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Does my MacBook Pro have an IPS screen?

C

Ckar

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 14, 2013
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Here are the specs: http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...-2.53-aluminum-15-mid-2010-unibody-specs.html

It is a 15" Mid 2010 MacBook Pro with the standard glossy 1440x900 display.

The reason I ask is because the black levels are quite poor on this screen. (My iPad Air screen is noticeably better). Makes me think Apple didn't switch over to IPS displays until a bit later. Can someone provide proof whether an IPS display was used or not?
 
AppleGoat said:
No it does not. The MacBook line went IPS with the Retina screens.
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Are you serious? That is hard to believe. Apple was selling $2000 laptops that did not have IPS screen up until 2012?
 
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Ckar said:
Are you serious? That is hard to believe. Apple was selling $2000 laptops that did not have retina screen up until 2012?
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Yes, seriously. Mid-2012 Retina MacBook Pro was the first Apple laptop to ship with an IPS panel.

Mind you, the display was quite unique two years ago. Though during those two years competitors have caught up in terms of resolution.

But still, up until then all of the panels in Apple laptops were TN.
 
laurihoefs said:
Yes, seriously. Mid-2012 Retina MacBook Pro was the first Apple laptop to ship with an IPS panel.

Mind you, the display was quite unique two years ago. Though during those two years competitors have caught up in terms of resolution.

But still, up until then all of the panels in Apple laptops were TN.
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I meant IPS, not retina, I corrected my original post.
 
Freyqq said:
They are very good TN screens, but they're still TN.
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In some cases, they were better than Retina displays since they were more calibration-friendly. The retina ones have a lot of yellowish spots which make it hard to calibrate it properly.
 
Ckar said:
Are you serious? That is hard to believe. Apple was selling $2000 laptops that did not have IPS screen up until 2012?
Click to expand...

Apple was also selling 2k laptops that came with less primary and secondary memories than cheaper laptops with other brand names, among other things. Apple doesn't have the most conventional calendar although it does seem to work
 
I wouldn't totally discredit the TN panels. Apple used high quality TN panels, and they have excellent horizontal viewing angles and great colors. MBP TNs still look better than most PC laptops, even today.

Now, the TN on the razor blade gen 1 was terrible.
 
TechZeke said:
I wouldn't totally discredit the TN panels. Apple used high quality TN panels, and they have excellent horizontal viewing angles and great colors. MBP TNs still look better than most PC laptops, even today.

Now, the TN on the razor blade gen 1 was terrible.
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I know. On paper, the cMBP displays sound very unappealing: low resolution relative to screen size, TN -- but they're actually pretty nice vibrant displays. OP, back in 2010, MacBook screens were the cream of the crop. Most PC notebooks had washed up displays by comparison. So, don't think Apple was off their rocker for commanding as much as they did for their notebooks.

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saturnotaku said:
Doesn't change the fact that the Retina Display was the first Mac to use IPS.
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I thought the iMac used IPS before that.
 
AppleGoat said:
I know. On paper, the cMBP displays sound very unappealing: low resolution relative to screen size, TN -- but they're actually pretty nice vibrant displays. OP, back in 2010, MacBook screens were the cream of the crop. Most PC notebooks had washed up displays by comparison. So, don't think Apple was off their rocker for commanding as much as they did for their notebooks.
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True.
Not all TN panels are alike, and generally the MacBook Pro displays were quite good. For example, you could fairly easily tell from far away, if someone was using an aluminium MacBook, or a MacBook Pro: the viewing angles were much wider on the Pro, and colour details were more realistic.

It's also really easy to forget, that the overall quality of laptop displays has improved quite a lot in a couple of years. Earlier you had to pay huge premiums for IPS panels, and they were pretty much only available for high-end workstation laptops anyway.

Or, if they were available in consumer laptops, they were awful. Sony had some models, that were notorious for their uneven and yellow displays. The issues with current rMBP panels are nothing compared to those. IPS panels tend to exhibit some uniformity issues, which might be one of the reasons Apple avoided IPS panels until 2012. Despite their issues, the rMBP panels are actually quite good for laptop IPS panels

The resolutions have increased only very recently, in 2012 there was nothing like the rMBP display generally available. Some workstations had 15" 1920x1200 IPS panels, but that was pretty much it. Now every large manufacturer has a hi-res IPS option in consumer laptops too.

AppleGoat said:
I thought the iMac used IPS before that.
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The 20" iMac G5 was the first one, I believe, and all the early plastic Intel iMacs had IPS panels too. But portables were all TN up until 2012.
 
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simsaladimbamba said:
The 2009 21.5" and 27" iMacs were the first Macs to use IPS.
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The 20" iMac G5, the plastic 20" and 24" Intel iMacs, and the aluminium 24" iMac all have IPS panels. Or some of the earlier 20" ones could be PVA too, hard to say for sure, as Apple has not published that information.

The 17" plastic iMacs and 20" aluminium iMac had a TN panels though.

