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

kngelv

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 13, 2004
109
39
Detroit
I recently purchased a 14" M3 Pro MBP Space Black. My 15" mid 2014 MBP is generating too much heat and is really slowing down. My main reason for the MBP vs the MBA was because of the screen. Specifically the 120HZ referesh rate and better blacks and HDR with the mini-led screen. I read an article that said ProMotion on the MBP does not work properly because the screens pixel response time is too slow. Is this true? Am I wasting a thousand dollars vs buying the MBA? I have yet to open the box and am starting to wonder if I should just go with the MBA. Either one will be more than powerful enough for my uses. Thoughts?

James
 
Last edited:

Sheepish-Lord

macrumors 68030
Oct 13, 2021
2,529
5,148
The response time is definitely slow and the ProMotion acts more like a crutch than anything else. Additionally, not ever app uses the adaptive refresh rate so even browsers like Chrome have obvious judder. Unless you work with primarily first party Apple apps then ProMotion is hit or miss.

Completely up to you though, so if you can try it out free then do it. As a display nerd until we have an OLED MBP I won’t be buying another miniLED product as the response times are roughly twice that of their normal 60hz displays.
 
  • Like
Reactions: blotchy-veil

blotchy-veil

macrumors member
Jan 29, 2024
45
62
The response time is definitely slow and the ProMotion acts more like a crutch than anything else.
+1. I still prefer it over a 60 Hz display, because it still updates twice as often, but the motion performance is terrible.

If you're at all sensitive to motion performance, then the ghosting (smearing) is obvious.
 

G46&Fbnth5

macrumors regular
Mar 10, 2021
228
509
It is true but the screen is still much nicer than MacBook Air and, unless you were ok with 256 GB of storage and 8 GB of memory, the price difference is not that huge
 

kngelv

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 13, 2004
109
39
Detroit
I got the M3 Pro with a 1TB hard drive for $2149.00 at Costco. Just saw a 16G RAM M2 Midnight Air 1TB at Best Buy for $1499.00.

James
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.