Screen size of 15" MBA vs 16" MBP?

[hajime]

I compared them in the store today (I have 16" M1 MBP and looking to switch to a smaller/lighter device)
The display is nice, scaled resolution almost the same (probably corresponding to 15" vs 16" difference), brightness without hacks looks the same, sharpness difference is visible only when you look at the display from a few centimeters, from normal viewing distance zero chance to see that 16" is sharper.
What you will notice immediately is obviously 60 vs 120hz... everything is so much smoother on the 16", which is funny since when using a standard 4k 60hz screen (with mouse) I don't really care about it, but when I scroll a webpage with a trackpad I noticed the difference immediately haha (probably comparing to the speed of my finger moving on the trackpad...
Despite all this I will most probably order it, the size/weight difference is very noticeable. Just grabbing the laptop and running from meeting room to meeting room would be soo much comfortable with the 15" air (only thing I will surely be missing is the HDMI, back to carrying the bloody dongle again...)

Thanks. Speaking of 60 vs 120hz, do most people notice the difference?

 

[thadoggfather]

keep the m3, its 3NM and far superior than the m2 in the 15inch.

better yet, sell the m3.

Some Apple diehard on eBay will surely spend an entire house note to get it a year early.

 

[MuckrakerJG]

Thanks. Speaking of 60 vs 120hz, do most people notice the difference?

I gotta be honest with you, I was super excited to get my first iPad Pro with ProMotion when it came out… only to realize that I didn’t immediately notice a difference when scrolling. I had to put my new iPad Pro right next to my old iPad Air and then carefully pay attention to notice that the Pro was smoother than the Air.

As a gamer, I have the same issue noticing faster frame rates on gaming monitors.

But I know there are people who seem to notice the difference on both Apple products and gaming monitors immediately and without having to try. So… I guess it varies based on the person.

 

[klasma]

from a screen size perspective, this is useful.

Visual TV Size Comparison : 15.3 inch 16x10 display vs 16.2 inch 16x10 display

Visual size comparison of a 15.3 inch 16x10 display vs 16.2 inch 16x10 display

www.displaywars.com

The aspect ratio isn’t exactly 16:10 though, and Apples cm numbers are usually more precise than the inches, so the following should be more accurate: http://www.displaywars.com/38,91-centimetre-d{2880x1864}-vs-41,05-centimetre-d{3456x2334}

The difference in height (around 9%, depending on which you take as 100%) is almost as large as between a 16:9 vs. 16:10 screen having the same width.

 

[lJoSquaredl]

The 15 inch Macbook Air is a standard LED while the 16 inch Macbook Pro is a Mini-LED and supports HDR. The 15 inch is 60hz while the Macbook Pro is 120hz.

That's pretty much it. If you care about HDR and a higher refresh rate the 16 inch has that. Otherwise if all you want is a bigger screen the 15 inch is the way to go, especially since it's half the cost of the 16 inch.

Ironically the HDR and ProMotion is maybe 10% of the screen difference for me, the contrast is 90% of the reason I'd upgrade.

I'm wondering how that compares, my M1 MBA contrast is pretty bad but I think the new one is 400:1 or more higher than the original. I doubt it helps much, but is anyone seeing even a slight difference to help it compete with the Pro models? Specially movies with big black bars, they just look gross on my M1 MBA it's almost distracting to watch after using a MBP for the same activity.

 

[hajime]

I gotta be honest with you, I was super excited to get my first iPad Pro with ProMotion when it came out… only to realize that I didn’t immediately notice a difference when scrolling. I had to put my new iPad Pro right next to my old iPad Air and then carefully pay attention to notice that the Pro was smoother than the Air.

As a gamer, I have the same issue noticing faster frame rates on gaming monitors.

But I know there are people who seem to notice the difference on both Apple products and gaming monitors immediately and without having to try. So… I guess it varies based on the person.

I had a 144Hz display but I could not see any difference compared with the 60Hz ones.

 

[thadoggfather]

I gotta be honest with you, I was super excited to get my first iPad Pro with ProMotion when it came out… only to realize that I didn’t immediately notice a difference when scrolling. I had to put my new iPad Pro right next to my old iPad Air and then carefully pay attention to notice that the Pro was smoother than the Air.

As a gamer, I have the same issue noticing faster frame rates on gaming monitors.

But I know there are people who seem to notice the difference on both Apple products and gaming monitors immediately and without having to try. So… I guess it varies based on the person.

its weird, I can easily see ProMotion on iOS devices like the 14 pro max and my 2020 m1 iPad Pro 11" , especially when flipping back to an iPhone 12 briefly.

but the handful of times I've played with a 14/16" MBP for a couple min, I forget it has proMotion.

those miniLED panels have nice contrast ratios for sure though

 

[Saturn007]

Ugh I am really struggling on deciding to keep my M3 13 air or get the 15".

I'd patent that time travel machine of yours!

Or, license it to Apple — Vision Pro Time Machine™ — and embrace the slogan “Back to the Future”!

 

[izzy0242mr]

Now the tough part is do I get a 14 Pro or an air 15" with 16 gb ram? I don't so serous programming, photography, engineering, etc. I think I am ready for light weigh!

With light tasks, 8 GB RAM is likely enough, despite what common comments here would say. Unified memory does make the RAM usage more efficient. iPhones have had lower RAM than Androids for a while and still are more efficient.

I'd be more concerned about storage. 512 GB is default on the 14" Pro. Anything less than that would be too little space for me personally. Idk what the upgrade cost of the 15" would be for more storage.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

How the two compared in terms of image quality?

The 16" M2 MBP is far superior. Some folks care, some just prefer to save money.

 

[crymimefireworks]

I'm coming from a 2019 16" MBP.

The aspect ratio isn’t exactly 16:10 though, and Apples cm numbers are usually more precise than the inches, so the following should be more accurate: http://www.displaywars.com/38,91-centimetre-d{2880x1864}-vs-41,05-centimetre-d{3456x2334}

The difference in height (around 9%, depending on which you take as 100%) is almost as large as between a 16:9 vs. 16:10 screen having the same width.

That's a great tool. How do you find those dimensions? I want to compare to the 2019 16" MBP.

Is this it? In person the height difference is slight, only about the difference of the top menu bar

Visual TV Size Comparison : 38.91 centimetre 2880x1864 display vs 41.05 centimetre 3072x1920 display

Visual size comparison of a 38.91 centimetre 2880x1864 display vs 41.05 centimetre 3072x1920 display

www.displaywars.com