Everymac has a list of the display specifications in different iMacs available: http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/imac-aluminum-faq/differences-between-imac-intel-white-aluminum-displays-viewable-angle-brightness.html
Note the viewing angles and contrast ratios of the panels.

edit:
LM201W01 specs: http://lcdtech.info/en/data/monitor.lcd.panels.htm?pan=LM201W01
Different versions of this panel were used in the 20" Cinema Display and 20" iMacs, both G5 and Intel. The same panels were also used for some Dell displays, etc.

LM240WU2 specs: http://lcdtech.info/en/data/monitor.lcd.panels.htm?pan=LM240WU2
Different versions of this panel were used in the 24" Cinema Display and the 24" iMacs both plastic and aluminium versions. The same panels were also used for some Dell and HP displays, like HP LP2475w.
 
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laurihoefs said:
The 20" iMac G5, the plastic 20" and 24" Intel iMacs, and the aluminium 24" iMac all have IPS panels. Or some of the earlier 20" ones could be PVA too, hard to say for sure, as Apple has not published that information.

The 17" plastic iMacs and 20" aluminium iMac had a TN panels though.

Everymac has a list of the display specifications in different iMacs available: http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/imac-aluminum-faq/differences-between-imac-intel-white-aluminum-displays-viewable-angle-brightness.html
Note the viewing angles and contrast ratios of the panels.
Click to expand...

Strange, since Apple did not use the IPS moniker to advertise that serious advantage, they only did it with the late 2009 iMacs. I guess the viewing angles and contrast ratios are enough evidence though instead of the abundant of press releases available to the public via search or the product pages for the iMacs from that line.

IPS is advanced technology, Apple surely would have made it public, if they used it with 2005 or 2006 or 2007 or 2008 or early 2009 Macs, since it would have been a good selling point for many people.
 
simsaladimbamba said:
Strange, since Apple did not use the IPS moniker to advertise that serious advantage, they only did it with the late 2009 iMacs. I guess the viewing angles and contrast ratios are enough evidence though instead of the abundant of press releases available to the public via search or the product pages for the iMacs from that line.

IPS is advanced technology, Apple surely would have made it public, if they used it with 2005 or 2006 or 2007 or 2008 or early 2009 Macs, since it would have been a good selling point for many people.
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See the edit in my earlier post for some panel specs. That information is from manufacturer data sheets.

I can't be sure why Apple chose not to advertise it, but it was pretty common knowledge back in the day, that the larger iMacs had IPS panels, while smaller ones didn't. But on the other hand, none of the other manufacturers advertised it either. Dell in fact shipped some of their displays with both TN and IPS panels, it was down to luck which one you got. Display manufacturers have only recently started to openly state the panel type, earlier it was common just to list the specifcations, like viewing angles, luminance and contrast ratio. Just like Apple did.
 
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laurihoefs said:
See the edit in my earlier post for some panel specs. That information is from manufacturer data sheets.

I can't be sure why Apple chose not to advertise it, but it was pretty common knowledge back in the day, that the larger iMacs had IPS panels, while smaller ones didn't. But on the other hand, none of the other manufacturers advertised it either. Dell in fact shipped some of their displays with both TN and IPS panels, it was down to luck which one you got. Display manufacturers have only recently started to openly state the panel type, earlier it was common just to list the specifcations, like viewing angles, luminance and contrast ratio. Just like Apple did.
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Ahhhh.:eek: Thanks, I think I can remember a similar conversation some years back, where I was the same idiot back then. I guess, I am not really learning.

Thanks.

PS: Yeah, it is strange, that they did not advertise the IPS panels, since it would have been a plus for many people, but if it depended on luck, where those IPS panels that much better than the TN ones?
 
simsaladimbamba said:
Ahhhh.:eek: Thanks, I think I can remember a similar conversation some years back, where I was the same idiot back then. I guess, I am not really learning.

Thanks.

PS: Yeah, it is strange, that they did not advertise the IPS panels, since it would have been a plus for many people, but if it depended on luck, where those IPS panels that much better than the TN ones?
Click to expand...

Hey, I had to refresh my memory a bit too :)

On iMacs the panels were consistently of the same type, for example if you got the 24" aluminium iMac, you always got an IPS panel, and if you got the 20" aluminium iMac, you always got a TN panel. The difference between the panel types was clearly noticeable.

On the Dells that I mentioned: if I remember correctly, the display model(s) in question were actually marketed with specifications of a TN panel. So those who got the IPS version, received a display that was significantly better than what was advertised and what they paid for. I remember a couple of people ordering and returning those displays until they got an IPS panel...

I really don't know why the panel type was not used in marketing, but this was really common: a couple of years ago you always had to read the specifications carefully to make an educated guess on the panel type, or go and look at the display to find any telltale traits of the panel types (viewing angles, glow, color banding, etc.), or wait for someone else to get their hands on the display to pop it open and see the panel manufacturer and model number.
 
Which year's 24" iMac was the first one to use an IPS panel?

What were they using before the switch to IPS?
 
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