Macbook Air 13" 2013 Display Quality

[OneOfTheseDays]

In a word, it's garbage. This is one of the worst panels I've ever witnessed and simply unacceptable from a company charging over $1000 for a laptop.

Text is blurry, colors are faded and washed out, viewing angles are subpar. The retina display is superior in every way imaginable and well worth the $$$ IMHO.

I'm simply flabbergasted no reviewers have taken Apple to task here about this.

 

[dmoney1980]

How long have you owned the MBA? I'm debating between the air and the 13" rMBP for school use. I went to a local best buy to compare and yes I was disappointed in the MBA screen, but I love the portability and 12+ hour battery life....

 

[ViRGE]

It's a TN panel, so the viewing angles in particular are to be expected. However I've never seen the MBA's text called blurry before. Are you sure it's setup correctly? There's no reason it should be worse than any other standard DPI display, given the fact that it's 1440x900 in 13 inches.

 

[Eug]

I don't like the Air's screens, but it's not blurry.

 

[Tegeril]

You should probably take yours into the store and compare, these displays have never looked blurry. TN, and its associated flaws, yes. Blurry, no.

 

[TheStu]

Yea, blurry isn't usually associated with them. It's generally regarded as a very good TN panel, but a TN panel all the same. Comparing to the retina display is a bit unbalanced. It's not like you can get the MBA with a retina panel anyway.

 

[jiffylube1024]

In a word, it's garbage. This is one of the worst panels I've ever witnessed and simply unacceptable from a company charging over $1000 for a laptop.

Text is blurry, colors are faded and washed out, viewing angles are subpar. The retina display is superior in every way imaginable and well worth the $$$ IMHO.

I'm simply flabbergasted no reviewers have taken Apple to task here about this.

It's a TN panel, so the viewing angles in particular are to be expected. However I've never seen the MBA's text called blurry before. Are you sure it's setup correctly? There's no reason it should be worse than any other standard DPI display, given the fact that it's 1440x900 in 13 inches.

It's all relative. A few years ago, when there were no IPS display laptops, the Macbook Air's screen was pretty solid, and the resolution is better than most mainstream laptops which use/used 1280x800 and 1366x768.

Now, you can say that it's a victim of Apple's success. Compared to the retina display, the Air's screen is only "OK". It's a good TN film screen, but compared to a sea of IPS displays that isn't so good. Viewing angles are definitely mediocre, and we've all been spoiled by very fine pixel pitch displays.

It's definitely nothing special anymore, and the Retina laptops have way way nicer screens.

 

[joshhedge]

It's all relative. A few years ago, when there were no IPS laptops, the Macbook Air's screen was pretty solid, and the resolution is better than most mainstream laptops which use/used 1280x800 and 1366x768.

Now, you can say that it's a victim of Apple's success. Compared to the retina display, the Air's screen is only "OK". It's definitely nothing special anymore, and the Retina laptops have way way nicer screens.

I have to agree, got my rPro at the same time as my friend got his 13" Air and his display looked so washed out in comparison, but in no way was the text not crisp or horrific to look at, seen much worse.

I have a suspicion the 13" rPro and the equivalent air lines will merge eventually within the next couple of years. Hopefully the resolution and panel quality of the 11" will increase in parity alongside that.

 

[Eug]

It's all relative. A few years ago, when there were no IPS laptops, the Macbook Air's screen was pretty solid, and the resolution is better than most mainstream laptops which use/used 1280x800 and 1366x768.

IMO the Air's resolution is worse, in that it's either too high or too low. The IMHO "proper" high rez resolution is in the Pros, and the IMHO "proper" low rez resolution is also in the Pros. The Air's rez is in between, a serious compromise, because OS X isn't truly resolution independent.

Now, you can say that it's a victim of Apple's success. Compared to the retina display, the Air's screen is only "OK". It's definitely nothing special anymore, and the Retina laptops have way way nicer screens.

