Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

When will the MBA get a brighter screen?

Classic thread. Half of it is "I want the pro features in an entry level machine and they better not raise the price!" and the other half is "what you want is ridiculous, but what I want makes total sense."

OP, if you want an MBA but you don't like the screen brightness, then you can wait and hope that Apple comes out with a brighter MBA, or you can get the smallest MBP that's brighter but not as "clunky."
 
  • Like
Reactions: fuchsdh, Technerd108, orbital~debris and 1 other person
Juanchi007 said:
Everyone is giving non-answers to your good-faith question, so I’ll try and estimate when the MBA will get a better/brighter screen as best I can.

While the regular iPhones inherit “Pro” features quite regularly (OLED 3 years after the X, Dynamic Island 1 year after the 14 Pro, higher and lower refresh rates 3 years after the 14 Pro), Macs and iPads stay differentiated for longer. They’re not always updated every year, and they face less competition than exists in the phone space. For example, the MBA is already the ultralight for most consumers. Why add a pricier screen that only a few are clamoring for?

But they will get around to it eventually. The rumor-mill seems to believe that the MacBook Pro will be getting its first major redesign of the Apple Silicon era next year, five years after the Mini-LED model launched. It will likely adopt thr tandem-OLED display from the iPad Pro. It may also be thinner and lighter, and might suit your needs better.

After this, in Spring 2027 or beyond, Apple’s 2022 MBA design will also start to look stale. At this point, I believe the MBA (in addition to the iPad Air) will be redesigned and finally adopt some of the display technologies from their Pro siblings. Perhaps Mini-LED, perhaps single-sheet OLED, but certainly something more advanced than the LCDs they’ve been using for years.
Click to expand...

Just wanted to respond to the “stale” comment.
People are still using mid 2010s MacBook Airs with the illuminated Apple. All of Apple’s current laptops will look pretty fresh for 10+ years
 
  • Like
Reactions: StoneJack, Juanchi007 and orbital~debris
Tip for all of you not using the SD-slot on an MBP: The Transcend JetDrive lite:
www.transcend-info.com

JetDrive Lite 330 | Expansion Cards for Mac - Transcend Information, Inc.

JetDrive Lite 330 expands the capacity of your MacBook Pro! Slim design and high transfer speeds unveil the full power of your MacBook!
www.transcend-info.com www.transcend-info.com
The same model that fits old 2012-2015 MBPs work fine in a new MBP M4.
These can be had cheap used on eBay. Not that they are fast (around 100MB/s) but having an extra 500GB-1TB drive for backup right in the computer is a great thing.
 
Adelphos33 said:
Just wanted to respond to the “stale” comment.
People are still using mid 2010s MacBook Airs with the illuminated Apple. All of Apple’s current laptops will look pretty fresh for 10+ years
Click to expand...
You’re not wrong at all. I think the 2022 redesign was excellent and I can’t imagine what they could do better stylistically. Change for the sake of change is bad.

That said, Apple never stays with one design language forever. The silver MacBook Air of 2008 gave way to the ultraslim style MacBook of 2015 (which was eventually adopted by the Air in 2018) which was eventually superseded by the current style in 2022. Maybe this MBA design lasts a few generations more, but with the Pros being redesigned as early as next year I see something new coming down the pipeline.
 
Respectfully, I went from a MacBook Air to a MacBook Pro and… It’s really not as “chunky” as people here are making it out to be.
11 MM on the Air, 15 on the Pro.
And less than 1LB difference.
It’s only big and chunky if you’re talking about the 16 inch version, but you really shouldn’t even compare because the 14 inch MacBook Pro has technically more screen space then even the 15 inch MacBook Air.
 
  • Love
Reactions: Astuces iOS
Lounge vibes 05 said:
It’s only big and chunky if you’re talking about the 16 inch version, but you really shouldn’t even compare because the 14 inch MacBook Pro has technically more screen space then even the 15 inch MacBook Air.
Click to expand...

Not sure this is right in the default resolution for both machines.
 
darngooddesign said:
The PowerBooks and MacBook Pros had better screens under Steve Jobs.

Tim Cook, not Steve Jobs, gave the MacBook Air retina screens.
Click to expand...
Well seeing as Steve was already dead by the time the first Mac with a Retina display came out, it would've been tough for him to do it.

And the MBA had a non-Retina screen waaay longer than it should have, which was down to Tim.
 
