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MBP M4 screen a dealbreaker?

C

cyberone

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 24, 2005
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Kind of need a new laptop. Got an office MBP with own installations on it, but for security and independence reasons, I guess it's time to have an own machine again.

A MBA is out of question. The differences to the MBP are just too obvious, only to mention sound and screen quality.

But here's the catch: How much "better" is the iPad Pro M4 screen compared to the same Liquid Retina XDR display that the new MBP M4 will have again.

Dealbreaker?

The redesign of the meanwhile about 5-year-old current MBP should come sometime end of 2025 or early 2026, with the Ultra Retina XDR display.

The iPad Pro screen is really nice. I want it on the MBP. But worth the wait?
 
I don't have an iPad Pro, but I can tell you of my experience going from a MBP M1 Pro to a MBA M2. Although I miss the beautiful screen and filling sound (and am watching fewer films in my free time, because the experience just isn;t as good as on the MBP), it is mainly a work machine that I carry every day to and from the office (I commute using public transport), and the trade-off on weight is 100% worth it. MBPs are significantly heftier: they're heavier in my backpack, harder to use as "lap" tops, especially on trains. Battery life and screen size / resolution are more than adequate on the MBA. It's a winner. The screens on the MBP are really good and you can still use your IPP as an external screen if needed, so I would not worry too much in your case.
 
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Given the complexity and tight timings required to have a dual OLED not show any ghosting or shadowing, the higher resolutions of the MBP will require more work by the graphics engine on the SoC in use.

Here is a comparison of the resolutions of both the current (M3) MacBook Pros and M4 iPad Pros:

16" MBP: 3456 by 2234 pixels 13" iPad Pro: 2752 by 2064 pixels (7720704 vs. 5680128 pixels)
14: MBP: 3024 by 1964 pixels 11" iPad Pro: 2420 by 1668 pixels (5939136 vs. 4036560 pixels)

That's around 26% more pixels to coordinate for the 16" MBP and 32% more for the 14" MBP.

M4 Pro and M4 Max may be able to handle the higher resolutions without any issue at all, but I am less confident that the base M4 could.
 
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CMoore515 said:
Nowadays the only reason I'd get a MBP over an MBA is if you need the 4 USBC ports.

I do, so I stick with the Pros. YMMV of course.
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Comparing the MBA and MBP side by side, the screen and sound quality are quite different. Maybe has to do with my aging senses :rolleyes: there are more and other reasons why one is more expensive. So... a potentially better screen is a deciding factor for me.
 
cyberone said:
Comparing the MBA and MBP side by side, the screen and sound quality are quite different. Maybe has to do with my aging senses :rolleyes: there are more and other reasons why one is more expensive. So... a potentially better screen is a deciding factor for me.
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Apple doesn't make it easy because the screen size isn't the same MBA vs. MBP. So what's "better" is not objective.
 
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chabig said:
That's true in a side by side comparison. But after your purchase you are only going to be working with one machine and you won't notice.
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Interesting take. I worked with two MBAs in the past, and with both it was noticeable how much dimmer the screen is. In this regard, enjoying the current MBP, brightness is just right for my eyes.
 
Minor quibble: the design of the MBPs are going on 3 years old, not 5 (they were introduced October 2021), so they're midway through their lifecycle.

As for which display is better, that can be subjective. The iPad Pro's display is considerably brighter for SDR content at 1000 nits, but how often are you running your display at full brightness? HDR/XDR performance is essentially the same across both displays in terms of max and peak brightness. The only other major advantage of the OLED is the true black contrast, but again the mini LED backlight is no slouch here since it can get extremely dark too versus a traditional LED.

On the flip side there have been ample reports that the new iPad's display looks grainy when displaying text.

I guess part of the answer depends on what you'll be using the device for. If it's primarily content consumption including HDR content then the two display techs are probably a draw. If you'll be doing a lot of web browsing and working with text then the mini-LED display might actually be a bit better from a clarity perspective. If you like to crank your laptop's brightness up so high that it could be used as a portable tanning bed, then waiting for tandem OLED might make sense.
 
bradman83 said:
Minor quibble: the design of the MBPs are going on 3 years old, not 5 (they were introduced October 2021), so they're midway through their lifecycle.

If you like to crank your laptop's brightness up so high that it could be used as a portable tanning bed, then waiting for tandem OLED might make sense.
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Appreciate those inputs. Since I live in the tropics, that might seal the deal 😂
 
cyberone said:
Comparing the MBA and MBP side by side, the screen and sound quality are quite different. Maybe has to do with my aging senses :rolleyes: there are more and other reasons why one is more expensive. So... a potentially better screen is a deciding factor for me.
Click to expand...
I fully concur. Going from MBP to MBA, I did notice the screen being significantly dimmer, dimming more agressively, having less contrast, and the sound on the MBA is borderline embarassing, vs Very Good For A Laptop on the MBP (but still "laptop sound". The reduction in size from 14" to 13" was not an issue at all, though.
 
OLED might be "better" than the mini-LED panel in the MacBook Pro right now, but I'd argue that you won't notice much difference except in pretty specific circumstances.

The mini-LED panel still has the deep blacks that OLED has, and that you can't really get on an LCD panel like the one in a MacBook Air. However, it has some "glow" that you can observe in some cases, caused by the mini-LED dimming zones (try putting the mouse cursor on top of an all-black area of the display). Also there is some delay in the mini-LED lighting up different zones (try moving the mouse cursor around an all-black area and watch the glow "chase" the cursor by a few frames --- or, try making a PowerPoint deck with white text on a full black background, and watch the lighting zones take a short but noticeable time to adjust when you switch slides with no transition animation).

