MacBook Air's screen compared to the new MacBook Pro's - WOW!

[entatlrg]

If the MacBook Air's screen isn't Antiglare then what is it?

I have a 1.8/128ssd from last January and I love it. Thinking I needed a MacBook "Pro" for more ports, power and a little larger screen I ordered a loaded up 15" MacBook Pro with 256ssd last June, nice machine no doubt, but .........

Today, being on holidays I thought I'd take both my MacBook Air and my MacBook Pro outside on to my Patio and catch up on some work. The Air being so small is the one I've always taken outdoors so I've never seen the screen on the MacBook Pro outside ....

What a shock! I've read through the Glossy versus Antiglare threads before, and while I read here the Air's screen isn't Antiglare but it sure is a LOT better for outdoor use than the MacBook Pro's glossy screens ....

Day after day, week after week my little MacBook Air continues to wow me. It's maybe time to rethink if I really need any thing more than the Air. I mean the MBP's are already thick, heavy, they don't do any tasks that I do any better, provided I'm willing to listen to the fan on the Air occassionally, I have 24" ACD's if I need more screen real estate ...

The 15" and 13" MBP's really intrigued me, I had to have one from the last refresh, but really the Air has so many more things going for it with regards to being user friendly, "fun" to use anywhere ... I'm getting more and more enthused about my Air and more let down about my 15" MBP the more I use and compare them daily ... Maybe it's time to make a wise decision and just use the Air as my "main" computer, sell my 15" MBP and have my MacPro as my server, download machine and for the rare times I have to do really heavy tasks.... I hate to part with the MBP but I'm not enjoying it nearly as much as I do the Air .... downsizing to a the 13" MBP isn't the answer either ... I'd still have the glossy screen, more wieght, DVD drive and things I don't need or use ....

I've read here people see the Air being phased out, I certainly can't see it ... you can bet there's a lot Apple excec's that already know what us Air owners are discovering ..... The Air is a very very capable machine, practical for use 'anywhere' in many ways ....

I got rambling there but it's hard not to when I use the MBP and the Air side by side, it's amazing

 

[GeekGirl*]

Just switched from the Air to a 15" MBP and I will never go back..

 

[entatlrg]

see photo

 

[striatedglutes]

... you can bet there's a lot Apple excec's that already know what us Air owners are discovering ..... The Air is a very very capable machine, practical for use 'anywhere' in many ways ....

You can bet there are a lot of Apple execs using Airs too!

 

[taphil]

It's that stupid slab of glass that's the problem. If Apple had not put on that reflective piece of glass, the two would look the same since basically underneath the glass is a glossy LCD just like that in the MBA and the older MBP's with a glossy LCD and no glass.

 

[NC MacGuy]

It's that stupid slab of glass that's the problem. If Apple had not put on that reflective piece of glass, the two would look the same since basically underneath the glass is a glossy LCD just like that in the MBA and the older MBP's with a glossy LCD and no glass.

I think so too.

Ives biggest blunder at Apple has been that damn glass. What was he smoking when he thought that glassy gloss was a good idea without offering the Airs display for the 13 MBP?

 

[ayeying]

They should put non-reflective glass. I liked my 17" uMBP but it was useless outside in the backyard. On the Air, its bad enough with the sun shining on it... add a glass layer and it was impossible to see.

 

[entatlrg]

the only way I'd go back to a MacBook Pro would be if they offered an AG option in the 13" MBP.

 

[cwfrederick]

question

i prefer the aesthetics of the glossy glass screens and would put up with the glare, but i can see your point about its versatility in different environments. my question is if it is too cumbersome, or too much of a hassle, to just get an anti-glare screen cover. it seems like it would not be that big of a deal, my logic being that you can make a glossy screen anit-glare but you cant do the reverse.

 

[entatlrg]

i prefer the aesthetics of the glossy glass screens and would put up with the glare, but i can see your point about its versatility in different environments. my question is if it is too cumbersome, or too much of a hassle, to just get an anti-glare screen cover. it seems like it would not be that big of a deal, my logic being that you can make a glossy screen anit-glare but you cant do the reverse.

