Is the 14" screen even actually larger than the 13" in fullscreen apps?

[Not-A-Fan]

Hi all,

M1 MacBook Air owner here.

The main thing I was looking forward to this event was a slightly larger, slightly brighter screen, so I was excited to get the base model 14" with 1 TB SSD.

Now I keep seeing that full screen apps just blot out the area left and right from the notch, so I'm wondering if and by how much the screen size is even increased in apps that don't make use of notch-area.

Just to be sure I make obvious what I'm talking about:

The 14.2 inch screen size figure refers to one corner to the opposite corner (diagonal), but since that corner is higher on the screen than the border of usable content with the notch blacked out, you're only getting a smaller display area in most apps.

Some apps I use, like VS Code, will likely adapt quickly. XCode, I would hope, likely already has a notched-version. Apps with smaller dev teams, like Godot, likely will take years to adapt.

Can anyone figure out how much more screen size we're actually getting?

 

[RedTomato]

Hi all,

M1 MacBook Air owner here.

The main thing I was looking forward to this event was a slightly larger, slightly brighter screen, so I was excited to get the base model 14" with 1 TB SSD.

Now I keep seeing that full screen apps just blot out the area left and right from the notch, so I'm wondering if and by how much the screen size is even increased in apps that don't make use of notch-area.

Just to be sure I make obvious what I'm talking about:

The 14.2 inch screen size figure refers to one corner to the opposite corner (diagonal), but since that corner is higher on the screen than the border of usable content with the notch blacked out, you're only getting a smaller display area in most apps.

Some apps I use, like VS Code, will likely adapt quickly. XCode, I would hope, likely already has a notched-version. Apps with smaller dev teams, like Godot, likely will take years to adapt.

Can anyone figure out how much more screen size we're actually getting?

Wait for reviews and benchmarks. Hopefully in a few days. Someone implied Friday.

 

[jido]

How many pixels are obscured by the notch vertically? What are the screen pixel density and dimensions?
If you have these you can calculate the area for the rest of the screen.

 

[Serban55]

Since the menu bar including the notch is an additional space in the display ..the rest is an perfect 16:10 aspect ratio
So, yes the 14" have more screen real estate

 

[Not-A-Fan]

How many pixels are obscured by the notch vertically?

I can't find that info anywhere.

The resolution is 3024 x 1964 pixels, according to 9to5mac.
Assuming the notch is 120 pixels deep (just a terrible and likely inaccurate guesstimate by myself), that's about a 7% decrease in vertical space. The remaining area then is closer to a 16:9 window than a 16:10 one.

 

[matram]

I can't find that info anywhere.

The resolution is 3024 x 1964 pixels, according to 9to5mac.
Assuming the notch is 120 pixels deep (just a terrible and likely inaccurate guesstimate by myself), that's about a 7% decrease in vertical space. The remaining area then is closer to a 16:9 window than a 16:10 one.

74 pixels are reserved for the notch. If you deduct that you get 3024 x 1890 which is exactly 16:10. I belive the diagonal is 14.1 inch excluding the notch area.

 

[Not-A-Fan]

.the rest is an perfect 16:10 aspect ratio

Do we know that for sure? How do we know the whole thing isn't simply 16:10?

That would mean the notch would have to be...

3024 x 1964 is the total screen resolution

3024 / 16 = 189
189 * 10 = 1890
1890 + 74 = 1964.

If the notch is 74 pixels high, that would actually work.

Edit: Matram was quicker.

So I'm actually spending about 1300 Euro to get:

- 10% more screen size
- a screen bright enough to work outside
- 120 HZ
- about twice the CPU and GPU performance
- going from 256 GB to 1 TB SSD
- 8 GB RAM to 16 GB
- more versatile ports

Still hard to justify, but this was always going to be a "want to" and not a "have to" upgrade.

 

[matram]

At least in the Swedish Apple store the base 14” is slightly cheaper than the 4-port 13” it replaces so I am unsure what you mean with 1300 Euro?

 

[Not-A-Fan]

I'm selling my base model M1 Air and getting the base model (except 1 TB) 14" Macbook Pro.

