Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

For those questioning the screen quality difference between the MBA & MBP ...

The Cockney Rebel

The Cockney Rebel

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jul 17, 2010
3,584
4,723
I've been away from my MBP for a few weeks, and have been using my MBA at my nan's.

Both screens are great, but now I've been back at my MBP (16" M2) it's definitely richer.

Having said that, I still love my 13" M2 Air.

Just wanted to share my own personal perspective, which hopefully will help someone in making a decision between the two.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigMcGuire, gshake, Miicat_47 and 2 others
This is what bothers me the most about the MBA 15. Honestly, having a 16 MBP has ruined the MBA for me, I probably wouldn’t notice it if I didn’t have the MBP. Both with brightness on max level.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_5469.jpeg
    IMG_5469.jpeg
    292.1 KB · Views: 510
  • Like
  • Wow
Reactions: zapmymac, Burnincoco, Lcgiv and 5 others
And, you might not even notice how blue-white that MBP is if you turned down the brightness to a usable level, one easier on the eyes! 😁
 
  • Like
Reactions: LelandHendrix
cramazing said:
This is what bothers me the most about the MBA 15. Honestly, having a 16 MBP has ruined the MBA for me, I probably wouldn’t notice it if I didn’t have the MBP. Both with brightness on max level.
Click to expand...
The MBP (well mine, anyway) just has better clarity.

Only noticed it over the past couple of days, as I've been away from it for a while.

The MBA is still very nice, though.
 
Having an MBP has definitely made it very unlikely I'll ever get an MBA without a mini-LED/ProMotion screen. I saw the MBA in person and I couldn't help but feel underwhelmed by the display quality, in comparison with my MBP. There was a sense of "this just isn't good enough anymore". Especially when it comes to the black levels.
 
  • Like
Reactions: thmsnt, xxray, kp98077 and 2 others
KaiFiMacFan said:
Having an MBP has definitely made it very unlikely I'll ever get an MBA without a mini-LED/ProMotion screen. I saw the MBA in person and I couldn't help but feel underwhelmed by the display quality, in comparison with my MBP. There was a sense of "this just isn't good enough anymore". Especially when it comes to the black levels.
Click to expand...
It's almost as if the MBA is 2D, and the MBP is 3D, if that makes any sense?

Everything on the MBP is just richer.
 
  • Like
  • Wow
Reactions: bhodinut, KaiFiMacFan and Shirasaki
The Cockney Rebel said:
I've been away from my MBP for a few weeks, and have been using my MBA at my nan's.

Both screens are great, but now I've been back at my MBP (16" M2) it's definitely richer.

Having said that, I still love my 13" M2 Air.

Just wanted to share my own personal perspective, which hopefully will help someone in making a decision between the two.
Click to expand...
That’s reflected how much different cost between both.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Burnincoco and LelandHendrix
cramazing said:
This is what bothers me the most about the MBA 15. Honestly, having a 16 MBP has ruined the MBA for me, I probably wouldn’t notice it if I didn’t have the MBP. Both with brightness on max level.
Click to expand...
yep, thats the yellowish tint i was talking about but the skeptics are still skeptic!
 
  • Like
Reactions: macsforme
DHagan4755 said:
Back in the day you used to be able to see what model your panel was & who manufactured it by its model #. This was usually the determining factor for consistency & white point. Anyone remember this?
Click to expand...
Oh yeah! when the 1st Retina displays was first out on the MBP 15 back in 2012?
And people were getting LG and Samsung panels, and I believed the LG one was the one that was yellowish while the Samsung were more white. People were buying and returning MBP until they got the Samsung panels. choas.
 
  • Like
  • Wow
Reactions: zapmymac, macsforme, arefbe and 3 others
cramazing said:
Oh yeah! when the 1st Retina displays was first out on the MBP 15 back in 2012?
And people were getting LG and Samsung panels, and I believed the LG one was the one that was yellowish while the Samsung were more white. People were buying and returning MBP until they got the Samsung panels. choas.
Click to expand...
Yes but it was also the image persistence issue that plagued LG panels. Oh god that was the real chaos.
 
  • Wow
Reactions: Shirasaki
Here's my thoughts...

I have only spent a couple hours with a current MBP, and if I did I might have more concerns. However, this screen on my MBA 15 is fantastic, and an obvious upgrade to my M1 Air.