True, hadn't thought of that, still won't make me keep the 15" but I'm curious if anyone has had success adding the AG screen cover?

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

see photo

That photo was taken at an angle and different relative positions. However, if you turn the brightness up, there will be less glare.

 

[mhnajjar]

That photo was taken at an angle and different relative positions. However, if you turn the brightness up, there will be less glare.

Yet, that MBP would never reach the MBA's screen quality in million years no matter what you do

 

[entatlrg]

That photo was taken at an angle and different relative positions. However, if you turn the brightness up, there will be less glare.

Brightness what set to full.....

Fact: Outdoors the screens on the MBP's suck compared to the MBA.

 

[jamesryanbell]

Fact: Outdoors the screens on the MBP's suck compared to the MBA.

That's actually an opinion.

 

[entatlrg]

That's actually an opinion.

maybe I should of added "unless you're looking to use it as a mirror"

 

[GeekGirl*]

Things i dont miss about the Air.

The screen is crap next to the pro, never noticed it till they were together.
The heat, this puppy runs under 45 degrees all the time.
No fans ever, LOL and noise.
I out it to sleep at night, and in the morning still fully charged, not 1 hour down from sleep.

I see why so many people are Moving away from the Air.

 

[Actaeon]

Interesting thread for me.
Don't want to steal the topic, but wat the TS says in the first post really interests me, just need a little quick advice.

I am currently selling my MBP (early 2008).
I am planning to replace it with:

- iMac 24" at home on my desk to do the heavier stuff.
- MacBook Air SSD OR MacBook pro 13" for on the road.

Maybe you guys can help me decide with which notebook I should go for, cause I sure as hell can't.
I am going to use the notebook to do basic email, internet, music, write papers (looking through lots of PDF's, using iWork and office a lot), watch a movie from time to time (on the train), etc. You know the basic stuff.

I am also starting to travel a lot starting next month so it's got to be light.

You would probably say from this info that I should go for the MBA, but I have a few worries about it:
- Is it fast enough to switch rapidly between apps? (I'm an IT pro, so I need very fast app switching and snappy response from the machine)

- Do you have problems with the lack of firewire, I use a lot of external HD's, but they can be connected through my USB hub so it's not that big of a problem)

- Is the SSD worth the extra €200?

- I've heard the SSD slows down over time, anyone has any experience with that?

Thanks in advance guys!

 

[Dustman]

Interesting thread for me.
Don't want to steal the topic, but wat the TS says in the first post really interests me, just need a little quick advice.

I am currently selling my MBP (early 2008).
I am planning to replace it with:

- iMac 24" at home on my desk to do the heavier stuff.
- MacBook Air SSD OR MacBook pro 13" for on the road.

Maybe you guys can help me decide with which notebook I should go for, cause I sure as hell can't.
I am going to use the notebook to do basic email, internet, music, write papers (looking through lots of PDF's, using iWork and office a lot), watch a movie from time to time (on the train), etc. You know the basic stuff.

I am also starting to travel a lot starting next month so it's got to be light.

You would probably say from this info that I should go for the MBA, but I have a few worries about it:
- Is it fast enough to switch rapidly between apps? (I'm an IT pro, so I need very fast app switching and snappy response from the machine)

- Do you have problems with the lack of firewire, I use a lot of external HD's, but they can be connected through my USB hub so it's not that big of a problem)

- Is the SSD worth the extra €200?

- I've heard the SSD slows down over time, anyone has any experience with that?

Thanks in advance guys!

-If you have the money to pay for the asethetics, get the MBA (assuming you don't mind the ram limit).
-2 Ghz + in a Mac (especially if you upgrade to Snow Leopard) is plenty snappy, especially since your work doesn't seem too CPU intensive.
-If you do a lot of moving data back and forth between the Externals and the Internal or excessive read/writes, then you will notice a teensy drop in performance with USB vs. Firewire. Likely not enough to matter.
-SSD is not worth it to me, but may be to you. Again, depends on how rich you are. Don't expect much in the way of battery savings, they're not great.
-SSD does NOT slow down over time, aside from HD clutter which happens with any computer or hard drive. They DO however, lose a little bit of disk space if it gets thrown around and sectors on the disk get damaged. Also, when the SSD reaches it's "limit" on read/writes (unlikely to ever happen, as it will be extremely dated by this point) the disk space will also begin to drop.

