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MBA M4 any screen improvement?

C

cyberone

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 24, 2005
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Is the MBA display catching up with the MBP? My main reason so far to stay with the latter.

Apple says the new MBA M4 has up to 500 nits of brightness, that would be the same as M3 predecessor.

So... same display, right?

Comparing the latest MBP to the M3 MBA side by side, the Pro is just so much brighter.

Was hoping the new MBA brings some display improvements...
 
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cyberone said:
Is the MBA display catching up with the MBP? My main reason so far to stay with the latter.

Apple says the new MBA M4 has up to 500 nits of brightness, that would be the same as M3 predecessor.

So... same display, right?

Comparing the latest MBP to the M3 MBA side by side, the Pro is just so much brighter.

Was hoping the new MBA brings some display improvements...
Click to expand...
I’m pretty sure it’s the same exact display on the M4 Air as on the M2 Air. Everything is pretty much the same except the SBC and we got a new color. The Air with a total redesign didn’t happen.

If you need to use your computer outside or in direct sunlight, then I would get the Pro. I only use my Air indoors so it’s rarely over 50% brightness.
 
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Same display like others have said. If you don't need high brightness or you mostly keep your MBA in clamshell mode and use it with the lid open from time to time, then you should be fine. However, if you're used to the screen of the MBP and spend a lot of time with the lid open, it's going to be an obvious downgrade in experience, one I personally wouldn't want to go for.
 
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The screen thing is way overdone.

I am a laptop open guy. I have a Thunderbolt Display, I just very rarely use it.

I had a 16 M1. A couple months ago, got the 14 M4. It was ok, but too small.

Just got the 15 M4, holy crap, I love this machine. Perfect balance of screen size and performance.

I got the 24GB ram and 512 ssd.

I perceive the air to be faster.

The air screen looks great. The only thing I notice is the air is not as bright. Not a big enough difference to swing a purchase one way or another.
 
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prism said:
Except that the MBP displays use pwm, which, even though might not cause issues for some, is still a drawback, considering you are exposing your eyes to a flickering screen for long stretches of time.
Click to expand...
This. I had to return my M4 MBP for this very reason. Now have a new M4 Air and it's perfect for eye health - zero strain.
 
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cyberone said:
Comparing the latest MBP to the M3 MBA side by side, the Pro is just so much brighter.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's kind of one of the main differences between the two. They're not going to suddenly release a MacBook Air with an HDR screen like on the Pro. They're just two totally different types of display.
 
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The M4 Macbook Air's display is the same as the M3 and M2 Macbook Air's display. Nothing has changed. It will take a long time for the Macbook Air to catch up to Macbook Pro's display quality.
 
prism said:
Except that the MBP displays use pwm, which, even though might not cause issues for some, is still a drawback, considering you are exposing your eyes to a flickering screen for long stretches of time.
Click to expand...
"might not cause issues for some"

Doesn't it only cause issues for a tiny minority?
 
prism said:
Except that the MBP displays use pwm, which, even though might not cause issues for some, is still a drawback, considering you are exposing your eyes to a flickering screen for long stretches of time.
Click to expand...
Its actually shocking that Apple use PWM on their Mini LED screens. It has a backlight but with the Mini LED’s locally dimming dark areas, but the backlight is always on as it is a LED screen at its heart, so why have PWM?

T.V’s with FALD or Mini LED full array dimming do not have PWM, but the MBP’s have flickering, its very strange.
 
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Salty Pirate said:
The screen thing is way overdone.

I am a laptop open guy. I have a Thunderbolt Display, I just very rarely use it.

I had a 16 M1. A couple months ago, got the 14 M4. It was ok, but too small.

Just got the 15 M4, holy crap, I love this machine. Perfect balance of screen size and performance.

I got the 24GB ram and 512 ssd.

I perceive the air to be faster.

The air screen looks great. The only thing I notice is the air is not as bright. Not a big enough difference to swing a purchase one way or another.
Click to expand...
I am considering doing exactly this, coming from 14 MBP M4 to the same model air. Have you had any other issues 'downgrading'?
 
Salty Pirate said:
The screen thing is way overdone.

I am a laptop open guy. I have a Thunderbolt Display, I just very rarely use it.

I had a 16 M1. A couple months ago, got the 14 M4. It was ok, but too small.

Just got the 15 M4, holy crap, I love this machine. Perfect balance of screen size and performance.

I got the 24GB ram and 512 ssd.

I perceive the air to be faster.

The air screen looks great. The only thing I notice is the air is not as bright. Not a big enough difference to swing a purchase one way or another.
Click to expand...
100% this all day long.
 
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