To be fair, we all got along just fine wit low-res screens before the first Retina MBP.
Luckily the OP will have both computers to play with side-by-side and can decide which is more important, lightness or the screen quality and power.
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Screen Differences Between 14" MBP and M2 Air
- Thread starter briuhn
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Luckily the OP will have both computers to play with side-by-side and can decide which is more important, lightness or the screen quality and power.
The fans on my MBP remain off for everything except for the tasks where I would want them running, like during 3D renders I do as a hobby. And should that bother me, I can use an app to turn them off and it will silently heat up and throttle just like the Air would.
Don't get me wrong, I love both the M1 and M2 Airs, but fanless design is no longer the killer app for me with as good as the MBPs are now.
Can you turn the fan off without worrying about damaging the SoC? If you can, I would love to see a performance comparison between the M1 Pro and the M2 in that scenario. The Pro definitely can pull more power and isn't designed to work without a fan but can it maintain a performance lead with the extra performance cores over a SoC that was designed from the start to work fanless.
Remember that the purpose of throttling is to keep the SoC cool enough avoid heat-related damage, and the purpose of the fans in the 13, 14, and 16" MBPs is to extend the time before the SoC reaches ~95C, or whatever that SoCs max temp is. But once that temp is reached throttling works the same by lowering the SoC's temp under that threshold.
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The curves might be radically different though since the Pro isn't meant to run without a fan. If the heat ramps up too quickly it might be seen as a failure mode and the the SoC is put into a form of "limp" mode. I have no idea but I'd love to see the experiment as long as it wouldn't damage the computer.
Same. Without speculating on which would outperform which, it's doesn't seem logical to assume that running MBP intentionally fanless during scenarios that would usually operate otherwise has been planned for or optimized for in any way from SoC/enclosure design to firmware/controllers etc.
That's a good question! I think you'd have to modify the firmware to turn off the fans completely?
So how's the screen on the M2 Air guys? Does Liquid Retina make any difference?
I hope it's at least better than the base MacBook Pro.
I hope it's at least better than the base MacBook Pro.
I find the screen is nice and bright but several applications and browser like FireFox doesn't seem to handle the aspect ratio correctly. Fills top to bottom of screen but not left to right. Also I find default contrast needed to be adjusted. Some things are just getting used to it
The M2 MBA with the same amount of RAM and SSD is $1700. The base 14" Pro is a lot more machine for the money.
It's almost 1 pound more machine.
Agreed. Makes more sense to buy an M1 iPad if you already have a 14" laptop.
Well, with the education discount and current $150 gift card education promotion, my net cost for an 8-core GPU, 16GB/1TB M2 Air was $1,509. The cheapest price for the 16GB/1TB 14" Pro is also via Apple education pricing; taking into account the same $150 gift card promotion, the net cost is $1,879.
I do need the 1 TB of storage, so those are the two configurations I am willing to consider.
Both machines have premium features - the Pro has a nicer screen and speakers and more power, none of which I need. The Air is much lighter, which is, in and of itself, a premium feature. That's what I opted for, and I'll happily take my $370 in savings, to boot.
Wouldn't be an issue for me (its not much heavier than my iPad and keyboard) but I recognize that it might be for some.
This is a point so often overlooked by folks. R&D and prototyping a device with an emphasis on thinness and lightness would almost certainly come with added time and cost.
OP chiming in here. The screen is fine, brightness is good, however, I didn’t realize how jarring it would be to lose “pro-motion”. Coming from phones and iPads with pro-motion, the air felt like a gentle step back in time….”and for that reason, I’m out.”
how about a pic comparing thickness and screen between m2 air and 14 inch mbp?
Here ya go!
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Yes I am. Everyone is going to have a different take here, but if all your other devices have pro motion, the Air display just feels a little off. Not bad, but off.
From a picture, the difference in display quality is tough to tell.
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I have both and honestly I don't really notice a difference. I'm sure I would side by side but I transition between both and it feels like I'm just on a lighter computer. Even the size difference doesn't seem like much.
Right. It's sort of a new concept in a way. It's really a Pro 'light' with the Air moniker
scrolling is much smoother
MBA scrolling = basically the standard scrolling you can also see on your standard workhorse PC
ProMotion scrolling = substantially more smooth (but still not 100% smooth)
It's mostly people who are used to super smooth animations from gaming (from games that actually can sustain a constant high refresh rate without any changes) who immediately see the difference, while people who are not usually don't notice this as much, if at all
HDR content also look killer on Apple's XDR displays
having said that, MBA scrolling is not awful, it's a bit more on the utilitarian side of things though, but there seem to be quite a few people who don't see a difference.
I still love my MBA, maybe even slightly more than my MBP as it is just so super portable, while my 16" MBP is actually my stationary system
MBA scrolling = basically the standard scrolling you can also see on your standard workhorse PC
ProMotion scrolling = substantially more smooth (but still not 100% smooth)
It's mostly people who are used to super smooth animations from gaming (from games that actually can sustain a constant high refresh rate without any changes) who immediately see the difference, while people who are not usually don't notice this as much, if at all
HDR content also look killer on Apple's XDR displays
having said that, MBA scrolling is not awful, it's a bit more on the utilitarian side of things though, but there seem to be quite a few people who don't see a difference.
I still love my MBA, maybe even slightly more than my MBP as it is just so super portable, while my 16" MBP is actually my stationary system