When will the MBA get a brighter screen?

[GooseInTheCaboose]

MBA is a good computer...except for the screen. The screen is so mediocre.

Brightness means usage outside on a sunny day is impossible. iPad Pros, MBPs, all are brighter.

PPI lags behind those other devices as well, and absence of Miniled or OLED is a letdown. MBPs are way too chunky for me though. grr.

 

[russell_314]

MBA is a good computer...except for the screen. The screen is so mediocre.

Brightness means usage outside on a sunny day is impossible. iPad Pros, MBPs, all are brighter.

PPI lags behind those other devices as well, and absence of Miniled or OLED is a letdown. MBPs are way too chunky for me though. grr.

My guess is likely not anytime soon. It just got updated I believe less than a month ago.

There’s always going to be product differentiation with the different models. What you’re basically asking is when is the MacBook Air going to get the MacBook Pro screen. I don’t think that will happen anytime soon. It will eventually happen when the MacBook Pro gets a new screen, and the current MacBook Pro screen will likely be handed down to the MacBook Air.

 

[Alpine301]

Not impossible. The MBA at 500 nits is more than adequate for outdoor use. I work form home and during the warm weather my deck is my office. Nothing wrong with the screen at all.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

MBA is a good computer...except for the screen. The screen is so mediocre.

Brightness means usage outside on a sunny day is impossible. iPad Pros, MBPs, all are brighter.

PPI lags behind those other devices as well, and absence of Miniled or OLED is a letdown. MBPs are way too chunky for me though. grr.

Yes, the "Pro" things have better screens than the non-Pro things.

Is it _possible_ that Apple will improve it? Sure. Is it _likely_? No. They really like to have differentiators between pro and non-pro, and they frequently use displays for that. Maybe in a few years they'll find some other new way for the pro screens to get even better, and trickle-down some improvements to Air.

 

[GooseInTheCaboose]

Not impossible. The MBA at 500 nits is more than adequate for outdoor use. I work form home and during the warm weather my deck is my office. Nothing wrong with the screen at all.

on a cloudy day it is fine, but not when sunny, unless you are in the shade. this is actually the only reason i am considering this, this is my exact use case.

 

[ignatius345]

So, what you're asking for is for them to put a Pro display into a MacBook Air? That would drive the price way up. It would also need a bigger battery to power that display, so the thing would get thicker. And sitting in full sun like that, you will probably start to need a fan to push out all that extra heat. It sounds like you're wanting the MacBook Air to be engineered like the MacBook Pro. So maybe just... buy a MacBook Pro? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[russell_314]

on a cloudy day it is fine, but not when sunny, unless you are in the shade. this is actually the only reason i am considering this, this is my exact use case.

I would definitely get the Pro if you’re using it in direct sunlight. It’s probably going to be better for that purpose anyway with the active cooling. I know sometimes work never stops and you need to use it where you need to use it.


For my use case, it’s always indoors at about 50% brightness. If I’m outdoors, it’s an iPad or iPhone.

 

[Howard2k]

Laptops 5/10/15 years ago had dimmer screens and people used them outside. But today with even brighter screens than before it's now "impossible".

Not knocking, but people love drama. If you want the better screen then either buy the Pro or wait for the Pro screen to come to the Air, which will happen eventually.

 

[lambertjohn]

MBA is a good computer...except for the screen. The screen is so mediocre.

Brightness means usage outside on a sunny day is impossible. iPad Pros, MBPs, all are brighter.

PPI lags behind those other devices as well, and absence of Miniled or OLED is a letdown. MBPs are way too chunky for me though. grr.

So why don’t you buy a MB Pro?

 

[code-m]

MBA is a good computer...except for the screen. The screen is so mediocre.

Brightness means usage outside on a sunny day is impossible. iPad Pros, MBPs, all are brighter.

PPI lags behind those other devices as well, and absence of Miniled or OLED is a letdown. MBPs are way too chunky for me though. grr.

lol, yea miniLED is not without its own problems and limitations as an example it has this vignetting along the display edge and no for some it cannot be un-seen like the iPad mini jelly-scrolling. The booming is not too bad.

I agree the MacBook Air needs 120Hz refresh and a 600 nits brightness LCD panel until OLED can make its way to it.

There is a reason why the 12.9” iPad Pro was the only device at the time to offer miniLED before being replaced with tandem OLED.

 

[dizmonk]

MBA is a good computer...except for the screen. The screen is so mediocre.

Brightness means usage outside on a sunny day is impossible. iPad Pros, MBPs, all are brighter.

PPI lags behind those other devices as well, and absence of Miniled or OLED is a letdown. MBPs are way too chunky for me though. grr.

I agree 1000% on this. This and the reduced speaker volume are the only reasons for me to go a MBP.

 

[Apple$]

MBA is a good computer...except for the screen. The screen is so mediocre.

Brightness means usage outside on a sunny day is impossible. iPad Pros, MBPs, all are brighter.

PPI lags behind those other devices as well, and absence of Miniled or OLED is a letdown. MBPs are way too chunky for me though. grr.

Wait until you see the brightness on my old Lenovo Yoga 6 from 2020. (250 nits) I have to put it on 80%+ brightness 90% of the time. This MBA M2 is significantly better than my old PC.

 

[Sami13496]

Who uses computer outside, like seriously? Oh yeah, I know - YouTubers who test how bright the screen gets outside.

Have a specific outside usage case that requires brighter screen? Get MBP. It has brighter screen. No need to make MBA more expensive for us regular users who use it indoors. MBA has a great screen for what it is - a portable entry level MacBook.

 

[erkanasu]

Who uses computer outside, like seriously? Oh yeah, I know - YouTubers who test how bright the screen gets outside.

