Apple Revises 2018 MacBook Air Display Brightness to Up to 400 Nits After macOS 10.14.4 Release

[ignatius345]

True, you can dial down brightness notches to offset it-- but for people that use auto brightness or just by default crank things all the way up, thats gonna rear its head

Huh, I'd always assumed that a higher max brightness was different from a higher default brightness.

 

[danneman]

Honestly this is a major reason I haven't bought this machine yet (along with skepticism around the keyboard). Can any current users confirm it makes a noticeable difference?

We have two new MBA in the household and did the update on one of them last week and I can confirm that it was a difference in display brightness. After the update the display can get brighter than before. Not a huge difference but quite noticeable when you compare with the other one that's not been updated yet

 

[ignatius345]

I like my butterfly keyboard. I have the 2018MBP15 and also the 2017MBP15 they are quite neat actually. If they break, which the 2017 one did, just toss them back to Apple and in a week you get a brand new top case assembly and sometimes logic board replaced for free. I don’t care if it breaks, that’s not my problem as long as it works great when it’s not broken, I’m happy.

Wow, I guess it's customers like you that Apple is chasing these days. Who cares if it breaks, get a new one! Screw the earth!

 

[Kung gu]

The MacBook Air has potential, but Apple definitely cut some corners... dimmer screen, smaller battery, underpowered CPU, and the Gen 3 keyboard is excluded from the repair program (Gen 1 & 2 only). For these reasons, the non-TB MacBook Pro is the much better buy.

FWIW, I compared the various models in person, and the screen on the MacBook Air was noticeably dimmer. If you sit next to a window, for instance, the screen would almost certainly have to be on the brightest setting. With this update, I imagine you'd get another 1 bar of brightness at most.

i think u can remove the dimmer screen part now

 

[0958400]

Agreed:

Loved that song. Thanks.

 

[TokMok3]

So they can actually tweak that via software. Great! I'll buy the MBA once they include 2 additional CPU cores in a future MacOS update.

How? What software?

Thanks!.

 

[Dephtones]

ITT: sarcasm, how does it work?

 

[UltimaKilo]

I’m glad they’re finding ways to tune the machine. It’s a good product for a lot of people but those low power CPUs and crappy iGPU tech isn’t there yet. Very hopeful IceLake or TigerLake will really make some big advancements; rumors indicate they might.

 

[gtabmx]

Everything is always software.

Nothing is released to the consumer at full bore. Meaning each piece of hardware is dialed back to meet specifications, marketing, longevity, along with many other considerations. The screen is probably capable of reaching far higher than 400 nits in its raw form.

"You haven't seen my final form!" -Frieza

 

[TLNZstudios]

I'm watching this thread. if the keyboard works I might be in. even though I don't like it.

 

[Fixey]

Put an OLED and a decent keyboard in it, even if the laptop is now .5MM thicker. Anyone who buys a current generation butterfly keyboard will come to regret it.

OLED screen are not great, microLED is the way to go.

The keyboard is great and never have any issues, I can’t stand other keyboards now find them all mushy and feel like rubber.

The MacBook Air battery life is good, charging time is fast, great little laptop not saying it’s the best but a very decent laptop that I use photoshop dreamweaver xCode and works great.

I do have 16GB of RAM so be interesting to know how well it performs with 8GB

 

[Glockworkorange]

An a completely different note, I think it would be nice if the apple watch had a true tone display and adapted to your phones night shift state

Ooooo...that's a nice idea.

 

[raybo]

Even with this improvement, I like the older Macbook Air more.

The 2015/2017 MBA can be fitted with a 2TB OWC drive...and it has the fabulous keyboard.

 

[0924487]

Wow, I guess it's customers like you that Apple is chasing these days. Who cares if it breaks, get a new one! Screw the earth!

The parts switched away gets recycled free of charge, or better, they go to markets like India and whatnot to subsidize the refurbished products. It’s a win-win situation. Macs are pricy, but you are not just paying fir what you use but also subsidizing downstream of the Mac lifecycle. Your Mac the parts are not dead in the landfill when they leave you.
[doublepost=1555465404][/doublepost]

I'm waiting for the MacOS update that fixes the keyboard.
[doublepost=1555449481][/doublepost]

good for you BUT

• some of us can't lose a laptop for a week or 10 working days as it his here
• some of live in the next county from an official apple store
• some of can't live with the keyboard breaking when you need it to work, no matter how quickly they can fix it
• some of us don't want the cost of getting it fixed - travel, lost business
• some of us don't want to pay £700 for a complete top case replacement every time the keyboard breaks after the warranty is out after 1 year ...

it is a warranty time bomb!