Allen_Wentz said:
No. The poster is not "a drama queen." And FYI millions of users, including me, have work spaces with these things called windows that they choose not to close off. Sometimes said windows can be quite bright. The value add of nano texture is not simply for "sitting outside in the sun."

What you consider "everything that anyone would need for day-to-day usage" is simply you deciding what others need. That is always a fool's errand. E.g. after many thousands of hours dealing with images on displays my eyes/brain are trained such that I find MBP displays substantially better. For me (YMMV) it is well worth the ~dollar a day more it costs to look at an MBP display rather than an MBA display for ~2,000 hours every year.
Click to expand...
So the simple answer is not whining about the MBA, it is to buy an MBP as you have done.
 
I would say that in Apple's effort to differentiate product lines, their design and tech choices often make consumers more confused and undecided. So I understand the OP's dilemma and disappointment.
 
  • Haha
  • Like
Reactions: Cape Dave and StoneJack
Lounge vibes 05 said:
Respectfully, I went from a MacBook Air to a MacBook Pro and… It’s really not as “chunky” as people here are making it out to be.
11 MM on the Air, 15 on the Pro.
And less than 1LB difference.
It’s only big and chunky if you’re talking about the 16 inch version, but you really shouldn’t even compare because the 14 inch MacBook Pro has technically more screen space then even the 15 inch MacBook Air.
Click to expand...
14 inch version is clunky and heavy. I know cause i have one
 
Asthmatic Kitty said:
Well seeing as Steve was already dead by the time the first Mac with a Retina display came out, it would've been tough for him to do it.

And the MBA had a non-Retina screen waaay longer than it should have, which was down to Tim.
Click to expand...
Pretty sure the retina MacBook Pro that came in the summer of 2012 was already under development and fully conceived under Steve, who passed in October 2011. It was an obvious path from the iPhone 4 of 2010. Steve took pride in making the best products, and the roadmap was years in the making before revealing it to the general public. Tim staggers innovation to make the best margins, and has no shame in selling outdated tech to willing customers. Just the length of time the  MacBook Air had non retina screens should inform people of Tim’s methodology. Great businessman, lousy product person. The years of selling products for certain price points regardless of how outdated they become, only serves to pad margins and hold back software progress to keep those outdated devices relevant. The confusing mess that was the iPad line and its accessory compatibility is plentiful proof of how out of touch with products and consumer friendliness Cook is.
 
DrWojtek said:
Yeah well, if you are not a photographer, you never use the SD card slot. Maybe they should keep it and rename it Macbook Photographer. Same with the HDMI. There are dongles everywhere for this anyway after the 2018-2020 era.

I want a slim form factor with Thunderbolt 5 ports and an audio jack that has active cooling for Mx Pro or Mx Max. Battery life is fine if it lasts 20 hours. And OLED.

And all that is probably coming in 2026, which means I have to wait.
Click to expand...
And many pro photogs do not use slow SD cards anyway. They use the better CFe cards.

However note that Apple needs to provide a TB port for any port they remove. Current MBPs are marginal devices for the price point with only three TB ports. Previous MBPs had 4 TB ports.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DrWojtek
Asthmatic Kitty said:
Well seeing as Steve was already dead by the time the first Mac with a Retina display came out, it would've been tough for him to do it.

And the MBA had a non-Retina screen waaay longer than it should have, which was down to Tim.
Click to expand...
Wait... you think that resolution is the only thing which determines LCD screen quality?
 
  • Love
Reactions: Cape Dave
Asthmatic Kitty said:
Where did I say that? Gosh, people on this forum are infuriating sometimes.
Click to expand...
"Well seeing as Steve was already dead by the time the first Mac with a Retina display came out, it would've been tough for him to do it."

Considering that I said that Steve Jobs put better LCD screens on the Pro laptops this sentence implies that only the resolution increase, which happened after Steve Jobs died, would make the screen superior.
 
Last edited:
darngooddesign said:
"Well seeing as Steve was already dead by the time the first Mac with a Retina display came out, it would've been tough for him to do it."

Considering that I said that Steve Jobs put better LCD screens on the Pro laptops this sentence implies that only the resolution increase, which happened after Steve Jobs died, would make the screen superior.
Click to expand...
And in the same post you also said, “Tim Cook, not Steve Jobs, gave the MacBook Air retina screens”, which is what I was referring to? I'm tapping out of this conversation, this is a waste of time.
 
  • Love
Reactions: darngooddesign
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back