I know you said you didn't want to thread steal, but saying it doesn't change the fact that you did it anyway lol. I love to help people, but next time just make a new thread. You'll get the same people answering your questions

 

[Actaeon]

Thanks for the tips, I will post a new thread so we can continue over there.

 

[Bonsai71]

see photo

I went for the 17" with the antiglare, and in a similar side by side photo, it would look better than the glossy, but not glassy, Air.

The antiglare is now available on the 15" too - maybe you should look to sell your mirror edition and get a real anti glare screen, then take another photo in the sunshine. Maybe line them up better too, so they both reflect the same thing (you, your camera and the part wall behind)

I don't like the silver bezel around the anti glare screen, and would have preferred it to be black with silver MacBook Pro lettering, but it isn't a huge problem. I think if the 15" had had the antiglare screen at the time I made my purchase, I would have gone for that, but I do like that I can add an eSata card to the 17" and have the very high resolution (1920x1200), more or less edge-to-edge, antiglare display, for me, its the right point between the power of a Pro and the portability of the Air.

But I definitely don't take it out as often as I would if I had an Air.

 

[Scottsdale]

If you have a rev B MBA, why do you list it as 1.8 GHz? The original had a 1.8 GHz, the rev B has a Penryn 1.86 GHz CPU.

Also, the MBA's display is glossy. It's the same as the pre-glass MBPs/Unibody GLOSSY DISPLAYS. It is glossy, and it reflects from light sources. The newer unibody MBPs have actual glass which reflects even more. To see an anti-glare display, look at a new 17" or 15" MBP with anti-glare display. That will show you what an anti-glare display looks like.

 

[entatlrg]

it's 1.86

I haven't seen the 15 or 17" AG screens in person yet.

I wonder if Apple will continue on with this or find a way to use glass and reduce the glare.

Contrary to some posters remarks, the photo posted above is a pretty fair shot, angle or no angle, high or low brightness the glass MBP screen is VERY reflective and more difficult to read outdoors compared to the MBA. The difference is HUGE, if you get a chance check it out yourself, it surprised me....

 

[darrellishere]

I think they should go back to the old system, where all bezels are silver. The gloss comes just like the macbook airs!

No Glass! No extra weight! No Black! After all the macbook airs gloss is the right balance and wasn't the unibody design the technical breakthrough NOT THE SLAB OF POLY CARBONATE! Boy I used to hate that peace of **** on my imac, so I used to take it off and chuck it as far as I could (without scratching it

I just wish a third party company would come out with a replacement silver/black bezel to replace the original already! Come on china!

Under the 24" display the screen is just like the old style gloss too. mm?

 

[NikFinn]

it's 1.86

I haven't seen the 15 or 17" AG screens in person yet.

I wonder if Apple will continue on with this or find a way to use glass and reduce the glare.

Contrary to some posters remarks, the photo posted above is a pretty fair shot, angle or no angle, high or low brightness the glass MBP screen is VERY reflective and more difficult to read outdoors compared to the MBA. The difference is HUGE, if you get a chance check it out yourself, it surprised me....

I'm not going to lie, both the 15" and 17" with matte screens both look hideous to me. I actually like the glassy screen. You might say "oh man the glare must be killer!" but it really isn't. When you first go outside, of course you notice it, but after using it for more than a minute, your eyes adjust and focus on what you're doing on the computer and not your ugly mug.

 

[Andrew Henry]

see photo

I was contemplating over an Air and a 13 MBP, I ended up going with the MBP, but anywho, not the point, I bought a iVisor AG from Moshi for my MBP, and it makes the screen Antiglare, best thing I've bought!