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

[joshlalonde]

I think Retina screens are overrated. I'm sure they are delightful look at and don't doubt that for some people, they are a great addition. However, no matter what anyone says, I disagree with the idea that they are "necessary". I've been using a 15.6" with 1366x768 resolution screen on my Dell laptop and haven't found that it's that bad to look at. For someone doing photo work, then yes, it could be a great asset, however it isn't a must-have. So the higher resolution (than what I have) will suit me fine. I happen to like it, actually. Retina kills the performance/battery life that the Pro could potentially have probably. Air is fine as is, imo

 

[soulreaver99]

The 13-inch air is as good as a 13-inch screen with 1440x900 resolution gets. However for me, I'm happy with the hi-res retina and can never go back with that as my primary device.

 

[Ronnoco]

I had no issues with the displays on any of my Airs. They are perfectly fine for my needs. If/when a rMBA is released, I will certainly consider it when it's time to upgrade, but it is not a must buy for me.

 

[TMRaven]

I could care less if the macbook air gets a retina screen or not. I for one rather not have it get one if it means any potential drop in battery life. However I think the biggest complaint of the macbook air on my behalf is the screen itself, not for pixel resolution but for color gamut and especially not being ips. Not having an IPS screen and having to constantly readjust the screen to get the perfect viewing angle is a huge hassle, especially since I work in graphics and the air was intended for a portable solution from time to time.

I'm surprised apple still uses non ips screens these days.

 

[jdechko]

For me, the displays are good enough. I'm not doing anything that's particularly color sensitive, so the color gamut is fine. I don't personally experience any issues with the viewing angles, and the resolution on my 11" is a good balance between sharpness, UI size and space.

Is it as good as some displays? No, of course not. But it's a completely adequate display for Apple's main line of laptops, and taken across all computer displays, it's probably even above average.

 

[Cape Dave]

I could care less if the macbook air gets a retina screen or not. I for one rather not have it get one if it means any potential drop in battery life. However I think the biggest complaint of the macbook air on my behalf is the screen itself, not for pixel resolution but for color gamut and especially not being ips. Not having an IPS screen and having to constantly readjust the screen to get the perfect viewing angle is a huge hassle, especially since I work in graphics and the air was intended for a portable solution from time to time.

I'm surprised apple still uses non ips screens these days.

Agree. TN displays should be ABOLISHED. Companies should have the CEO taken out and SHOT if they use them.

IPS FTW!

 

[Vivian125]

I have a Thunderbolt Display and recently sold my 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro to buy the 2013 13-inch Air, but for the life of me I can't really discern a clear difference between the Air's display and the rMBP's display.

At my normal viewing distance, text and images look almost as good on the 2013 Air as they do on the rMBP, just that there is a certain intangible clarity and brightness to rMBP colors at time. In normal usage, I don't notice much of a difference, though. However, the display on the 2013 Air is definitely much better than the washed out one on my go's 2012 Air.

The colors on the TBD are a bit more deeper, for lack of the proper word, than any of the laptops, but honestly, in my day-to-day word processing, I don't notice much of a difference, except for the increased space.

Do I have really bad eyesight?

Actually i have Macbook Air 2014 and Macbook Pro Retina 15 2016 with Touchbar, and i can tell The Macbook Pro Retina were much colorful than MacBook Air..

Even The Retina on Macbook Pro is not as Colorful and Sharp compared to iPad Air 2/Pro
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Is your Acer a 13-inch machine? Can you make out the text at such a high resolution on a tiny screen?

I find that even on the 13-inch MacBook Air, I have to zoom in on text in Google Chrome and in word processors because the text is so small.

I honestly don't know whether updating the display to 1080p would be useful. What purpose would it serve? Even on my rMBP, I never used the 1080p scaling because text was too small.

I can understand doubling the resolution, though, as it would make things clearer while still keeping text elements readable.