I consider these sort of extreme edge cases that don't pop up much during daily use. If the background is "dark gray" and not "black", which is the case for most "dark mode" web sites and apps, then I have not been able to "notice" these issues anyway. But, both of these "issues" should go away with an OLED display.

I'm excited to eventually get a MacBook Pro with an OLED panel. However, I don't know if I'd get a first-gen one, I sort of want to see how it shakes out and if there are any issues like burn-in. So, maybe more like 2027 or 2028 for me to upgrade.
 
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One has to evaluate the trade offs but for me, going from a MBP to a MBA has been 100% worth it because of the portability and lighter weight. The MBP is frankly just a bit too heavy and big, and as a road warrior who doesn't need all the ports nor needing all that power, I find the MBA is a better machine for my own purposes.
 
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cyberone said:
The redesign of the meanwhile about 5-year-old current MBP should come sometime end of 2025 or early 2026, with the Ultra Retina XDR display.
Click to expand...
This is an awfully subjective question.

To a normal person, I'd say, "look, the OLED will be a lot better, but if you're not already spoiled for OLED you probably won't notice the difference." You're clearly spoiled by OLED ;)

I think you're exactly correct that OLED (or one of those newer techs like Micro-LED that promise to leapfrog OLED) will come to fall 2025 or very early 2026. Every Macbook design has lasted for 4 releases (typically but not always 4 years), it's kind of weird that nobody seems to pick up on this cycle… I'd bet hard that the M5 will be a new design, and new screens (like the retina screen, or the modern notch design) usually coincide with new designs.

That said, the current MBP screen is _really really good_. I don't consider it a dealbreaker at all. But this is subjective to your own eyeballs… I think you need to just bring your iPad Pro to the Mac store, hold it next to the M3 MBP, and stare really hard.
 
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cyberone said:
But here's the catch: How much "better" is the iPad Pro M4 screen compared to the same Liquid Retina XDR display that the new MBP M4 will have again.

Dealbreaker?

The redesign of the meanwhile about 5-year-old current MBP should come sometime end of 2025 or early 2026, with the Ultra Retina XDR display.

The iPad Pro screen is really nice. I want it on the MBP. But worth the wait?
Click to expand...
methinks you are comparing apples to oranges - no pun intended.
touch screen and iOS are somewhat different to the match of MBPro screen and macOS.
it's horses for courses really and when the Apple deems it necessary to upgrade the Pro screen, then it shall be so.
maybe with the M4 but i'd suggest not until the next redesign of the MBPro shell.
 
I own both the M4 iPP and an M3 Max MBP. I definitely prefer the OLED screen on the iPad, but the main difference is the SDR brightness limit rather than the blooming being a big issue. the Mini-LED is still awesome and personally the jump to OLED wouldn’t be enough to make me upgrade my MBP, albeit it is a bit nicer and brighter.

Id wait for the M4 MBP coming next month, but assuming it doesn’t get OLED, I’d take the plunge anyway. it’s unclear whether the tandem OLED will be 2025 or 2026 (my own view is 2025 along with a redesign) - but hell, these laptops are so good that it will hold its value very well if you did want to trade up in a year or 2
 
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dmccloud said:
Given the complexity and tight timings required to have a dual OLED not show any ghosting or shadowing, the higher resolutions of the MBP will require more work by the graphics engine on the SoC in use.

Here is a comparison of the resolutions of both the current (M3) MacBook Pros and M4 iPad Pros:

16" MBP: 3456 by 2234 pixels 13" iPad Pro: 2752 by 2064 pixels (7720704 vs. 5680128 pixels)
14: MBP: 3024 by 1964 pixels 11" iPad Pro: 2420 by 1668 pixels (5939136 vs. 4036560 pixels)

That's around 26% more pixels to coordinate for the 16" MBP and 32% more for the 14" MBP.

M4 Pro and M4 Max may be able to handle the higher resolutions without any issue at all, but I am less confident that the base M4 could.
Click to expand...

I would think the main challenge would be producing enough of high-quality tandem displays to satisfy the demand for the MacBooks. Tandem OLED is nothing special anymore, Dell ships it in their XPS model. The main difference however is that XPS volume is a fraction of the MacBooks and that Dell’s implementation focuses on efficiency rather than increasing the dynamic range.
 
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So I went to the Apple shop and compared the screens side-by-side, watching the same movie side-by-side.

The IPP is a bit warmer, of course the loudspeakers are trash compared to the MBP. The MBP seems a bit brighter maxed out.
 
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I really wanted to not care about the display difference, but I got the MBP first and then checked out the MBA and I couldn't ignore the differences. I do a lot of office work and prefer the miniLED vs OLED and I could not be happier with the MBP display. Add in better speakers/mics and additional ports and fans sealed the deal.
I do wish the MBP was lighter, that is my biggest complain.
 
Dadcelo said:
I really wanted to not care about the display difference, but I got the MBP first and then checked out the MBA and I couldn't ignore the differences. I do a lot of office work and prefer the miniLED vs OLED and I could not be happier with the MBP display. Add in better speakers/mics and additional ports and fans sealed the deal.
I do wish the MBP was lighter, that is my biggest complain.
Click to expand...
Again, there are reasons why the MBA is quite cheaper. As for the weight difference, the 13" MBA is 2.7 pounds (1.24 kg), the 14" M3 Pro 3.5 pounds (1.61 kg). That's like additionally carrying a drinks can. Makes no difference to me. The throughout higher quality of the MBP makes it a no-brainer.
 
The MBP design hasn't substantially changed anyway. Still sporting the 2018 intel MBP and I also had the M2 Max MBP for a while.

The screen was a lot better and the device was of course way faster, but the design was more or less the same.

Next design will probably also be so similar to current that you need to be a fan to notice the change.
 
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