That huge advantage in battery life for the 15” is missing from most of the threads and posts that extol the 14” MBP over it.
So got mine today, migrated everything from M1 Pro MBP16 (completely smooth migration, I was very surprised, that's why I like apple haha)
I prefer black backgrounds (with BW photo in the middle) to not see the notch, and have to say that in 1:1 screen comparison the 16" miniLED destroys the Air screen... black is real black, you don't see the notch at all, corners nicely black... but this was expected. After a while working with the Air you forget about it.
Of course with external screen there is no difference
I have a feeling the Air is much much snappier when just working/browsing/chatting... I don't expect anything optimized in M2 vs M1 Pro, so I guess must be the effect of fresh OS (though I used the migration assistant)
All in all very happy with the change, the weight and thinness are unbelievable
I prefer black backgrounds (with BW photo in the middle) to not see the notch, and have to say that in 1:1 screen comparison the 16" miniLED destroys the Air screen... black is real black, you don't see the notch at all, corners nicely black... but this was expected. After a while working with the Air you forget about it.
Of course with external screen there is no difference
I have a feeling the Air is much much snappier when just working/browsing/chatting... I don't expect anything optimized in M2 vs M1 Pro, so I guess must be the effect of fresh OS (though I used the migration assistant)
All in all very happy with the change, the weight and thinness are unbelievable
I experienced the same thing in M1 Pro vs. M2. The M2 does clock a bit higher in single thread tasks, so I assumed it was attributed to that.
Am I the only one who thinks the new Airs only look good in Midnight or Starlight? For some reason the notch really stands out to me in SG and sliver and makes the Airs look weird? Am I crazy?? 🤣
Midnight is truly a stunning color. The keyboard just sort of blends in giving the MacBook an overall stealth look. The keyboard backlighting also looks more contained within the keys (like on the MBPs) with the Midnight models due to the lack of reflection from the lighter aluminum finishes.
The Midnight color shifts and changes dramatically with lighting. It goes from dark blue, to muted navy blue, to blue-gray, to gunmetal, to graphite, and somewhat black.
...don't forget the color of "looks like it was grabbed and handled by butter croissant hands"
Fingerprints are indeed very noticeable with Midnight (it's not that the Midnight finish attracts more than other finishes, they're just more visible). And as someone who likes their devices clean, the smudges thankfully wipe off easily despite claims that they don't. As a Midnight owner, you're just conditioned to wipe down quick more often. I just use RadTech ScreenSavrz keyboard cloths since they're already always with my MacBooks.
Midnight looks cheap to me especially on the big 15" so much empty space around the keyboard, felt award to pick up in store too, not one handed like the 13" or 14". Screen felt wobbly/flimsy too.
My first impressions.