The Air's display is worse than the lower resolution entry level Pro non-Retina display. I'd take the 1280x800 13" Pro's screen over the 1440x900 13" Air's screen any day.

However, as much as I dislike the 13" Air's screen, the one thing it isn't is blurry.

 

[jiffylube1024]

IMO the Air's resolution is worse, in that it's either too high or too low. The IMHO "proper" high rez resolution is in the Pros, and the IMHO "proper" low rez resolution is also in the Pros. The Air's rez is in between, a serious compromise, because OS X isn't truly resolution independent.

The Air's display is worse than the lower resolution entry level Pro non-Retina display. I'd take the 1280x800 13" Pro's screen over the 1440x900 13" Air's screen any day.

However, as much as I dislike the 13" Air's screen, the one thing it isn't is blurry.

Well... for Boot Camp, 1440x900 is far superior. But for Mac OS X I agree with you, icons and menus are a better size and proportion at 1280x800 at the 13" screen size.

 

[Eug]

I had another look at the newest Airs today. I don't think I could use one as my primary machine. The screen on the 2013 Air is better than my old white 2008 MacBook's screen, but it's still no comparison to my old 2009 MacBook Pro's screen.

 

[ViRGE]

I had another look at the newest Airs today. I don't think I could use one as my primary machine. The screen on the 2013 Air is better than my old white 2008 MacBook's screen, but it's still no comparison to my old 2009 MacBook Pro's screen.

TN's a bummer for sure. The problem is that an IPS screen would draw more power. Especially if/when they go Retina. So they'd have to give up some of those Haswell-derived gains to upgrade the screen.:|

 

[TheStu]

TN's a bummer for sure. The problem is that an IPS screen would draw more power. Especially if/when they go Retina. So they'd have to give up some of those Haswell-derived gains to upgrade the screen.:|

Maybe they should have done it with Haswell then, sneak it in under the radar so to speak. Instead of giving us 12 hours!!! now, and then having to fit the IPS panel into the power budget.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Well... for Boot Camp, 1440x900 is far superior. But for Mac OS X I agree with you, icons and menus are a better size and proportion at 1280x800 at the 13" screen size.

Really? I like the 1440x900 resolution on the MBA. Granted my experience with it is mainly on my gf's, but I find 1280x800 to be too big. I have a MBP at 1440x900 and I find everything too big. Maybe it was because I was using a 14" with 1400x1050 back in the day.

It's all relative. A few years ago, when there were no IPS display laptops, the Macbook Air's screen was pretty solid, and the resolution is better than most mainstream laptops which use/used 1280x800 and 1366x768.

That's when PC laptops went to trash. I bought my Dell 600m for college and my buddy bought an 8600 before we went to college. I had 1400x1050 and he had 1680x1050. This was 2004 or whatever. Then the HD revolution kicked in and it became cool to market 720p HD. If anything PC laptops went down the drain during that era, and have barely recovered. Only because we have 1080p now that they're on to marketing 1080p, but in the end we had those resolutions back in the day.

I don't think the MB was ever solid at 1280x800. It was just "passable."

 

[Eug]

I don't think the MB was ever solid at 1280x800. It was just "passable."

? I have a 13" MacBook Pro, and it's nice at 1280x800 IMO.

My 13" MacBook's 1280x800 isn't so nice, but it's not because of the resolution. It's because of the TN panel.

 

[RichieZ]

? I have a 13" MacBook Pro, and it's nice at 1280x800 IMO.

My 13" MacBook's 1280x800 isn't so nice, but it's not because of the resolution. It's because of the TN panel.

IMHO 1280x800 is too small for a 13" panel I've had and owned:

15" MBP -> 15" high res matte MBP -> 13" MBP -> 13" MBA -> 15" Retina MBP

15" Retina is IMO the best of the bunch, but would be willing to switch to a 13" Retina if the integrated gfx increases enough in the 13" rMBP iteration

 

[Eug]

IMHO 1280x800 is too small for a 13" panel I've had and owned:

15" MBP -> 15" high res matte MBP -> 13" MBP -> 13" MBA -> 15" Retina MBP

15" Retina is IMO the best of the bunch, but would be willing to switch to a 13" Retina if the integrated gfx increases enough in the 13" rMBP iteration

Well, in terms of physical OS element and font size, 1280x800 is functionally identical to the default Retina setting on a 13" MacBook Pro.

