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MacBook colors washed out

L

Luke Redpath

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 9, 2007
733
6
Colchester, UK
I bought a MacBook today to replace my old MacBook Pro. One of the things I was looking forward to was the glossy screen and the vivid colors that I never had on my MBP. I can't help feeling disappointed and wondering if there is something wrong with my MacBook screen. No matter how much I play with the brightness or color calibration tool, all of the colors look really washed out, perhaps more so than they were on my MBP; it looks matte rather than glossy. The backlighting seems to be quite uneven too and I'm wondering if the backlight is the cause.

Is this normal? Or should I think about taking it back? I will take in to work on Monday and compare it to my colleague's MacBooks but I was wondering if anybody else has experience this.
 
The MacBook Pros have better screens than MacBooks. I believe you have it backwards unless I'm reading your post wrong.
 
Hankster said:
The MacBook Pros have better screens than MacBooks. I believe you have it backwards unless I'm reading your post wrong.
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I disagree that its simply that MacBooks have inferior screens.
But I will say that my MacBook looks much better (dare I say great) since calibrating it with a Sypder 2 device.
 
I believe some people have used a different color profile, and also adjusted the contrast settings in system preferences, to reach a somewhat acceptable display. But still, Apple clearly uses garbage screens for MacBooks, as pointed out on numerous places.

They should have switched to LED displays for MacBooks too, now with the latest February update. But, for pure marketing... they will always try to separate MacBooks and MacBooks Pro, if they can, and as long as they can. It is just plain annoying and disappointing.
 
I've tried various color profiles including one downloaded off of this forum but they make no difference. All they do is give the screen a blue tint. The colors are still really washed out - not at all what I expected from the glossy screen. It's really noticable on reds - its almost like the difference when switching between RGB and CMYK preview mode in Photoshop. I don't do serious graphics work but its really distracting.

I'm going to take it to work to compare to somebody else's and if theirs is the same then I'm going to have to seriously consider taking it back because this just isn't acceptable. I guess I'll have to stump up the extra £500 for the entry-level MacBook Pro after all. :(
 
I have both the MacBook and the MacBook Pro - and the Pro's screen is definitely better.

A glossy screen cover should make things more vivid, but the MacBook's screen is still not anywhere near as good as the MacBook Pro's.

You made a mistake :(
 
Killyp said:
I have both the MacBook and the MacBook Pro - and the Pro's screen is definitely better.

A glossy screen cover should make things more vivid, but the MacBook's screen is still not anywhere near as good as the MacBook Pro's.

You made a mistake :(
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Not in my eyes...the MBP has a very bad screen...My MBA is amazing...
 
Luke Redpath said:
Funny, because reading on here everyone seems to love their MacBooks.
Click to expand...

OFC they do. My dad loves his, but he still agrees that the MacBook Pro's screen is better.

The MacBook's screen has little detail in brighter areas (no matter what the colour profile is like), and the colours seem a little 'duller' (although brighter at the same time) than the Pro's.

The MBP is the best display I've seen on a MacBook Pro. Neutral colours, very even backlighting (for a laptop screen)...
 
I personally think my MacBook's screen is very good. I'm not a professional photographer, so perhaps I am slightly forgiving, but it sure sounds like there is something wrong with the original poster's screen.
 
Bad Batches of Screens

After reading numerous forums about people complaining about washed out macbooks, I'm convinced they have lowered the quality of screens.

At work late in the fall and in January we received about 50 macbooks 2.2/1gb/dl, all with display quality you'd expect from Apple. We just received 10 2.4/2gb and they all have this washed out look. With or without migration, the newer ones literally pale in comparison. To me, it's completely unacceptable. Others don't have an issue with it, but it's clearly noticeable, and shocking side by side. I'll try to edit and post a pic soon. It's clearly not a driver issue since two identical units have the same image, same calibrations. It's the same card. It has to be the screens.:eek:
 
Yup welcome to the MacBook line. The screens Apple uses in the MacBooks are very cheap...especially the Samsung and Chi-mei ones. I guess this is how they maintain profit margins...cheapimg out on some components.

The best screen you can get in MB is the LG but the chances you get that are based purely on luck and I don't even know if the current revs have them at all

The best portable screen Apple is currently shipping now is the MBA's followed by the MBP's

IMHO Sony and Toshiba still use the best of the best portable screens I'm their notebook lineup

Calibration will help a little but it won't fix a display that inherently bad. I have a feeling you'd find that your colleague's screen is also washed out and you'll have to end up ponying up the extra £500 for a MBP. Hopefully I'm wrong and you just got a bad screen which can be replaced with a better one but I doubt it
 
Macbooks have the lousiest screens I've ever seen. Macbook Pro is a huge improvement but still not great.

If you were expecting an improvement, my condolences. The Macbook screens are bottom barrel, CCFL backlit, super glossy displays.
 
i have been watching the degrade of apple screens since the late powerbooks and it is disgusting both the mbp and mb screens suck period , hell my titanuim screen could smoke both of them put together but the mbp is better than the mb thats for sure.

i am typing this on a friends £350 lenevo and the build quality and screen are brillant maybe apple should learn from these guys !!!!
 
this concerns me! considering i plan on getting one in june:(

i dont need a pro so thats why i planned on getting a macbook.. is the screen that bad?? i dont want a crappy screen.. this isnt good
 
the profile does help and it will be my proof to the store that without this calibration the screen looks awful
 
next month... for a graduation gift. and im curious to see if theres an update that will come out..... so until then il learn more about the macbook.
this is what bothers me... i found this off a site

I am mostly a mac user, but I swear to god my new macbook is the lowest quality crap I have ever bought from apple. I have had hundreds of problems. STAY AWAY FROM ANYTHING BESIDES A MACBOOK PRO. Imacs are still great though.-Yahoo answers.

i hate bad reviews lol
 
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