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Is it just me or is the 2013 MacBook Air's display actually pretty good?

For me MBA 2013 13" screen is perfect. As i'm student i prefer performance and battery and MBA gives that. For office, mail, surfing the net, amateur photo, video editing MBA display is more than enough. Ofcourse retina display is georgous but it is mostly for professionals.
I'm pretty happy that Apple didn't released MBA with retina or 1080p because battery and performance would be lower and ofcourse price would be higher.
 
Edgabimbam said:
For me MBA 2013 13" screen is perfect. As i'm student i prefer performance and battery and MBA gives that. For office, mail, surfing the net, amateur photo, video editing MBA display is more than enough. Ofcourse retina display is georgous but it is mostly for professionals.
I'm pretty happy that Apple didn't released MBA with retina or 1080p because battery and performance would be lower and ofcourse price would be higher.
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and if it was 1080p instead of retina everything would be too small to read
 
If you can't tell the difference from a 15" rMBP display and a 13" MBA screen. Never waste your money on a retina display then. This isn't uncommon though. I bet you poll a handful of older people in the apple store on retina vs. non-retina and you will get a pretty solid "cant tell the difference." I, like many on here(i hope) can tell the difference very easily and its differences are super clear.

Having said that, I think the MBA display is a really good TN panel. Meaning it's a really good display for being of such a poor type (TN). Best of the worst if you will. IPS displays are just baller, there is no way around it. One drawback is that the retina displays on the pro's are super glossy. My 2011 air is barely-glossy. Which I find really nice because when you are traveling you can't really predict the lightning you will be in.
 
In spite of IPS, the screen on the MBA is better than anything I've seen on PCs. In my experience, tech specs are pure gimmicks from companies that could care less about crafting great products.
 
tbolt11 said:
If you can't tell the difference from a 15" rMBP display and a 13" MBA screen. Never waste your money on a retina display then. This isn't uncommon though. I bet you poll a handful of older people in the apple store on retina vs. non-retina and you will get a pretty solid "cant tell the difference." I, like many on here(i hope) can tell the difference very easily and its differences are super clear.
...
Click to expand...

At my age I really can't tell the difference between current MBA and rMBP. I compared them close up, and they look pretty much the same to me. The Apple Store people tell me the difference usually shows up on text. The rMBP costs $ 300 more than a similar MBA (8gb ram, 256 SSD).
 
old-wiz said:
At my age I really can't tell the difference between current MBA and rMBP. I compared them close up, and they look pretty much the same to me. The Apple Store people tell me the difference usually shows up on text. The rMBP costs $ 300 more than a similar MBA (8gb ram, 256 SSD).
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I can't tell the difference either. I guess people "my age" (45) need to get glasses or something. :cool:

Retina is pretty useless to me, but I can understand how some people can tell and appreciate the difference. I can tell the difference between DVD and BluRay though. Go figure.
 
Aside from a slight crispness and better color depth, the screen of my 2011 MBA and my girlfriends' 13" rMBP are identical. I actually prefer my Air's because it doesn't lag when being used at a non-native resolution.

----------
PDFierro said:
I can easily tell the difference even at the Apple store. For some people it's different. I do lots of word processing too and the Retina screen is a major plus for me, I would not be able to live with the Air screen.
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How did you survive before 2012?
 
I'm surprised to hear people say they don't see a big difference with the Retina screens. I guess it's not as in your face as it's made out to be, but it's definitely awesome. Mobile devices too!

Try looking at the mouse cursor. It's pretty easy to see the individual pixels on a MBA, not so much on Retina. Fonts look much better on Retina too (IMO). My photos look way better on Retina (but they damn well should, with a DSLR and nice lens).

I do agree the MBA screen is good relatively speaking. I've owned much worse over the years.

I really wanted to like the rMBP 13 but I prefer the native resolution on the MBA 13 for text editing. If you're not using native resolution with Retina, I don't think it makes sense.
 
+1

Another here who can't really appreciate the difference and I'm only 27 (although I do wear glasses).

As long as I'm not dealing with the horrible cheap pc screens that shift to negative colors when you are even slightly off axis I am fine with the screen. I would be more bothered by the glossy glass of the rMBP than impressed with the screen and probably just cover it up with a matte screen protector (like I did with my 2009 MBP) which negates the benefits of retina by making everything grainy.

So count me as another one who is very happy that Apple chose to keep retina off the MBA line :D
 
ItHurtsWhenIP said:
Yes, because it's not what you require, therefore it can't be fine for anyone else.

Check a dictionary and look up the word 'egocentric'..:rolleyes:
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I didn't say it's not fine for someone else, I said it's average, and it is. Before telling anyone what to look up, be sure you actually comprehend what's being said. You'll need more than a dictionary to help you with that.
 
w00d said:
I'm surprised to hear people say they don't see a big difference with the Retina screens. I guess it's not as in your face as it's made out to be, but it's definitely awesome. Mobile devices too!

Try looking at the mouse cursor. It's pretty easy to see the individual pixels on a MBA, not so much on Retina. Fonts look much better on Retina too (IMO). My photos look way better on Retina (but they damn well should, with a DSLR and nice lens).

I do agree the MBA screen is good relatively speaking. I've owned much worse over the years.

I really wanted to like the rMBP 13 but I prefer the native resolution on the MBA 13 for text editing. If you're not using native resolution with Retina, I don't think it makes sense.
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Me too, I wish the Retina resolution on the 13-inch rMBP would be 1440x900, but oh well.

I am also surprised by how many people say they can't tell a difference. I suppose since I work heavy with text, I need that Retina screen. I couldn't go back.
 
PDFierro said:
Me too, I wish the Retina resolution on the 13-inch rMBP would be 1440x900, but oh well.
Click to expand...

