I've tested them at the exact same brightness. It just seems as though the MBP hurts my eyes more that the MBA. I just can't figure out why.
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15" MacBook Air First Impressions
- Thread starter IJBrekke
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I don’t know but it feels harsher to me as well. So far could only pinpoint that is a text for me - very contrasty, black and bold. It very steps out by looking at the text.
That’s *probably* due to M2 Air display didn’t use PWM (which is more comfortable for sensitive eyes). I had also similar experience in previous MBA (2020).
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Same experience. Ended up selling the MBP and getting a MBA M2, which is much softer on my eyes.
Can't say why. Could be the PWM or something else about the mini LED backlight, could be the extremely saturated colors or the temporal dithering process, could be the extra contrast, or something else.
I love the fact that I can use the MBA display for many hours without issues, even if I had to trade in some nice-to-haves like pure blacks and 120Hz.
Edit: my primary suspect is the PWM, because when using older "harsh" screens, I was usually able to get some relief by lowering the screen brightness, whereas on the M1p MBP the lower the brightness, the worse my eyes felt (especially in dark rooms, using either light mode or dark mode).
Ok, the iPad has something like 265 ppi, and if you have good eyesight, you'll indeed notice a clearer text. Not so for the iMac, which stands at 218ppi exactly as the 15" mba.
Maybe the text seems more sharp on the iMac because being bigger you look at it from *more* distance. More distance + same ppi count = more definition.
the mbp's display flickers at 14 KHz, it's a very high frequency.
Tell me, do you tend to use macos in dark mode?
I use light mode 90% of the time. As I have stated in my post, I also use dark mode, primarily in dark environments.
It's not just the 14KHz flicker, it's also the ratio of backlight off to backlight on at full brightness (this is how PWM works), which increases as you decrease the display brightness. The brain, pupils, retinas are constantly trying and failing to adjust to that unnatural stress. Some recent studies have concluded that this may also affect one's long term vision.
Ok, I may be very biased against miniled blooming because it has left a very bad impression on me with the ipad 12.9.. BUT I think you may be disturbed by the blooming, particularly since you occasionally use dark mode in dark envs. Admittedly, in light mode the blooming issue should not hurt your eyes/brain.
As for PWM, I just checked, and indeed the flickering pattern on the miniled display of the mbp is not even the typical sawtooth waveform you find on the average pwm-dimmed ips display. It's made of sharp, brief pulses (that is, "true" pulse width modulation): https://www.notebookcheck.net/filea...acBook_Pro_14_2023_M2_Pro/mbp14_m2pro_pwm.png
Still, retinal persistence should render impossible for your brain/eyes to catch something that pulses fourteen thousands times per second...
Thanks for letting me know this. It's extremely helpful. Did you have this issue with other Macs or just the MBP?
Wasn't sure what you meant by that!
It was a follow-up to this:
If I understand you, you're finding the 14” MBP text to be excessively black and contrasty — that it stands out too boldly and is, therefore, hard on the eyes.
How do the 15” and 13.6” M2 MBAs work for you? Any better?
Hi! Yes, this is the exact problem. I don't mind bold to highlight emails, but seeing it all day in UI/UX/Browsing is kind of tiring.
I solved my issue by turning off the font smoothing - no more issues.
The best display I've used in recent years is the 2013-2015 retina 13" MacBook Pro. I've used one 2013-2016 and another one more recently as a secondary device (2020-2022). I could use it all day when needed, with no eye fatigue. Even at 12AM in complete darkness, I could still use it comfortably for hours (and still can today).
Next in line is the 13.6" M2 MBA, which is a joy to use during the day, and not as good as the 2015 retina during the night, but still pretty close. I would call it comfortable, and certainly the best out of all current Macs.
I've also used the M1 MBA and the 12" MB (2017) extensively in recent years, and the displays were usable, but more eye-fatiguing, especially in dark settings.
My 16" M1P MBP was by far the hardest on my eyes, to the point where I had to let it go after a few months of trying to get used to it because of all its other great features.
So my eye comfort list is:
MBP 2015 > MBA M2 > (MBA M1 = MB12) > MBP M1P
You know, I'm tempted to agree. But OLED screens are also exactly so, and anyone owning an OLED laptop/tablet is super happy with the screen (a bit less with burn-in as time passes).
If you are still wondering, the MB Pro size does work as the others have said.
Ordered mine on the 3rd and got it today.
Are you PWM-sensitive?
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple...d-down-in-the-small-MacBook-Pro.687345.0.html
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I think I would go insane if I had to apply those on every time I had to close my MacBook.
Is there issues with the screen since you find it necessary to keep screen and keyboard untouched?