Question regards nano textured display vs PowerBook G4 display

[maxsquared]

Might be a long shot about nano texture display quality.

Back in the day when I started my Mac journey it was a PowerBook g4 15 inch. And it had a matte screen. If my memory serves me right, it was the most beautiful display, the colour was vivid, the icon looks like it’s gonna pop out the screen, although it wasn’t retina, it was better than most retina screen I’ve used. Then straight after that I switched to ThinkPad due to work, although the screen was matte, but it was terrible, the quality contrast etc were just not on par. Then switched back to Mac since, enjoyed the glossy display, but it was just never as good as the PowerBook g4 display.

Now question: for anyone used both, which one is it, does the new nano texture display resemble the PowerBook display, a windows laptop with matte display or is it something completely different? Cheers in advance.

 

[kitKAC]

If my memory serves me right, it was the most beautiful display, the colour was vivid, the icon looks like it’s gonna pop out the screen, although it wasn’t retina, it was better than most retina screen I’ve used.

I used to have a PowerBook G4 back in the day, and I'm astounded that you can remember what a 20-year-old display looked like. All I remember is that it was matte.

 

[EnderTW]

You're talking about a 20+ year old display... nano texture or not, the miniled display will absolutely crush anything from 20 years ago.

 

[Madhatter32]

Sounds a little like cognitive bias going on -- rosy nostalgia. I remember those PowerBooks but do not remember the screens to be best in class. I thought them to be typical matte displays. The current nano displays employ an entirely different technology and I would say they are excellent -- as are the glossy screens actually.

 

[nathan_reilly]

I use 2 30 inch cinema displays from the same time period as well as a nano texture iPad...the cinemas have slightly nicer whites but the iPad is so dang sharp. I will always get nano texture going forward unless they come up with an even better matte in the future.

 

[Neil J. Squillante]

I agree with everyone’s comments here (smart thread). Every day, I use an M4 iPad Pro, M4 Pro MacBook Pro, and Apple Studio Display all with nano-texture. I recently upgraded from a 2017 5K iMac and a 2021 M1 iPad Pro. Here is how I would rank the displays with one caveat.

1. iPad Pro (nano)
2. Apple Studio Display (nano)
3 M4 Pro MacBook Pro* (nano)
4. M1 iPad Pro
5. 2017 5K iMac

* I used the MacBook Pro’s display for one day to make sure it worked while setting it up but ever since it has been in clamshell mode. It looked great but felt a little cramped as I’m used to both a 27-inch 5K display and the enlarged nature of iPadOS.

I do not detect any fuzziness or loss in sharpness with the nano displays. In fact, they seem more like paper and superior to the glossy displays I’ve used as reflected in my ranking. As others have noted, I doubt the matte displays of yesteryear compare to any current Apple display.