As long as you don't compare it to other Retina iDevice and don't own an iPhone or iPad.. but since you compared it to Macbook Pro with retina then it is normal that you cannot tell difference with the Display.

My Top 3 for Retina is:
1. iMac (The best RETINA HD)
2. iPad (The Second Best RETINA HD) 10 Times more colorful than iPhone and 60 Times vibrant than Macbook Pro with Retina) Cons: Oversaturated especially the iPad Mini 4/iPad Air 1, 2 and iPad Pro..
3. iPhone(Not as colorful as iPad, but sharper in display)
4. Macbook Pro (Retina on this MacBook Pro is the least colorful of all devices)

Source: i work as the most Prettiest Lady Stock Clerk in PowerMac Store and i compare them side by side for 6 Years.

 

[Vivian125]

you sir need to get your eyes checked. Like you I came from a 15" rmbp and the display on the air is clearly far far worse. viewing angles, colour gamut, resolution/piellation. Its basically going from apples best display to their worst and the difference is noticable. That said I prefer the air because of battery life and while I couldn't live with the LG display I returned it and got a samsung and its no retina but it is fine for my purposes

Are you an eagle?? Comparing Retina Macbook Pro to Macbook Air display isn't noticeable at all, but if you have an Retina iPad Air/Mini/Pro then you will notice that iPad are way 10 times more vibrant, accurate and sharp than retina macbook.

Macbook Pro Retina will never be as colorful, and sharp compared to iPad and iPhone or even iMacs.
BTW human only see rainbow, but Human eye isn't Par compared to eagle or other birds

 

[torana355]

The Colours on the MBA look washed out in comparison. Resolution wise its not so bad.

 

[RyawesomeU13]

I loved my MacBook air but the screen was the big downside for me, leading to me to replace it with a MacBook 12". My biggest issue was the 1440x900 resolution. I do a lot of email and use apple mail and the text just was too small and hard on my eyes. Try and set the screen to a lower non-native res and the letters all just look blurry. On my MacBook 12 I can run a lower resolution increasing the scaling size of text and everything and it's still sharp, not a blurry mess like the MacBook air was. If apple had better text scaling for mail and other apps that probably would have helped. Keep in mind that the older 13" MacBook pros ran a 1280x800 resolution natively. I'd say if you can enjoy the MacBook air and it doesn't hurt your eyes then great. For me the eyestrain was too much of an issue and I reluctantly got rid of it.

 

[Isamilis]

The screen in my 2012 MBA is quite sharp (not to the retina for sure, but similar like Lenovo screen), however I saw few MBA (newer year) which much more washed than mine.

 

[throAU]

I have a Thunderbolt Display and recently sold my 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro to buy the 2013 13-inch Air, but for the life of me I can't really discern a clear difference between the Air's display and the rMBP's display.

At my normal viewing distance, text and images look almost as good on the 2013 Air as they do on the rMBP, just that there is a certain intangible clarity and brightness to rMBP colors at time. In normal usage, I don't notice much of a difference, though. However, the display on the 2013 Air is definitely much better than the washed out one on my go's 2012 Air.

The colors on the TBD are a bit more deeper, for lack of the proper word, than any of the laptops, but honestly, in my day-to-day word processing, I don't notice much of a difference, except for the increased space.

Do I have really bad eyesight?

It's good for a TN display. Sorta.

But where it falls down is viewing angle, colour accuracy and resolution (and forget resolution, though nice - it's the colour shift and viewing angle problems that really annoy me about the airs - and any non-IPS or equivalent display tech).

I'd also suggest that if you can't really discern a clear difference, you probably do need to get your eyes checked.

To see the major difference between the TN display on the Airs, and the IPS displays on the Pros (even pre-retina ones are IPS, just lower resolution than retina), change the viewing angle by adjusting the hinge.

Note how the colours shift. Quite badly. IPS displays don't really do that. At least nowhere near as bad.

Whether it is worth it to you is something for you to decide. If the TN display on the air is good enough for you, it's certainly much cheaper.