Huh? It wouldn't be Retina at all at that resolution, it would be an MBA, except an IPS panel instead of a TN.
 
2IS said:
Huh? It wouldn't be Retina at all at that resolution, it would be an MBA, except an IPS panel instead of a TN.
Click to expand...

I was responding to another poster in which he mentioned the default usable resolution. Example, you get 1280x800 of screen resolution space on the 13-inch rMBP. I was not referring to the actual resolution.
 
2IS said:
I didn't say it's not fine for someone else, I said it's average, and it is. Before telling anyone what to look up, be sure you actually comprehend what's being said. You'll need more than a dictionary to help you with that.
Click to expand...

You said the display is so bad that this thread, the one that questioned whether it was decent or not, shouldn't even exist. Saying that you think it's so bad, how dare someone say otherwise.

My comprehension is fine, thanks boss. Be sure to look up egocentric, though..do your life a favor.
 
ItHurtsWhenIP said:
You said the display is so bad that this thread, the one that questioned whether it was decent or not, shouldn't even exist. Saying that you think it's so bad, how dare someone say otherwise.

My comprehension is fine, thanks boss. Be sure to look up egocentric, though..do your life a favor.
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I guess you also need to learn how to read. You keep using the word bad, I don't think it means what you think it means. Particularly since you seem to be confusing the word "average" (what I actually said) and the word "bad" what you're saying I said.

So unless you can show me where I said the screen is "so bad" one of the following has to be true:

1) you don't know the meaning of the word average
2) you don't know the meaning of the word bad
3) you're suffering from Schizophrenia and seeing what isn't there
4) a combination or all of the above.
 
IMHO the new MBA display is above average and nothing great. Its almost perfect for everything apart from viewing videos. The colours are good at a certain angle even if you are sitting right in front of the notebook. Also the screen looks dull at 50% brightness you have to notch it up to 70% - 80% to have a decent view with videos which are a little dark. That makes the battery life come down to less then 12 hrs. But I am not complaining cause for me the solid battery life more then makes up for the inferior display.

I would rate the MBA screen a 4/5.
 
2IS said:
I guess you also need to learn how to read. You keep using the word bad, I don't think it means what you think it means. Particularly since you seem to be confusing the word "average" (what I actually said) and the word "bad" what you're saying I said.

So unless you can show me where I said the screen is "so bad" one of the following has to be true:

1) you don't know the meaning of the word average
2) you don't know the meaning of the word bad
3) you're suffering from Schizophrenia and seeing what isn't there
4) a combination or all of the above.
Click to expand...

from what i can tell if you substitute the word bad for "so average" or "mediocre" that many of his criticisms of your post still apply.
given the range of displays available i think it's fair to say that "pretty good" would fall well within the bell curve's "average" region. So why exactly shouldn't this thread exist?

More to the point, while technically you might be able to stand your ground on the definitions of average and mediocre, from a common-sense standpoint hopefully you don't need why the connotations of "very average" and "mediocrity" could easily be interpreted as a negative to the casual reader.
 
IMO its not great better then some but not as good as others like the Sony Pro 13.

But the Sony Pro 13 has IPS 1080p screen and less battery life so take your pick.

Better Screen or More Battery Life
 
I am perfectly happy with the screen in my 13" 2013 MBA.

The resolution of the 13" cMBP was to low for me 1280x800 is too low. The 1440x900 in the 13" MBA seems about perfect for the size for me.

I had a Microsoft Surface for a while and the 1080p @ 11.6" was too small. Windows 8 is better at scaling than 7 was but in legacy apps the scaling really sucks. I have an old trouble ticket app here that at anything above 125% it is unusable.
 
DisplacedMic said:
from what i can tell if you substitute the word bad for "so average" or "mediocre" that many of his criticisms of your post still apply.
given the range of displays available i think it's fair to say that "pretty good" would fall well within the bell curve's "average" region. So why exactly shouldn't this thread exist?

More to the point, while technically you might be able to stand your ground on the definitions of average and mediocre, from a common-sense standpoint hopefully you don't need why the connotations of "very average" and "mediocrity" could easily be interpreted as a negative to the casual reader.
Click to expand...

His criticisms are based on my using the word "bad" and claiming the display is not good enough for anyone else. Neither of which are words/claims I made. So when you base your criticism on something that doesn't exist, its rather baseless and I'm not exactly sure how or what it applies to.

Now if you think what I said was "negative" that's perfectly fine, everyone is entitled to their opinion. Just like I'm entitled to mine in that average means average and not really worthy of honorable mention. In 2010 maybe. But none of that is the same thing as a blatant misquote and reading comprehension fail.
 
2IS said:
His criticisms are based on my using the word "bad" and claiming the display is not good enough for anyone else. Neither of which are words/claims I made. So when you base your criticism on something that doesn't exist, its rather baseless and I'm not exactly sure how or what it applies to.

Now if you think what I said was "negative" that's perfectly fine, everyone is entitled to their opinion. Just like I'm entitled to mine in that average means average and not really worthy of honorable mention. In 2010 maybe. But none of that is the same thing as a blatant misquote and reading comprehension fail.
Click to expand...

dude...you said that "The display on the Air is very average. Average enough that this thread shouldn't exist."
Of course you are entitled to your opinion which includes the opinion that this thread "shouldn't exist" but in my opinion, that's a silly opinion:p
 
JMountainDew said:
Exactly! And since I have to wear prescription reading glasses anyway, I have absolutely no problem with the size of my MBA 11" screen.
Click to expand...

the only thing that bugs me is that the dock looks kinda big and goofy.
that probably didn't bother you until right after you read the above statement so for that i apologize :D:p
 
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