ProMotion, how much of a dealbreaker is it for you?

[dan-K]

Hi guys,

I’m currently stuck between buying the new M2 Air with 16gb of ram, or the base 14” MBP.

The price difference between both is around £300 (with student discount added and extra ram added to the air). The only thing attracting me to the MBP is the screen, specifically ProMotion. In your opinion how much of a game changer is it?

For context, I’ll be using the laptop for day-to-day general use and won’t be doing any video or photo editing.

Thanks,

Dan

 

[UBS28]

miniLED + Pro-motion is a big upgrade.

The screen of my M1 12.9 iPad Pro and my 16" M1 Max MacBook Pro are running circles around the regular LCD panels in my older Intel MacBook Pro's.

Hence why I am off the opinion that it is best to stick to the base model of the M2 MacBook Air, because else you might as well go for the 14" MBP which is a superior laptop.

 

[xxray]

For me, it’s essential. I wouldn’t buy a device without it now. Same goes for mini-LED/OLED.

 

[Kdvl7]

I would say that ProMotion combined with a 14.2-inch mini-LED display, a better connectivity, a more powerful chip as well as 16GB RAM + 512GB storage is indeed a dealbreaker. You don't even need to upgrade anything!

Just go for the MacBook Pro.

 

[Prabas]

I wouldn't buy a new device without +120Hz screen in 2022. My iPhone, iPad and external monitor are all +120Hz and when I go back to my 60Hz Mac it feels sluggish.

I'd go with ProMotion if I were you but you have to know that those screens are slow and there's lots of ghosting, it's one of the slowest screens out there: 91ms Black to White and around 42ms Gray to Gray.
If you want a new Mac right NOW go with these 14" MBPs. If you can wait for a new MBP, then wait.

 

[jav6454]

Hi guys,

I’m currently stuck between buying the new M2 Air with 16gb of ram, or the base 14” MBP.

The price difference between both is around £300 (with student discount added and extra ram added to the air). The only thing attracting me to the MBP is the screen, specifically ProMotion. In your opinion how much of a game changer is it?

For context, I’ll be using the laptop for day-to-day general use and won’t be doing any video or photo editing.

Thanks,

Dan

From the viewpoints of several members here, once you have it, you can't go back. So I take that as a great thing to have.

 

[neo_cs193p]

To me the sharper 2x retina scaling of the 254 PPI MBP display and the true blacks of the mini-LED (that can hide the notch when I get tired of it) are nicer and more noticeable than ProMotion. I use both types of display, and hardly notice or care about ProMotion. That said, I consider none of these features a deal breaker and am still considering an M2 Air, should I like the thinness and lightness of it more than the small (in my eyes) differences between the displays.

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

I’m probably in the minority but I don’t think the ProMotion on iPads and MacBooks are that great due to the poor response times they have. It’s like the ProMotion is only there to reduce the ghosting issues. My iMac 24” is like 98% of what my current gen MBP 16” because of this.

The iPhones with ProMotion are a different story cause of OLED.

 

[jav6454]

[...]

The iPhones with ProMotion are a different story cause of OLED.

Define how

 

[G5isAlive]

Hi guys,

I’m currently stuck between buying the new M2 Air with 16gb of ram, or the base 14” MBP.

The price difference between both is around £300 (with student discount added and extra ram added to the air). The only thing attracting me to the MBP is the screen, specifically ProMotion. In your opinion how much of a game changer is it?

For context, I’ll be using the laptop for day-to-day general use and won’t be doing any video or photo editing.

Thanks,

Dan

So I’m going to be the dissenting voice. I own a LOT of Apple devices, including the Mac studio + studio display, 60 hz, MacBook Pro 16, promotion, micro led screen, m1 imac, 12.9 iPad Pro , promotion, micro led, and the iPad mini 60 hz. I don’t notice the difference enough to pick one over the other, tend to use what’s closest without caring. Like right now on the iPad mini. But I tend to focus on what I’m doing, not minor variations in screen. If you value portability I don’t think you’ll regret the newly design air versus the old design pro.

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

Define how

Almost instant response time with 2.5ms (iPhone 13 PM) vs 91ms (MBP 16) and 45ms (IPP 12.9”) miniLED screens.
Additionally the iPhone has 10hz-120hz while MBP and IPP have 24hz-120hz.

