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Air returns - Why?
- Thread starter raqball
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If you're just doing "productivity" work and browsing websites, this is a very fair response, and IMO the rMBA display is good, though not great. If you're doing photo editing or other work that involves accurate color and luminance settings, it's not a good choice, or at least the two I had would not have been. But maybe Apple's response is: "so by a MacBook Pro," and that would be fair, too.
My irritation is that we would have to ‘settle’ with the current MBA screen. Statements like “ If you need a better screen get the MBP if not the MBA is okay”. Who really wants a lesser quality screen. It is what Apple gave us in the MBA form and we either buy it or not. Or wait until next year when they give us the next great thing.... a quality panel. All reports pre-release were sub $1000 laptop but Apple stomped on that too.
C02XR
256/16 Space Gray, received yesterday in a shipment directly from China (in or near Shanghai).
No issues with the screen, which is the brightest and sharpest of any laptop screen I've ever had - over nearly 30 years. (I'm mostly a word processor/web browser guy, so my standards may be more forgiving than the standards of others.)
No issues with the keyboard, which I like more and more as I use it.
Serious issue with the camera, which as many others say, is fuzzy and not remotely close to HD quality. I don't use it much, but I'm hoping for a software fix.
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I do all sorts. I know my kubernetes from my docker, and my erlang from my scala. And yup, more than a few VMs simultaneously via ansible. It's true I look at email and run a browser. Yup, "just" productivity. Did I get those quotes right?
Then buy the right tool for the job!
For heaven's sake, no one claimed the Air is the tool for high end colour-accurate work. If that's what you need – and may I remind you that I have an all singing, all dancing MBP for the heavy lifting – then buy the right tool for the job. This does not diminish the Air. It's a different beast.
but one can get a better laptop with more drive space and faster processing speed if they get say a Dell X capitol letter, capitol letter compared to a Macbook air at a better price. And that dell might not be obsolete in 5-7 years like the MBA.
To be honest. I just swapped my 2017 MacBook Pro 15 with Touch Bar for a MacBook Air 2018 base model and I have not noticed anything regarding the screen being so dim. I even think that this machine is much better because I don't edit photos or videos. There was to much power in the MacBook Pro that I didn't use. And it was a hard machine to sell because nobody didn't want to put up the money for it. But I will not return my MacBook Air.
I accept your reproof on "just" "productivity," though I think perhaps you're way beyond either.
I think that we have come to think, or at least I have, that a Retina display will be the same thing across the Mac platform. That wasn't necessarily true even before last year, but I think moving the MBP displays up-spec and introducing the rMBA with its down-spec display makes that a lot clearer. Photo editing or any kind of color work was all but impossible on those crappy TN panels that Apple used in the pre-2018 MBA machines, so maybe they felt justified in staying in that market space. The problem is that they're pricing the rMBA at a price point that suggests it really should be able to play in the same space as the MBP.
Ah, perhaps. The Air won't save the planet, but it's an okay machine. I agree that 1200 (whatever your currency units) is too much. I got mine on with 15% off, so closer to 1,000 (currency units) & a bit. That's a fair price, and Apple should acknowledge it.I accept your reproof on "just" "productivity," though I think perhaps you're way beyond either.
This is quite fascinating data, so it seems everyone with a C0 is happy with their screen, whereas I'm the only one with an FV posting that's unhappy (I want to return mine). If C0 at 8/256 is shipping directly from China then maybe I'll buy one online and hope for the best.
Does anyone have an FV built machine they're happy with?
Does anyone have an FV built machine they're happy with?
Every other MacBook I've purchased in Australia has been C0xx (at least 8 of them over 6 years), a mix of Apple Retail and online.
I see the serial number is on the base of the box, rather than taking my chances online I can ask at Apple Retail if they have one like that in stock. Might be a bit of eyebrow raising, but not too hard to go to the stock room and check.
I initially would have put my money on early production, but someone here posted their C0xx was purchased at launch and was good, so even though it's scarce data, I'm putting my money on FV being a different factory entirely and using slightly different parts. Totally a theory only but if more FV owners come forward that would be handy.
Does anyone who returned theirs and bought a touch still know if their serial started with C0xx or FVxx??
I need either some:
- C0xx owners that returned
- FVxx owners that returned
- FVxx owners that are happy
- FVxx owners that are unhappy
So far I've got 4x C0xx owners that are elated.
Hey that's further than I was a week ago, anyway. Baby steps
I really want the Air to work, I have until early Jan to return it, but when I hold it near my 2015 12" retina, it's the better contrast of the 12" that I can't get away from. The brightness I can deal with, but the 12" has better contrast. The letters are not as crisp on my 2018 13" Air, it is harder to read them, it causes fatigue, it's a fatal flaw.