With education pricing, that's about a 1300 Euro difference.

 

[thunng8]

Do we know that for sure? How do we know the whole thing isn't simply 16:10?

That would mean the notch would have to be...

3024 x 1964 is the total screen resolution

3024 / 16 = 189
189 * 10 = 1890
1890 + 74 = 1964.

If the notch is 74 pixels high, that would actually work.

Edit: Matram was quicker.

with notch: Sqrt(3024^2+1964^2)=3605
Without notch :Sqrt (3024^2+1890^2)=3566

so if 3605=14.2 inches then 3566/3605*14.2=14.05 inches

so yes even with notch area blacked out the screen is still larger than 14 inches

 

[Serban55]

If the notch is 74 pixels high, that would actually work

Yes, we already know that even before the keynote..from that we knew the notch is real

 

[Serban55]

I'm selling my base model M1 Air and getting the base model (except 1 TB) 14" Macbook Pro.

With education pricing, that's about a 1300 Euro difference.

It is a nice deal

 

[mosh.jinton]

Yeah, I wondered this too -- is the extra inch just the bit that extends up into the 'notch' zone? As others have indicated, it isn't. To back them up, my method was drawing two diagonal lines, one going from the bottom corner to the very top corner of the screen, and the other stopping at the edge at the point where the notch zone begins. The latter line was 99.01% the length of the former. So it's slightly smaller, but still over 14", from my very rough calculations.

 

[boak]

It's definitely bigger. 0.9 inch is significant and 74 pixels is pretty much nothing, even adjusted for diagonal.

 

[darngooddesign]

Aspect ratios and screen quality aside, the 14” is physically wider with smaller bezels so you are getting a larger screen. And even if the content area is unchanged and everything is simply larger, that still means that you can more comfortably scale/zoom-out the display to have even more displayed without the content being as tiny.

 

[Not-A-Fan]

Yeah I think Matram has answered the question like 6 comments ago.

 

[bbates123]

So I'm actually spending about 1300 Euro to get:

- 10% more screen size
- a screen bright enough to work outside
- 120 HZ
- about twice the CPU and GPU performance
- going from 256 GB to 1 TB SSD
- 8 GB RAM to 16 GB
- more versatile ports

Still hard to justify, but this was always going to be a "want to" and not a "have to" upgrade.

And you're getting less battery life, heavier, slightly bigger. As much as I want to get the 14" it is indeed so very hard to justify. Hoping Apple comes out with the new MBA early 2022.

 

[darngooddesign]

The 14” screen is physically .5” wider, if if the aspect ratio under the notch is the same as the M1 it will be similarly taller; even if the content area is the same the fact that everything is magnified means that scaling the display out one level will be as comfortable as using the default magnification on your 13”.

 

[Gherkin]

And you're getting less battery life, heavier, slightly bigger. As much as I want to get the 14" it is indeed so very hard to justify. Hoping Apple comes out with the new MBA early 2022.

as far as less battery, both battery tests are listed as using brightness "8 clicks from the bottom." Considering the 14" has a much brighter screen (400 nits vs 1000 nits), I wonder if 8 clicks from bottom on the 14" is actually much brighter and that is why the battery last for a shorter time?

 

[matram]

as far as less battery, both battery tests are listed as using brightness "8 clicks from the bottom." Considering the 14" has a much brighter screen (400 nits vs 1000 nits), I wonder if 8 clicks from bottom on the 14" is actually much brighter and that is why the battery last for a shorter time?

I have measured the brightness of my current 16" and the scale is by no means linear. Mid-brightness or slightly more is 100 - 120 nits on my system which has a max of 470 nits. I would assume that it is about the same for the 14". Our perception of brightness is non-linear.

I have measured the power consumptions vs. brightness and this is kind of "hockey-stick", there is little impact up to maybe 70% brightness and then power increases rapidly when moving close to max. So in short I do not think you explanation is correct.

 

[Gherkin]

I have measured the brightness of my current 16" and the scale is by no means linear. Mid-brightness or slightly more is 100 - 120 nits on my system which has a max of 470 nits. I would assume that it is about the same for the 14". Our perception of brightness is non-linear.