Apple made the smartest decision IMO to quadruple the resolution, given that the OS couldn't handle proper resolution independence. It's a compromise, but a great solution nonetheless.

 

[RichieZ]

Well, in terms of physical OS element and font size, 1280x800 is functionally identical to the default Retina setting on a 13" MacBook Pro.

Apple made the smartest decision IMO to quadruple the resolution, given that the OS couldn't handle proper resolution independence. It's a compromise, but a great solution nonetheless.

sure but I doubt I'd run it at the "best for retina" setting, I have it at the second highest scaled res on my 15" retina

 

[TheStu]

? I have a 13" MacBook Pro, and it's nice at 1280x800 IMO.

My 13" MacBook's 1280x800 isn't so nice, but it's not because of the resolution. It's because of the TN panel.

The Classic MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air both use TN panels. Since the cMBP can use a thicker panel assembly, that's probably why it's a little nicer than the MBA. Personally, I've never really noticed much of a quality difference between the 2.

Of course the rMBPs are using IPS displays and they are just fantastic. I wish that Apple would move the MBA to IPS. And that they would drop the cMBP, at least the 13" one.

 

[Eug]

The Classic MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air both use TN panels. Since the cMBP can use a thicker panel assembly, that's probably why it's a little nicer than the MBA. Personally, I've never really noticed much of a quality difference between the 2.

Of course the rMBPs are using IPS displays and they are just fantastic. I wish that Apple would move the MBA to IPS. And that they would drop the cMBP, at least the 13" one.

OK TN, but in a totally different class. The viewing angles on the 2013 MacBook Airs are horrible. Same goes for the viewing angles for the old non-Pro MacBooks.

I wouldn't say the classic MacBook Pro's screen is just a "a little nicer" than the 2013 MBA's screen. It's a day vs. night improvement in viewing angles.

 

[Emulex]

For being TN - I gotta admit the ole 2008 macbook air still looks pretty nice (core2 ION 9400m model). compared to say a regular wiinblows laptop TN panel.

 

[TheStu]

OK TN, but in a totally different class. The viewing angles on the 2013 MacBook Airs are horrible. Same goes for the viewing angles for the old non-Pro MacBooks.

I wouldn't say the classic MacBook Pro's screen is just a "a little nicer" than the 2013 MBA's screen. It's a day vs. night improvement in viewing angles.

Ok, and the OP says that the Air has the WORST. DISPLAY. EVAR!!! I don't see much of a difference between the Air and cPro, hence why I said 'a little nicer'.

You think that the cPro is much better than the Air, OP thinks the Air's display is this side of garbage, and I think that they are about on par. I'll swing by a best buy today, see if I'm wrong (it's been known to happen), but as I recall from my time having an 11" Air, not a huge difference really.

 

[Eug]

I wouldn't be surprised if the colour accuracy and/or contrast of the current Air is better than my classic MBP's. However, the current Air's terrible viewing angles are a deal killer IMO.

I also wonder if it depends on the specific Air's panel too though, since Apple has more than one panel supplier.

 

[mmntech]

Given how much the price of IPS displays have come down in the last couple of years, I wonder why is Apple still using TN displays for the MBA? The iPads and at least the rMBPs are all IPS.

 

[TheStu]

I wouldn't be surprised if the colour accuracy and/or contrast of the current Air is better than my classic MBP's. However, the current Air's terrible viewing angles are a deal killer IMO.

I also wonder if it depends on the specific Air's panel too though, since Apple has more than one panel supplier.

I looked at them side by side at Best Buy today. Horizontal viewing angles were the same, but vertical was better on teh cPro. But, thankfully, since the device has a hinge in it, you can adjust the vertical.