Hence I've come to this forum and noticed some people are happy and report their screen is 3 bars off top brightness. I can't make that work.
I've seen this kind of early production faults with the iPhone 7 (I think it was), there were various complaints about screen issues, and after a certain production week people were happy. Once the certain production week hit, everyone was posting that theirs was fine. It was never a publically acknowledged issue or recall, by Apple, from memory. This FVxx/C0xx might be something along the lines of that. MIGHT. It's currently the only current/live forum post in the world that I can find that is debating this issue.
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SC...
After a month of ownership, took the final plunge and bought the AppleCare + a couple of days ago. For a $200 off price of $1K for the base model, I felt it was worth keeping.
A couple of minor things played a role. When I migrated from my late 2008 MBP, my Acrobat Pro not surprisingly didn't work on the Air but in it's wake it disabled Acrobat on the MBP. The Apple rep at Best Buy thinks Microsoft just canceled the license since I was trying to put it on a second computer. It was part of a education discounted CS4 suite. The irony is Photoshop still works on both. Fortunately Office 2011 works on both after an lengthy phone activation.
I really didn't want to chance going through all that again and potentially losing everything.
After a month of ownership, took the final plunge and bought the AppleCare + a couple of days ago. For a $200 off price of $1K for the base model, I felt it was worth keeping.
A couple of minor things played a role. When I migrated from my late 2008 MBP, my Acrobat Pro not surprisingly didn't work on the Air but in it's wake it disabled Acrobat on the MBP. The Apple rep at Best Buy thinks Microsoft just canceled the license since I was trying to put it on a second computer. It was part of a education discounted CS4 suite. The irony is Photoshop still works on both. Fortunately Office 2011 works on both after an lengthy phone activation.
I really didn't want to chance going through all that again and potentially losing everything.
Posted this in another thread: Had -two- with C0 serials, both dim/low contrast/poor color that did not correct after reprofiling with an i1Disploy Pro. There are other users with C0 serials who felt the same.
If you're not doing color-critical work and don't work in direct light, it's probably fine. But it's almost as expensive as a MBP (and more expensive than a MB) with a display that isn't as good as either.
Mind blown, Apple gave you a better screen than the old model and yet people are still complaining that it’s dim? It looks fine to me.
It’s just irritating that it was released this time with maximum profit in mind and apple keeping features for next release.
It’s not really the brightness but the color. Why such a crappy front camera? Would have made it more expensive? No, just less profit.
Great form factor. Could have been home run.
Each person that is interested has to make their own decision. Not going to say irs wrong if someone chooses to purchase.
Better than something which hasn’t been changed in what 6+ years? How amazing, really, how did Apple do it?
“Fine to me”
, smh...
Ok, so the more I type on this computer, the more I love it. Also, if I watch something I am only watching in a dimly lit setting and I find that I actually turn the brightness down a few notches most of the time. I did have to type on it this past weekend at a Starbucks and I was sitting right in front of the window (no direct sunlight, but pretty bright) and I had no issues with contrast or brightness.
The screen is palpably brighter on the Pro and if that is something very important to you - DO NOT GET THE AIR.
It is not important at all to me. It's a gorgeous screen with adequate resolution - everything looks great on it.
Apple will most likely do something about it in next year's model since there are so many people complaining, but I think it's fine as it is.
The screen is palpably brighter on the Pro and if that is something very important to you - DO NOT GET THE AIR.
It is not important at all to me. It's a gorgeous screen with adequate resolution - everything looks great on it.
Apple will most likely do something about it in next year's model since there are so many people complaining, but I think it's fine as it is.
I have not touched anything. I have truetone on or whatever the feature is that adjusts the color based on ambient lighting. I know most people are not fans of this, but I don't do any photo/video editing so I actually enjoy this feature. Aside from that, I have left the display exactly like it came set up out of the box.
There's no True Tone feature on the 2018 Air. Only comes with the 2018 Pro's.
this.
i was really concerned during the 1st 2 full days after taking receipt of my new MacBook Air.
fan was coming on frequently.
machine dragged.
tasks would not complete.
Photos was taking forever to download from iCloud. (28GB/15,000+ photos)
My apple Mail mailbox folders contain 87GB of mail going back from 2004 and xfering it to the new mac was taking days (from a USB-C drive)
but, the good news is that all is back to normal; fast, efficient. no drag.
i love this machine (i am coming from a 2015 MacBook Air).
it sips power efficiently.
keyboard: i was really really fearful that i couldn't get used to the keyboard with less travel from the previous MacBook Air. but this 3rd generation butterfly is really quick, and a joy to use (its not a quiet keyboard but its not a "clacky" sound either.)
its clear to me that while this machine is built for *most* users needs, it it is clearly not enough power for CPU intensive tasks. don't bother with this machine if you have that kind of work.