I have measured the power consumptions vs. brightness and this is kind of "hockey-stick", there is little impact up to maybe 70% brightness and then power increases rapidly when moving close to max. So in short I do not think you explanation is correct.

Thanks for the reply... interesting.

I just looked up the last Apple laptop I owned. 2013 rMBP 15". 8 hours wireless web on that one. I think I'll be fine with 11!

 

[darngooddesign]

Thanks for the reply... interesting.

I just looked up the last Apple laptop I owned. 2013 rMBP 15". 8 hours wireless web on that one. I think I'll be fine with 11!

I understood the point of your post. If both machines are tested at brightness level 8, but the 14’s 8 is brighter than the 13’s 8, and therefore more power hungry, it is more appropriate to compare the 14’s 6 against the 13’s 8 which would give the 14 better battery life. I wonder why Apple didn’t test at the same brightness (nits) level?

 

[Pro Apple Silicon]

I can't find that info anywhere.

The resolution is 3024 x 1964 pixels, according to 9to5mac.
Assuming the notch is 120 pixels deep (just a terrible and likely inaccurate guesstimate by myself), that's about a 7% decrease in vertical space. The remaining area then is closer to a 16:9 window than a 16:10 one.

I think you're very confused. By moving the menu bar up into the space around the notch, everyone has gained vertical space.

 

[jdb8167]

Hi all,

M1 MacBook Air owner here.

The main thing I was looking forward to this event was a slightly larger, slightly brighter screen, so I was excited to get the base model 14" with 1 TB SSD.

Now I keep seeing that full screen apps just blot out the area left and right from the notch, so I'm wondering if and by how much the screen size is even increased in apps that don't make use of notch-area.

Just to be sure I make obvious what I'm talking about:

The 14.2 inch screen size figure refers to one corner to the opposite corner (diagonal), but since that corner is higher on the screen than the border of usable content with the notch blacked out, you're only getting a smaller display area in most apps.

Some apps I use, like VS Code, will likely adapt quickly. XCode, I would hope, likely already has a notched-version. Apps with smaller dev teams, like Godot, likely will take years to adapt.

Can anyone figure out how much more screen size we're actually getting?

Simple math:

14.2” MacBook Pro
With the notch displayed (but including occluded area)
3024-by-1964 254 pixels per inch
11.91" × 7.73" = 92.11in² (30.25cm × 19.65cm = 594.24cm²)

With the notch hidden (but measuring including the virtual bezel caused by the notch)
3024-by-1890 251 pixels per inch
12.04" × 7.53" = 90.62in² (30.59cm × 19.12cm = 584.67cm²)
14.04” With the notch hidden (measuring excluding the 74 pixels virtual bezel)
3024-by-1890 254 pixels per inch
11.91" × 7.44" = 88.59in² (30.24cm × 18.9cm = 571.57cm²)

13.3” MacBook Pro
2560-by-1600 @227 pixels per inch
11.28" × 7.05" = 79.5in² (28.65cm × 17.9cm = 512.91cm²)

Areas compared
With notch: 16% greater area
With notch hidden: 14% greater area
With notch hidden: 11% greater area

Edit: Should've used the area minus the 74 pixels for the notch hidden. Updated.
Edit 2: Ok, then 14.04"

 

[jido]

Simple math:

14.2” MacBook Pro
With the notch displayed (but including occluded area)
3024-by-1964 254 pixels per inch
11.91" × 7.73" = 92.11in² (30.25cm × 19.65cm = 594.24cm²)

With the notch hidden (but measuring including the virtual bezel caused by the notch)
3024-by-1890 251 pixels per inch
12.04" × 7.53" = 90.62in² (30.59cm × 19.12cm = 584.67cm²)

13.3” MacBook Pro
2560-by-1600 @227 pixels per inch
11.28" × 7.05" = 79.5in² (28.65cm × 17.9cm = 512.91cm²)

Areas compared
With notch: 16% greater area
With notch hidden: 14% greater area

Hmm the pixel density does not change when you hide the top part of the screen. And the screen does not become wider when you hide the top part of the screen.

Try again?