Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
You should be ok, as long as you never ever ever look at a retina screen.

Rubbish, the Retina screen is nice but the MBA screen has more then sufficient resolution for the size. TBH the first time i went to the Apple store to check out the Retina MBP's i could not see the difference until i had a closer look at it, and yes i have perfect 20/20 vision.
 
I get the no retina thing. Tech just isn't there yet to add it in and not have it kill the battery.

That is wrong. Retina screen will not affect battery life much. Can easily be proven by comparing the batteries on the 13'' cMBP vs. the 13'' rMBP. Much more likely, is the cost as you pointed out + they want you to buy the rMBP instead.

Unfortunately, many of the coming ultrabooks will have very good screens, and in some cases retina screens. It's a shame that Apple will continue to use now subpar screens for MBA for another year or two.
 
I wouldn't want a retina air. I just think some more pixels would have been nice. 12 hour battery life is great but come on the screen is just not good enough to justify $1200.

I'm with you 100% there. I was just in the market for a new laptop. Really wanted to like the new MBA, but I just could not get on board with that screen. I'm not generally one that cares about color quality and things like that, but after moving to IPS monitors at both home and the office, looking at the screen on that MBA all of the imperfections, the washed out colors and fuzziness of the picture literally jumped out at me.

Got a 15" base model refurb retina MBP and cannot get over how great everything looks on this screen.

Personal preference thing though.....everybody has something different they are looking for and factors that are important for one buyer may not be for another. We all have a bunch of great options to choose from....that's for sure.
 
Rubbish, the Retina screen is nice but the MBA screen has more then sufficient resolution for the size. TBH the first time i went to the Apple store to check out the Retina MBP's i could not see the difference until i had a closer look at it, and yes i have perfect 20/20 vision.

Just because you couldn't see the difference between the two displays doesn't make his opinion "rubbish". I can definitely see the difference, but it's not that big of a deal to me which is why i like the air.

But hey, if you can't tell at all then that's good. You get to save money. Some people can tell apart a $50 headphone and a $600 one, some can't.
 
you must have the eyes of a hawk, to see the pixels. either that or you sit with your face 6 inches from the screen.
the 11" had a great screen with a high dpi, at normal viewing distance you cant see pixelation at all. its all in your mind because youve decided it will be crap before you even opened it, thanks to your retina.

ill agree the colours arent as good as the pro's though.
 
Just because you couldn't see the difference between the two displays doesn't make his opinion "rubbish". I can definitely see the difference, but it's not that big of a deal to me which is why i like the air.

But hey, if you can't tell at all then that's good. You get to save money. Some people can tell apart a $50 headphone and a $600 one, some can't.

Did you even read my post?? I said i could not see the difference till i looked more closely. Sure there is a difference but to say you can only use a MBA screen if you NEVER EVER look at a retina display is indeed rubbish. The biggest difference is the colour accuracy as the MBA uses a TN panel but with that said IPS can have some serious downsides too such as backlight bleeding, ghosting and heavy IR, especially on the cheaper panels that are used in the rMBP's. Infact an expensive TN panel can have better image quality then a cheap IPS panel. Don't believe me? do some research. ;)
 
Last edited:
Rubbish, the Retina screen is nice but the MBA screen has more then sufficient resolution for the size. TBH the first time i went to the Apple store to check out the Retina MBP's i could not see the difference until i had a closer look at it, and yes i have perfect 20/20 vision.

Exactly.

----------

you must have the eyes of a hawk, to see the pixels. either that or you sit with your face 6 inches from the screen.
the 11" had a great screen with a high dpi, at normal viewing distance you cant see pixelation at all. its all in your mind because youve decided it will be crap before you even opened it, thanks to your retina.

ill agree the colours arent as good as the pro's though.

Fantastic screen for the 2013 11" (I have a Samsung display), I really enjoy it (and I have 4 retina iPads in my house and 2 iPhone 5 with retina display)
 
I agree with OP. Went to Apple store, looked at MBA and rMBP, the retina just looks so much better. Pictures and videos look much better on it. My dream comp would have been a MBA with retina, now I guess a haswell rMBP will be the next best thing.
 
you must have the eyes of a hawk, to see the pixels. either that or you sit with your face 6 inches from the screen.
the 11" had a great screen with a high dpi, at normal viewing distance you cant see pixelation at all. its all in your mind because youve decided it will be crap before you even opened it, thanks to your retina.

ill agree the colours arent as good as the pro's though.

I didn't decide it was crap and would never say that. The MBA is a great long lasting laptop. I just didn't like the screen quality. I don't think anyone needs 20/20 to the the pixels on its screen or the washed out color. I'm not trying to demoralize the MBA I'm just giving my view on why I didn't like it. If I traveled and needed something so small and light really bad it would be my choice. I'm just glad that I don't.
 
Did you calibrate the screen?

I did, I would just take it that I like the smoothness of the retina better. I have a ipad mini and its screen is pixeled but I still would have it over the regular retina ipad because of its portability. Its a trade of, on my laptop I prefer the best screen available.
 
That is wrong. Retina screen will not affect battery life much. Can easily be proven by comparing the batteries on the 13'' cMBP vs. the 13'' rMBP.

Apparently it can't be easily proven, at least not by you. A quick trip to the apple website's MacBook Pro technical specs page will show you that the classic MBP has a 63.5W battery, while the rMBP has a 74W battery. This is the only reason the rMBP has comparable battery life to the classic MBP. It has a larger, thicker battery. Putting a retina screen in the Air would involve making it thicker, which apple definitely doesn't want to do.
 
you must have the eyes of a hawk, to see the pixels. either that or you sit with your face 6 inches from the screen.
the 11" had a great screen with a high dpi, at normal viewing distance you cant see pixelation at all. its all in your mind because youve decided it will be crap before you even opened it, thanks to your retina.

