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rMBP 13" - Looks Like the Brightness is Higher

skitzogreg

skitzogreg

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 31, 2007
311
5
Arkansas
I'm a stickler for high brightness - the brighter the better. I actually skipped the last generation of rMBP's due to the fact they looked dimmer than a fading light bulb. However, at least anecdotally, it appears as though they heard that complaint and fixed it. This screen is bright; probably as bright or brighter than my cMBP (don't have them side-by-side).

This new 13" rMBP is worth every. single. penny.

(Also, Best Buy matched the education price :))
 
SungTongs said:
Would love to know if the 15'' retina is brighter as well
Click to expand...

I can confirm that the 15'' is indeed noticeably (but not drastically) brighter than the 2012/ early 2013 models.

Have them side by side. The new 15'' appears to be around one "tick" higher in brightness... so, again, not much, but noticeable.
 
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aiyaaabatt said:
I can confirm that the 15'' is indeed noticeably (but not drastically) brighter than the 2012/ early 2013 models.

Have them side by side. The new 15'' appears to be around one "tick" higher in brightness... so, again, not much, but noticeable.
Click to expand...

When I was trying out the retinas earlier in the year, I was thinking this thing needs another tick of brightness. Maybe they tweaked these new ones a bit since they knew the battery gains were enough to do so.
 
I'm back from work, sitting in my living room, and this can't be anecdotal. The brightness is abso-freaking-lutely amazing.

They fixed this.

They got it right.

This is the best portable laptop since the PowerBook G4 12" (and that's saying a LOT).
 
They are not brighter than my late 2011 17"MBP still. My 13" rMB is the same brightness as my nephew's early 2013 15" 2.8Ghz i7 rMB I got him last week, same brightness levels here, no changes.
 
skitzogreg said:
I'm back from work, sitting in my living room, and this can't be anecdotal. The brightness is abso-freaking-lutely amazing.

They fixed this.

They got it right.

This is the best portable laptop since the PowerBook G4 12" (and that's saying a LOT).
Click to expand...

That is so awesome to hear. I waited so long for the Haswell rMBP in hope that all the first-gen problems would be fixed, and that we would be able to appreciate all the little things. I can't wait to receive mine even more now.

What configuration do you have?
 
vpro said:
They are not brighter than my late 2011 17"MBP still. My 13" rMB is the same brightness as my nephew's early 2013 15" 2.8Ghz i7 rMB I got him last week, same brightness levels here, no changes.
Click to expand...

You are comparing the 13'' haswell to the last ten 15'', correct?
 
Yes it does look like the new one is tick brighter than the old one, but I never thought the old one was that dim..
 
While we're at these "minor" refinements, can you comment on the weight/thickness? Although it's minor, is it something you notice/appreciate about the 13-inch? Does it add to the appeal?
 
PDFierro said:
While we're at these "minor" refinements, can you comment on the weight/thickness? Although it's minor, is it something you notice/appreciate about the 13-inch? Does it add to the appeal?
Click to expand...

I absolutely cannot tell between the two with one in my left hand and the other in my right. The 2013 is 3 ounces lighter on the scale, but again when both of them in my hands I still can't tell.
 
iosuser said:
I absolutely cannot tell between the two with one in my left hand and the other in my right. The 2013 is 3 ounces lighter on the scale, but again when both of them in my hands I still can't tell.
Click to expand...

I figured as much. Still, I'm glad Apple bothered to make that small change. Does it run any cooler than the first-gen? I know they stepped down to a 28W CPU from the 35W that last year's model had.
 
PDFierro said:
I figured as much. Still, I'm glad Apple bothered to make that small change. Does it run any cooler than the first-gen? I know they stepped down to a 28W CPU from the 35W that last year's model had.
Click to expand...

It's warm on my lap. Not hot, warm.
 
PDFierro said:
I figured as much. Still, I'm glad Apple bothered to make that small change. Does it run any cooler than the first-gen? I know they stepped down to a 28W CPU from the 35W that last year's model had.
Click to expand...

I never pushed my 2012 that hard, even with multiple VMs running I have never heard the fans spin up or scorch my laps. That said, the 2013's been on my lap for the past couple hours, the thing is still cold lol. Installed iWorks and updated the iLife suite and some other updates, nothing heavy.
 
iosuser said:
I never pushed my 2012 that hard, even with multiple VMs running I have never heard the fans spin up or scorch my laps. That said, the 2013's been on my lap for the past couple hours, the thing is still cold lol. Installed iWorks and updated the iLife suite and some other updates, nothing heavy.
Click to expand...

Cool. The 15-inch typically runs hotter from what I've read, so I wasn't concerned about heat on the 13-inch. But I figured the decrease from 35W to 28W would make it run a little cooler during medium/heavy workloads.

With a 256GB SSD, how much free space did it come with? I've read that Mavericks use as much as 10GB less than Mountain Lion right off the bat.
 
skitzogreg said:
I'm a stickler for high brightness - the brighter the better. I actually skipped the last generation of rMBP's due to the fact they looked dimmer than a fading light bulb. However, at least anecdotally, it appears as though they heard that complaint and fixed it. This screen is bright; probably as bright or brighter than my cMBP (don't have them side-by-side).

This new 13" rMBP is worth every. single. penny.

(Also, Best Buy matched the education price :))
Click to expand...

I see no difference between my old and new 13" rMBP.
 
Brightness should be the same. Lower than the 400 nits of the Dell XPS 15.
 
LG displays from last generation were noticeably dimmer than Samsung displays. This is the reason you experience the "brighter" effect right now.
 
Ok scratch question that I have just looked up the answer:

The new just released rMBP panel on the 15" is 30% brighter than the the previous gen as tested by laptopmag.

There are no tests I know of yet for the new IGZO dell 15"

However, the previous gen XPS13 had a cheap low res TFT panel that let 400nits of light through. The old MBP was about the same brightness. The rMBP screens were darker by 20% than the non retina models making them about 20% darker than the XPS13. The new IPS panel in the XPS13 has a better sharper but darker display than the claimed 400nits of the previous gen. Its specification says it is 350nits.

If apple did the same on the 13" rMBP as they did on the 15" then that would make the 13" rMBP brighter than the XPS13 as it has dropped in brightness as the rMBP has gone up.
 
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