I have not noticed any yellow tint, but I twice have been in a difficult evening light environment in which I thought true tone was overreacting. This makes me suspect the method of sampling the light sensor might iron this out in an update, if in fact it is wrong. If you have both machines, and dim/neutral editing station, could could easily plop them both down and turn true tone off to compare their pure calibrated white values. That should get to the bottom of a comparison of MBP vs MBA15.

But I absolutely love my 15" MBA and I haven't been this happy with a new computer since my first of 12 Macs, the late-08 first unibody MBP 15. But screens have come a long way since then.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DCIFRTHS and iStorm
I might add--because my workspace is next to a window and I was seeing a lot of myself, I found a matte screen protector for the MBA15 and reducing refections has reduced general eye strain but I would have needed this with ANY reflective mac screen until I move offices again.
 
LelandHendrix said:
Here's my thoughts...

I have only spent a couple hours with a current MBP, and if I did I might have more concerns. However, this screen on my MBA 15 is fantastic, and an obvious upgrade to my M1 Air.

I have not noticed any yellow tint, but I twice have been in a difficult evening light environment in which I thought true tone was overreacting. This makes me suspect the method of sampling the light sensor might iron this out in an update, if in fact it is wrong. If you have both machines, and dim/neutral editing station, could could easily plop them both down and turn true tone off to compare their pure calibrated white values. That should get to the bottom of a comparison of MBP vs MBA15.

But I absolutely love my 15" MBA and I haven't been this happy with a new computer since my first of 12 Macs, the late-08 first unibody MBP 15. But screens have come a long way since then.
Click to expand...
I had the same thought regarding the light sensor. I noticed the yellowish one has the midnight finish. Maybe that is somehow affecting the sensor…less light bouncing into it or something? The sensor is up by the webcam though, so maybe not. (My iPhone and iPad screens get yellower as my surrounding area gets darker.)

I’d also be curious to see how they both compare with True Tone turned off on both, to give them a level playing field. That might be able to tell us if it’s the screen or the True Tone sensor.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LelandHendrix and kp98077
LelandHendrix said:
Here's my thoughts...

I have only spent a couple hours with a current MBP, and if I did I might have more concerns. However, this screen on my MBA 15 is fantastic, and an obvious upgrade to my M1 Air.

I have not noticed any yellow tint, but I twice have been in a difficult evening light environment in which I thought true tone was overreacting. This makes me suspect the method of sampling the light sensor might iron this out in an update, if in fact it is wrong. If you have both machines, and dim/neutral editing station, could could easily plop them both down and turn true tone off to compare their pure calibrated white values. That should get to the bottom of a comparison of MBP vs MBA15.

But I absolutely love my 15" MBA and I haven't been this happy with a new computer since my first of 12 Macs, the late-08 first unibody MBP 15. But screens have come a long way since then.
Click to expand...
thats the thing, for many, once you seen it you can't unseen it. my work issued mba base has a yellowish tint compared to my personal 14inch mbp. since i'm constantly transitioning between the two, the difference in display quality is very obvious to me.
 
ilikewhey said:
thats the thing, for many, once you seen it you can't unseen it. my work issued mba base has a yellowish tint compared to my personal 14inch mbp. since i'm constantly transitioning between the two, the difference in display quality is very obvious to me.
Click to expand...
same problem with my MBP16 and MBA15, whenever I spend time on 1 and then go to the other, I notice a huge differences and that’s annoying me. And since the size of both are so similar, I think it makes sense for me to get the 14in mbp so the screens are uniform when I switch and also there’s a difference in size. The 15MBA just feels like a downgrade after using the MBP16. I really do like the MBA15 thinness and the weight between the 16MBP is a huge difference, but I’m not concern over that and the weight don’t bother me. For me it’s really just the screen, I’m choosing the screen over everything else.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ilikewhey and kp98077
cramazing said:
same problem with my MBP16 and MBA15, whenever I spend time on 1 and then go to the other, I notice a huge differences and that’s annoying me. And since the size of both are so similar, I think it makes sense for me to get the 14in mbp so the screens are uniform when I switch and also there’s a difference in size. The 15MBA just feels like a downgrade after using the MBP16. I really do like the MBA15 thinness and the weight between the 16MBP is a huge difference, but I’m not concern over that and the weight don’t bother me. For me it’s really just the screen, I’m choosing the screen over everything else.
Click to expand...
MBP to MBA is INDEED a downgrade. Similar screen dimension didn’t make them the same league. It‘s unrealistic to complain and compare MBA to a (much) more expensive MBP.
 
  • Like
Reactions: teralpar
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back