Do you really think everyone's eyesight is exactly the same? That some people don't have better vision and some worse? Wonderful, we can do away with optometrists; their profession is no longer needed. Keeping the 13" MBA slightly further than arms length, I can easily make out the pixels. So can most other people, which is why Apple is moving in the direction of retina screens. If you really can't see pixelation in the MBA at normal viewing distances, I would suggest it's time for a visit to an optometrist.
 
The biggest difference is the colour accuracy as the MBA uses a TN panel but with that said IPS can have some serious downsides too such as backlight bleeding, ghosting and heavy IR, especially on the cheaper panels that are used in the rMBP's.

The classic MBP uses a TN panel, and has significantly better colour accuracy than the MBA, so the difference is actually not between TN panels and IPS panels. The difference is that Apple chose to put a poor quality panel in the Air to keep costs down and to shave off another few millimeters. The thicker panel in the classic MBP is capable of about 100% sRGB, same as the IPS panel in the rMBP, whereas the Air's panel is only capable of about 70% sRGB. I, and I think most others, would have preferred a better panel in the Air, even if it made the machine very slightly thicker, fractionally heavier, and $50 more expensive.
 
The classic MBP uses a TN panel, and has significantly better colour accuracy than the MBA, so the difference is actually not between TN panels and IPS panels. The difference is that Apple chose to put a poor quality panel in the Air to keep costs down and to shave off another few millimeters. The thicker panel in the classic MBP is capable of about 100% sRGB, same as the IPS panel in the rMBP, whereas the Air's panel is only capable of about 70% sRGB. I, and I think most others, would have preferred a better panel in the Air, even if it made the machine very slightly thicker, fractionally heavier, and $50 more expensive.

Completely true. The panel on the air is horrible compared to the regular MBP.
 
Rubbish, the Retina screen is nice but the MBA screen has more then sufficient resolution for the size. TBH the first time i went to the Apple store to check out the Retina MBP's i could not see the difference until i had a closer look at it, and yes i have perfect 20/20 vision.

The difference is obvious, even from a distance. Perhaps those differences didn't resonate with you as being worth while, but they are most definitely there (and again, not just when 2 inches from your face). Glare is reduced, colors are vibrant, and text is more clear.

Owners of airs (I'm one!) don't need to get all defensive...the display on the macbook air is quite nice if you've calibrated it.
 
You should be ok, as long as you never ever ever look at a retina screen.

Interesting. I have actually moved away from the retina back to an Air. Just a painful experience for me, dealing with the retina. Actually made my eyes tired.
 
Do you really think everyone's eyesight is exactly the same? That some people don't have better vision and some worse? Wonderful, we can do away with optometrists; their profession is no longer needed. Keeping the 13" MBA slightly further than arms length, I can easily make out the pixels. So can most other people, which is why Apple is moving in the direction of retina screens. If you really can't see pixelation in the MBA at normal viewing distances, I would suggest it's time for a visit to an optometrist.

I have way better then 20/20 vision and have a good eye for detail (i Work in the printing industry) i can not make out pixels on a 13" MBA at a full arms length away.
 
Unless the screens are calibrated by a bat, your statement is pure horse crap.

Im talking about overall image quality. There are many factors that make up a panels quality such as Ghosting, IR, Colour accuracy/gamut, back lightbleeding ect ect. There are some expensive TN panels that will blow many budget IPS panels away in many of those areas.

----------

The difference is obvious, even from a distance. Perhaps those differences didn't resonate with you as being worth while, but they are most definitely there (and again, not just when 2 inches from your face). Glare is reduced, colors are vibrant, and text is more clear.

Owners of airs (I'm one!) don't need to get all defensive...the display on the macbook air is quite nice if you've calibrated it.

Im not getting defensive, the Air is great for the low price, i don't expect it to have the best screen in the world, its the rMBP owners that are getting all defensive trying to justify their expensive purchase when the reality is the difference is quite minimal. ;)
 
I have way better then 20/20 vision and have a good eye for detail (i Work in the printing industry) i can not make out pixels on a 13" MBA at a full arms length away.

Time to get those eyes checked. No shame in getting older. :) I'm looking at a 2011 11" Air from slightly further than arm's length and I can clearly see the pixels forming these letters. I can sit even further from a 2009 13" Pro and see the pixelation.


Im not getting defensive, the Air is great for the low price, i don't expect it to have the best screen in the world, its the rMBP owners that are getting all defensive trying to justify their expensive purchase when the reality is the difference is quite minimal. ;)

Really? Four times the number of pixels is 'quite minimal'? Bewildering. I like my MBA. It's an awesome machine, and I can well imagine that the 2013 model is that much better, but to suggest that the difference in screen quality between it and a rMBP is 'minimal' is absurd. You're familiar with the concept of defensiveness; are you familiar with the concept of denial?
 
Time to get those eyes checked. No shame in getting older. :) I'm looking at a 2011 11" Air from slightly further than arm's length and I can clearly see the pixels forming these letters. I can sit even further from a 2009 13" Pro and see the pixelation.

Did you read my post? I have better then 20/20 vision, i need to for my job and im required to get regular eye checkups. I think you are convincing yourself you are seeing pixels. Perhaps you need to get your eyes checked?
 
Did you read my post? I have better then 20/20 vision, i need to for my job and im required to get regular eye checkups. I think you are convincing yourself you are seeing pixels. Perhaps you need to get your eyes checked?

no mate, you need an optometrist...
i too also perfect vision, im not disputing the retina screens are better, but you cant see the pixels in text.

theres one place, and one place only i see pixelation, and thats the rounded corners of tabs or finder windows and even then its not noticeable unless i really look.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.