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Thoughts on the MBA M2 screen?

What do you think of the screen of the new MBAs?

  • It wasn't broken, so no need in fixing it!

    Votes: 4 14.3%

  • It would have been nice to have more of an upgrade, but I'm still going to buy one.

    Votes: 12 42.9%

  • It's causing me to wonder if this is the right laptop for me.

    Votes: 5 17.9%

  • It's one of the reasons I'm sticking with what I've got.

    Votes: 7 25.0%
  • Total voters
    28
  • Poll closed .
tweaknmod

tweaknmod

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 13, 2012
531
1,830
Ottawa, Ontario
I haven't seen too many people discussing it, so here we are... It looks to me that it's functionally the same screen as the M1 MBA.

Though I am overall really excited about these new MBAs, the one thing I'm not so sure about is the part I'd be staring at the most -> the screen. I think this worry is exacerbated by the fact that I used the 14" MBP for a couple of weeks, then went back to the MBA.

So, I'm curious as to your thoughts on this... (in the poll, as well as comments)
 
I think the screen is more than fine for the purpose of the device. Mini-LED and Promotion are nice add-on, but the M2 MBA is already expensive for a consumer computer, and people who really care about the screen will buy a MBP anyway. We will probably see these technologies added in a few years to the Air.
 
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fwmireault said:
I think the screen is more than fine for the purpose of the device. Mini-LED and Promotion are nice add-on, but the M2 MBA is already expensive for a consumer computer, and people who really care about the screen will buy a MBP anyway. We will probably see these technologies added in a few years to the Air.
Click to expand...
It's silly that to get the best 13" screen in an Apple laptop one has to buy an iPad Pro!
 
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Brightness was a major complaint about the Air screen, and they bumped it up to the same brightness as the 13" MacBook, which is a great screen.

So although the screen isn't 'Pro' (literally), it's going to be more than good. My concern is throttling. Not that I'd trade the fan-less design, but it's probably an issue. Always is. I do like the fan-less design.

I have the 14" Pro, which I like about as much as you can, but as usual, Apple comes up with 'must have' stuff.

Nothing new here :D
 
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singularity0993 said:
It‘s not just ProMotion and XDR. The MBA screen has 224 ppi, compared to 254 ppi of 14/16” MBP, which means MBA doesn’t get retina 2x integer scaling. Unacceptable.
Click to expand...

Hmm, from Googling this, it seems that these days 2x isn't as important. Although I don't know. It's interesting. I'm thinking this would not be an issue, but it's curious to find out the technical aspects.

Promotion people like, but I never notice this. Even after someone points it out over and over.
 
Macalway said:
Hmm, from Googling this, it seems that these days 2x isn't as important.
Click to expand...
It is important because macOS only supports integer scaling. Anything less than 2x means macOS have to render at 2x and downscale, which is a horrible waste of performance. On the other hand, 2x is the real retina display and provides clearly sharper graphics. The difference is like a 27” 5K display vs 27” 4K
 
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singularity0993 said:
It‘s not just ProMotion and XDR. The MBA screen has 224 ppi, compared to 254 ppi of 14/16” MBP, which means MBA doesn’t get retina 2x integer scaling. Unacceptable.
Click to expand...
Dumb questions—what is xdr? Is it just miniled or something else? And what is 2x integer scaling, and in what situations/tasks would its benefits shine?
 
singularity0993 said:
It is important because macOS only supports integer scaling. Anything less than 2x means macOS have to render at 2x and downscale, which is a horrible waste of performance. On the other hand, 2x is the real retina display and provides clearly sharper graphics. The difference is like a 27” 5K display vs 27” 4K
Click to expand...
Are there pics or vids that show this difference? Ive wondered about this and whether the benefits of getting an ASD over a regular 4k are solid/worth it
 
Velin said:
Your poll is flawed. It doesn't ask a question about the best screen improvement: brightness. Prior MBA screen was too dim. This update fixes it.
Click to expand...
My poll is general, allowing people to make a choice, then comment on their reasoning why in the comments section.

Assuming the only/main problem with the previous MBA screen was brightness is an example of your perspective. This is a poll and discussion based on subjective opinion - yours is no more valid than any other.
 
The biggest issue of the MBA display was the contrast and black level. This is where the MBP 13 display shines.

I have no idea why some people said it was brightness. Seriously, who was driving their panel to 400 nits and saying it's too dim?

Until we see an actual review like from Notebookcheck, it's hard to comment.
 
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The M1 Air's screen is pretty good, which is just as well since this just seems to be a bit brighter and with 64 extra pixels on top.

A question I have is whether the notch will look worse on the M2 MBA than the MBPs - on my 16 inch MBP the notch vanishes in full screen as the LED dimming zones keep it totally black. If the M2 MBA has a more grey black level that notch might still intrude a bit. With the notch being pretty big for the size of screen, I think the notch could be an achilles heel for this laptop. Need to see one in person to judge.
 
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Is it me, or are the bezels on the M2 Air slightly thicker than the bezels on the 14" and 16" MacBook Pros? If so, why would that be?
 
I wish they would just allow us to pay for a pro motion display and would stop gimping products much like the iPad mini.
 
JPack said:
The biggest issue of the MBA display was the contrast and black level. This is where the MBP 13 display shines.

I have no idea why some people said it was brightness. Seriously, who was driving their panel to 400 nits and saying it's too dim?

Until we see an actual review like from Notebookcheck, it's hard to comment.
Click to expand...
Agreed. People need to chill when it comes to the new devices. Until independent reviewers get their hands on it, then nothing can be used as comparison. Except those details are hard enough, like Apple's performance graphs.
 
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playtech1 said:
The M1 Air's screen is pretty good, which is just as well since this just seems to be a bit brighter and with 64 extra pixels on top.

A question I have is whether the notch will look worse on the M2 MBA than the MBPs - on my 16 inch MBP the notch vanishes in full screen as the LED dimming zones keep it totally black. If the M2 MBA has a more grey black level that notch might still intrude a bit. With the notch being pretty big for the size of screen, I think the notch could be an achilles heel for this laptop. Need to see one in person to judge.
Click to expand...

A very good point, won’t be obvious in stores but maybe some reviews will take a good look at this.
 
The M1 Air's display was definitely lacking when compared to the previous gen MacBook Pro's, but after adjusting colors and contrast, it's fine on its own. I think the added brightness will round things out nicely. We also don't know who the panel OEM(s) will be for the M2 Air, so the display can have a totally different look and feel (with better black and contrast levels).
 
Sowelu said:
Is it me, or are the bezels on the M2 Air slightly thicker than the bezels on the 14" and 16" MacBook Pros? If so, why would that be?
Click to expand...
They are. It's just to differentiate the Pro from the Air I think. It makes the Pro feel more premium. Same reason the Studio Display has thicker bezels than the XDR.
 
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