Have a specific outside usage case that requires brighter screen? Get MBP. It has brighter screen. No need to make MBA more expensive for us regular users who use it indoors. MBA has a great screen for what it is - a portable entry level MacBook.

I use my laptops outside daily, and is why I prefer my m4 pro MacBook Pro due to the extremely high nits when using vivid

I also have the latest air

All that said, I’d instantly buy a new hypothetical MacBook Air with 1000 nits, simply because it IS the best form factor.

 

[macbookj0e]

MBA is a good computer...except for the screen. The screen is so mediocre.

Brightness means usage outside on a sunny day is impossible. iPad Pros, MBPs, all are brighter.

PPI lags behind those other devices as well, and absence of Miniled or OLED is a letdown. MBPs are way too chunky for me though. grr.

While I agree I’d rather the MBA got promotion. Each to their own though!

 

[ignatius345]

I agree 1000% on this. This and the reduced speaker volume are the only reasons for me to go a MBP.

See, for me the speakers and the display on the Air are totally in line with my own needs, so I'm not overspending on things I don't need. But for you they're not sufficient, so you spend the extra cash on the premium model. Everybody wins.

 

[klasma]

The OLED roadmap from a year ago said that the MBA would get an OLED screen in 2027, and the MBP in 2026. It’s conceivable that they’ll upgrade the MBA IPS screens in 2026 when the MBP transitions to OLED.

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

MBA is a good computer...except for the screen. The screen is so mediocre.

Brightness means usage outside on a sunny day is impossible. iPad Pros, MBPs, all are brighter.

PPI lags behind those other devices as well, and absence of Miniled or OLED is a letdown. MBPs are way too chunky for me though. grr.

Apple rarely (or never?) upgrades the displays of any line-up of products unless both the exterior design and internal components are getting a overhaul.

In short, that means no display upgrades until next MacBook Air overhaul.

And being that MacBook Pro was the first Mac line-up to get the first genuine interior + exterior overhaul in 2021, and MacBooks Air received their first genuine Apple Silicon overhaul in 2022, I wouldn't expect to see any upgrades to MacBooks Air displays until MacBooks Pro get their displays overhauled.

It won't happen until after MacBooks Pro 14" and 16" move to next gen. displays (iPad Pro M4 tandem OLED tech?) which will most likely happen at the next MacBook Pro overhaul (M5 or M6, who knows?).

And since no leakers have mentioned this at all, or even a MacBook Pro overhaul(?), I wouldn't expect MacBooks Air to get display upgrades anytime soon.

 

[robfoll]

MBA is a good computer...except for the screen. The screen is so mediocre.

Brightness means usage outside on a sunny day is impossible. iPad Pros, MBPs, all are brighter.

PPI lags behind those other devices as well, and absence of Miniled or OLED is a letdown. MBPs are way too chunky for me though. grr.

You are a drama queen, the MacBook Air screen is actually remarkably good, far from mediocre!. The resolution colour balance and brightness arr good and it has everything that anyone would need for day-to-day usage, sitting outside in the sun is not a generally accepted daily use case.

 

[Asthmatic Kitty]

It’s a shame they didn’t add nano-texture as an option when they updated to the M4 Airs, as that would’ve mitigated a lot of the problems of using it outside without having to change the underlying screen tech.

I’m in a similar boat to the OP: I’d prefer to switch from a 14" MBP to a 13" Air when it comes time to upgrade, but that screen is too much of a downgrade tbh.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

MBA is a good computer...except for the screen. The screen is so mediocre.

Brightness means usage outside on a sunny day is impossible. iPad Pros, MBPs, all are brighter.

PPI lags behind those other devices as well, and absence of Miniled or OLED is a letdown. MBPs are way too chunky for me though. grr.

Probably never. MBA is indeed a good computer, actually a very good computer, but it is Apple's low end. My guess is that the high end MBPs will get thinner 2026 or 2027 but the low end MBAs will always have significantly less good displays. Displays are the most visible differentiator of the many differences between MBAs and MBPs.

Personally I would never accept the MBA display as long as the superior MBP displays are available. Performance-wise my M2 MBP with 96 GB RAM will be adequate for 5+ more years, but nano-texture was not available when I bought the M2 and now it is calling to me.

I may buy into the next MBP design change just to get the nano-texture on the nice bright display. The difference between the 2016 MBP and the M2 MBP is dramatic to me, and the 2016 MBP display is similar (a bit less bright) brightness to an MBA. It is enough of an issue that if I start watching Netflix on the 2016 MBP it quickly offends me and I go looking for the M2 MBP.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

You are a drama queen, the MacBook Air screen is actually remarkably good, far from mediocre!. The resolution colour balance and brightness arr good and it has everything that anyone would need for day-to-day usage, sitting outside in the sun is not a generally accepted daily use case.

No. The poster is not "a drama queen." And FYI millions of users, including me, have work spaces with these things called windows that they choose not to close off. Sometimes said windows can be quite bright. The value add of nano texture is not simply for "sitting outside in the sun."

What you consider "everything that anyone would need for day-to-day usage" is simply you deciding what others need. That is always a fool's errand. E.g. after many thousands of hours dealing with images on displays my eyes/brain are trained such that I find MBP displays substantially better. For me (YMMV) it is well worth the ~dollar a day more it costs to look at an MBP display rather than an MBA display for ~2,000 hours every year.

 

[TechnoMonk]

Get a MBP, that said I travel with folks who prefer MBA. It’s a tradeoff between form and function. You wnat lighter compact form, you trade off screen and speakers. I personally prefer function over form.

 

[oink_oink]

You want to read screen in sunlight, get paper e-reader like Kobo. Also, OLED would be absolute worst choice for outdoors.

 

[StoneJack]

MBA screen is fine and its brighness is fine too.