Anyone wish there was a thin and light macbook with an amazing screen?

[teh_hunterer]

I think engineering could make room for extra ports on the other side. At least another Thunderbolt. Performance... that's a toss up because not everyone does heavy video editing, coding, AI LLMs, or whatever they call it these days. For example, I have an Air (which, ironically, doesn't cool with air) and it's just fine for what I need. Performance is excellent in day-to-day usage.

I don't know for sure but I'd bet the M5 doesn't have support for a third Thunderbolt port.

What I mean is whatever performance you're giving up if you go for the Air is a sensible tradeoff - the extra thinness and lightness makes up for it.

Whereas the screen is worse because Apple doesn't want to put a better screen there.

 

[boswald]

I don't know for sure but I'd bet the M5 doesn't have support for a third Thunderbolt port.

What I mean is whatever performance you're giving up if you go for the Air is a sensible tradeoff - the extra thinness and lightness makes up for it.

Whereas the screen is worse because Apple doesn't want to put a better screen there.

What's wrong with the screen? It looks fine to me...

 

[teh_hunterer]

What's wrong with the screen? It looks fine to me...

The screen is worse is what I said. Worse than the MacBook Pro. My whole post was about tradeoffs between the MBA and the MBP.

Every tradeoff between the Air and the Pro is justified by the form factor except the screen. The screen doesn't need to be a 60hz IPS panel in 2026.

 

[boswald]

The screen is worse is what I said. Worse than the MacBook Pro. My whole post was about tradeoffs between the MBA and the MBP.

Every tradeoff between the Air and the Pro is justified by the form factor except the screen. The screen doesn't need to be a 60hz IPS panel in 2026.

Yeah, you've got a point there. I guess I'm just used to 60hz.

 

[capamac]

I don't feel much for 120hz. My A17 has 90 but I set it to 60 for better battery life.
NTSC SDTV was 29.97 fps and I grew up on that; was fine.
The movies are 24.0 fps; also fine, the "Cinematic look."
In fact, movies filmed in higher frame rates, like "Gemini Man" ... don't look cinematic. They have that "soap opera" look instead, which is a real turn-off.

The fast framerates I suspect are from the gamer culture, coz they're into 120/144/240hz whatnot; supposedly offers some competitive edge or somethin'.

The nice thing about 120 is 120 / 5 = 24.0 which is is the movie framerate. Just show the same movie frame 5 times every second. No funny pulldown required.

 

[lewchenko]

I spent ages with an M5 air 15" and a Macbook Pro M5 14" in the store the other day, comparing side by side.

The pro screen is noticeably crisper and brighter. PPI being higher you would expect this.

If you start with the Air screen , you will think its great. Until you move over to the pro machine next to it..

Promotion 120hz only noticeable for me when scrolling. If you like to read when scrolling slowly , the pro screen is much better. Mouse moves smoother too. I didnt try any video.

Not much in it weight wise between the two but the air exudes lightness somehow.

The extra inch is useful on the air. Eg. Two terminals can open side by side without needing to make the default terminal size smaller.

If the air had the pro screen it would be an instabuy.

Came away leaning more pro than air but wishing for an air profile with pro screen lol. Now in limbo.

 

[Zapdoc]

Thank you for this. The typing experience is very important to me so if it is noticeably worse than the MacBook Air that might not work. 😞

Unfortunately I only used not MKB with iPadPro M4 a few times as it was too cramped for me to use comfortably - Had I tried it out in store first I'd have passed on it. However I think some non Apple KB are less cramped - but now torn between my MBA M2 and the new Neo with the touch button - really nice and handy for use on the go - not that thee is anything wrong with my MBA main issue with MB Neo is the lack of backlighting for keyboard - which the MKB for iPad Pro did have and its very useful

 

[1BadManVan]

Unfortunately I only used not MKB with iPadPro M4 a few times as it was too cramped for me to use comfortably - Had I tried it out in store first I'd have passed on it. However I think some non Apple KB are less cramped - but now torn between my MBA M2 and the new Neo with the touch button - really nice and handy for use on the go - not that thee is anything wrong with my MBA main issue with MB Neo is the lack of backlighting for keyboard - which the MKB for iPad Pro did have and its very useful

Why would you move from a MBA M2 to a neo?

 

[torana355]

I don't want an OLED Laptop, I Love my Sony OLED TV and it excels at watching movies and tv shows but for static elements like a Laptop display I don't want OLED with its risk of burn in. Give me a decent Mini LED display thanks.

 

[subjonas]

I do have a feeling that Apple is working on a thinner lighter MBA to distinguish it more from both the Neo and Pro, but not sure if it will have a much improved screen. Just my feeling.

 

[capamac]

Making the Air any thinner would also make it structurally weaker.

What's the point of making an Air thinner or lighter? I'm pretty sure I could bend my M1 Air's LCD panel in half with my bare hands without too much effort. The main body of the Air ... perhaps I couldn't bend that in half with my bare hands (not gonna try of course) but I feel that if I put my heel in the middle of it and my hands graspig the edges I could snap it in half. These things are fragile enough already.

 

[geta]

12” MBA would be a nice addition.

 

[davidg4781]

I don't think I need 120 Hz or XDR but OLED would be nice. I'd also like an upgraded speaker set. I'm assuming the current Air are similar or perform less than my 2020 M1 13" speakers, which are pretty good.

I don't need the power of the current 14" MacBook Pros but would like some extra features with the Air above the Neo.