 

[jav6454]

Almost instant response time with 2.5ms (iPhone 13 PM) vs 91ms (MBP 16) and 45ms (IPP 12.9”) miniLED screens.
Additionally the iPhone has 10hz-120hz while MBP and IPP have 24hz-120hz.

Perhaps the smaller footprint of the display allows faster response?

 

[barkomatic]

If you're going to be watching movies/shows on it then I'd go with the 14 inch MBP as I find the black levels are noticeably better to any LCD I have Apple or otherwise. If not, I really like the new Midnight color on the upcoming M2 air.

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

Perhaps the smaller footprint of the display allows faster response?

No. The iMac 24” has 25ms I think and non miniLED iPads have much lower response times. You can also take the much bigger Samsung tablet with OLED and it has near instant response times. Whatever Apple did to their miniLED displays made the response times much worse.

 

[jav6454]

No. The iMac 24” has 25ms I think and non miniLED iPads have much lower response times. You can also take the much bigger Samsung tablet with OLED and it has near instant response times. Whatever Apple did to their miniLED displays made the response times much worse.

Driver issues in the end as displays will be bound by whatever coding there is to that.

 

[kasakka]

Every display should be 120+ Hz these days if you ask me. But the current MBP screens seem to have awful response times so I don’t think they even properly keep up with 120 Hz.

 

[Mr. Awesome]

I can’t testify to how it feels on a Mac, but I will say that since getting my iPad Pro, all non-ProMotion iPad displays (and the iPad Pro’s display in Low Power Mode) feel sluggish.

 

[BaddAdvice]

I know you didn't specifically ask about this, but I'm getting to know my new 14" MBP and am totally blown away by the quality of the speakers. I'm listening to music as I type this and am very impressed. I thought the speakers on the M1 MBA were good, but the Pro is above and beyond. Just something else to think about, if that matters to you.

 

[HDFan]

From the viewpoints of several members here, once you have it, you can't go back.

I don’t notice the difference enough to pick one over the other,

Couldn't care less. Only see the difference when specifically looking for it. If you have access to an Apple store that has products that do/do not have the feature I'd go and see if it is significant for you.

 

[ANDJOE]

Completely a deal breaker for me now. Can't go back. I would love to buy an iPhone Mini except it doesn't have promotion. I'm so fully tuned in to high refresh rates that I occasionally notice the stutter on the latest Apple Watch.

 

[rumz]

I’m in the “don’t really care about pro-motion” camp. And I have a 16” M1 Max MBP.

I think the mini-LED aspect is a much more significant deal in terms of screen quality. I’ve had the 2018 iPad Pro (pro-motion, non-miniLED) and now the 2021 iPad Pro (12.9” - pro-motion and mini LED) and it’s the mini LED that has ruined me.

But, also— it seems to be that there’s one group of people that really really notice the refresh rate and can’t go back, and others like myself that don’t find it significant. (I bought the new iPad Mini and it’s the screen quality that nags at me— not the refresh rate.). So, it depends on which group you’re in if you have experience with pro-motion already.

For me— not a deal breaker.

 

[Funny Apple Man]

I use an iPP 2018 (with Promotion) and M1 MBA (without) and it's not a deal breaker for me. Maybe my eyes aren't as sensitive to high refresh rates or I just do not care about Promotion.

Don't get wrong, Promotion is nice to have but for me I don't notice it unless I actively look for it.

 

[ChildOfTheWW]

120 Hz on my 16" look like 60 Hz with motion blur activated. Response times are really terrible on this display. And while the MiniLED looks mostly really great, in almost all movies i have watched on this machine there are scenes where it just looks terrible.

 

[The Clark]

Disabled it on my 14" MBP because I just ordered a studio display and I want the refresh rates to be consistent.

I think Promotion is a nice feature, but I'm not sure why everyone's acting like it's essential. It's not like you're gaming with your mac. The only times I ever noticed the 120hz refresh rate was when moving windows around.. cool.

I guess you can also see the cursor move more fluidly but I don't stare at the cursor, my eyes are always locked on where I'm moving my cursor to.

Maybe it makes more sense on a touch screen device, I dont know because I have the 12 Pro and it's 60hz. No iPad yet either.

I do not miss it on my Mac, plus it will help battery.

 

[Sterkenburg]

High refresh rate is one of those upgrades that do not seem like a big deal at first (and strictly speaking it is not essential on a non-gaming machine), but once you have gotten used to it it's really difficult to go back.