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

[kp98077]

I too was in the same position; I wanted the new m2 air, but by the time you add additional storage + ram, it was only a few hundred cheaper than the 14" m1 pro, I couldn't wait so I decided to buy the m1 pro 14" and I can say I made the right choice for the following reasons.

1. Power; I mainly use my 14" for tasks like note taking, PowerPoints and many excel tasks, as well as some infrequent photoshop, and such, the additional power this computer makes given it has a fan is exceeding my expectations.
2. Display; the new MiniLED display is stunning, for this reason alone I would choose 14" over new air, promotion is nice but not 100% necessary, that being said I would prefer to have it than not have it.
3. (most important for me, speakers); I had read online that the speakers on the MBP were good, but I didn't realise how good they were until I got home and started playing music, they are insane for a laptop, they're loud enough without any distortion, great implementation of dolby atmos (if you care), and decently bassy. I just don't see how a MacBook Air speaker system could come close to this.

Given the price difference of a evenly specced out MBA m2 (close level to base m1 14" MBP) you get many additional benefits (Display, fans, promotion, speakers), if you have the money it is not a bad idea to get something that is more future proofed.

Excellent summary !

 

[doboy]

If you haven't used the mini LED w/ Promotion, you won't know what you're missing so stick with Air to save money. Personally have the 14" Pro instead of the M1 Air largely for the better/larger screen.

 

[johnsterdam]

I only notice promotion if I look for or think about it. So would put it as a slight advantage. For me the weight and fan difference are far more important. The weight difference obviously goes in favour of the air and is much more noticeable in real life than the specs would suggest - suggest you try in the shop if you can. The fan difference obviously goes in favour of the MBPs. I have an MBP14 and the fans only come on (in my case) when exporting video, and exporting or doing lots of visual work in Blender or Unity. If I didn't need to use blender or unity I would definitely have preferred an Air. Video editing is a hobby for me so I don't care if exports take slightly longer.

 

[TracerAnalog]

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.

Yeah you don’t know that you want it till you see it. Same with 4K HDR gaming, but that is a Windows topic 😁

 

[Dealmans]

Going from a 14” to a 24” iMac and back is jarring, I wouldn’t buy another apple screen without it, can’t believe the studio display doesn’t have it, obviously the next model will 😉

 

[jav6454]

Yeah you don’t know that you want it till you see it. Same with 4K HDR gaming, but that is a Windows topic 😁

I have experienced that and have to say it’s a truly nice thing to have. However to achieve it is quite expensive due to the monitor price.

 

[lybentius]

Got the 13 Pro over the 13 solely because of ProMotion. Everything feels so smooth and fast. It's a nice to have but is it necessary? Nah. You get used to whatever you have. My MBA and iPad Air 4 still have great screens and aren't a hindrance when it comes to productivity or media consumption (for the most part) Sometimes I switch to my iPhone when watching a dark HDR scene in a movie for those inky blacks and increased detail. Mini LED screens also have better contrast than LCDs. Might've opened up a can of worms 😬🥫🪱.

 

[orionquest]

Unless you are doing lot's of motion things pro-motion seems mostly like a nice to have feature, not a deal breaker.

 

[ymarker]

I have a nearly 4 year old ipad pro 11 with promotion and just got a new ipad air 5th gen with the m1 chip and was wondering why it seemed "laggy" surfing the web and just UI animations compared to my 4 year old ipad pro.

Answer > ProMotion. Yes it's worth it for the iPad such that I'm returning the ipad air 5th gen with M1 and sticking to the 4 year old with a hair line screen crack

Still pre-ordered the M2 air as I really liked my old M1 air. Guessing less of an issue with the macbook cuz I use page down to scroll down rather than manually scrolling down typically with the touchpad. Probably why the ipad air 5th gen seems laggy scrolling down with touch.

 

[Ta0jin]

Promotion looks amazing on the iPhone. But to this day, I cant notice it at all on my 14" MacBook Pro. When I scroll this page in safari, it definitely is not smooth.

It’s funny, I can’t notice it at all on my iPhone 14 pro. I sorta notice it on my 2020 iPP but maybe my eyes just aren’t tuned to it like others.

 

[lepidotós]

I really want ProMotion on the 13" Pro. I'd go into debt for it in a heartbeat if they introduced the PM mini-LED screen to the M3 13" MBP. But I like the Touch Bar (and notchless display) just slightly more; I'm begrudgingly used to the universal standard of a 60Hz display (that's been outdated since the introduction of VGA in 1987, which used 70Hz) and 120Hz isn't an exciting revelation for me at this point, as when I can, I tend to use CRTs on the desktop which get at least 100Hz... and for exacty that reason (and the colors are better, mini LED gets very close but CRTs just edge them out with native 12bpc support).
So I decided I'd go with the 13" Pro M2.
I did give both a shot in person at an Apple Store and the 14" Pro's display is definitely good, great even, but for me personally I never got used to having the notch in my peripheral vision and already know I wouldn't long term as I have had a phone (Moto G Play 2021) with a much smaller notch that still bugs me after over a year of using it, and the fact the Menu Bar doesn't get smaller when I turn the scaling down to "More Space" is really annoying.​

 

[James_C]

I think you have to see it for yourself as it depends on how well you notice it. Not sure if it is an age thing, but I struggle to notice the difference between Pro-Motion and similar quality screen without it. That having being said the quality of the screen in the current 16" MBP is amazing.

 

[Technerd108]

Pro motion is great on a phone or iPad but it is not very noticeable on the MBP. The problem has to do with text blur and slow response time of the screen. Unfortunately on the Mini led screen the response time is so slow it negates the 120hz refresh rate. So if you are scrolling on a web page the difference between the Promotion display and non Promotion is negligible.

That being said the deep blacks are nice but blooming is a problem. It is like a halo with bright objects on a dark background and even in some light backgrounds the image looks like it is in a fog.

Some people don't notice the blooming but when I had my 16" MBP I did. I think the best thing would be to look for yourself but even then you might not notice at first.

That all being said the mini led screens have very good color vibrancy and contrast. They are nice displays but are not perfect.

Promotion on a different display with a faster response time would be more of a bonus. Many gaming laptops have high refresh rate displays with fast response time and there you can tell a difference.

 

[RobM_]

I totally agree with comments above, it's not as noticeable on an MBP as it is on an iPhone. I think it's somewhere between the feeling of an iPhone 12 and iPhone 13/14. It's definitely smoother than a 60Hz iPhone, but nowhere near a 120Hz ProMotion iPhone. It's definitely not a reason to buy the MBP... the speakers, screen colour, battery, performance, screen size, etc, are all beneficial every day, but ProMotion is not IMO.