You can always backup your files and when it breaks use your backup MacBook. If up time is mission critical, of course you need redundancy solutions. Even google doesn’t just keep one copy of the files for G Suite user. Mine gets stored in 4 datacenters, with a cold one in Russia federation. Same with your MBP, have backups if you can’t go blank.

Premium credit cards from Amex Platinum, Chase Sapphire Reserve, etc offer extended Warranties. If you are not eligible for those then, get Apple care.

If your country doesn’t have an Apple Store or Apple Authorized retail store then Apple is not supposed in your country, the service is not for your use in that country. It’s like claiming your lighter doesn’t work in a swimming pool and it’s manufacture’s fault.

You can always use a protective silicon cover over the keyboard if you can’t afford to break it.

For me, line up solutions with the assumption that it will break, and there is no way around that. Life gets a lot happier that way. If it doesn’t, it’s a bonus for the insurance company.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

Any chance Apple also made this adjustment on other older MacBooks?

 

[matrix07]

How would this be achieved? Assuming it wasn’t just a software limitation in the first place...

Could the update include firmware for the SMC to increase the electrical voltage to the display or something like that?

Guess it’s a limitation for better battery life.

 

[Tech198]

Apple overclocked its own display! Stopped innovating my a$$!

"overclocked" or "unperformed" ? I guess any company can do it... I mean if Intel can re-brand it's own own chips.......

https://www.theverge.com/2016/9/2/12754426/intel-core-m-processor-naming-change-confusing.

Could happen to any one.

 

[nope7308]

i think u can remove the dimmer screen part now

Nope, the MBA still has a dimmer screen than the MBP, even with this +100 nit update. The fact remains that Apple has been cutting corners everywhere -- even the included power brick is only 30W compared to 65W for the MBP.

Notice the removal of the bundled microfibre cloth and power cable extension also? Prices keep going up while value/quality is consistently declining.

 

[MacLawyer]

The improvement is noticeable.

 

[T-R-S]

great now the complainers will come out saying the new update causes their battery to not last as long ....

 

[ignatius345]

The parts switched away gets recycled free of charge, or better, they go to markets like India and whatnot to subsidize the refurbished products. It’s a win-win situation. Macs are pricy, but you are not just paying fir what you use but also subsidizing downstream of the Mac lifecycle. Your Mac the parts are not dead in the landfill when they leave you.
[doublepost=1555465404][/doublepost]
You can always backup your files and when it breaks use your backup MacBook. If up time is mission critical, of course you need redundancy solutions. Even google doesn’t just keep one copy of the files for G Suite user. Mine gets stored in 4 datacenters, with a cold one in Russia federation. Same with your MBP, have backups if you can’t go blank.

Premium credit cards from Amex Platinum, Chase Sapphire Reserve, etc offer extended Warranties. If you are not eligible for those then, get Apple care.

If your country doesn’t have an Apple Store or Apple Authorized retail store then Apple is not supposed in your country, the service is not for your use in that country. It’s like claiming your lighter doesn’t work in a swimming pool and it’s manufacture’s fault.

You can always use a protective silicon cover over the keyboard if you can’t afford to break it.

For me, line up solutions with the assumption that it will break, and there is no way around that. Life gets a lot happier that way. If it doesn’t, it’s a bonus for the insurance company.

Or, instead of all this trouble they could (and this is a crazy idea, I know) somehow make a keyboard that... doesn’t break?

 

[thekev]

This is likely to be very uncomfortable on the eyes at full brightness or even 50%. The half life of these backlights has been getting pretty good, so I'm not sure this has much practical value beyond marketing or viewing in very bright conditions.

 

[sudaltsov]

Apple, please fix the camera! If not 10.14.5 - in 10.15!

 

[Kung gu]

great now the complainers will come out saying the new update causes their battery to not last as long ....

simple solution reduce the brightness

 

[0924487]

Or, instead of all this trouble they could (and this is a crazy idea, I know) somehow make a keyboard that... doesn’t break?

They did. The 2018 MBP has the 3rd gen butterfly keyboard and it doesn’t have dust issues. Mine is good still.