My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4 • Hacker News Board

Re: My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

#111

Post by ricardobeat » Fri, Oct 31, 2025, 10:44 PM UTC

quitit wrote: post #108

An frequently overlooked point is the display brightness. The pro models offer 1600 nits peak brightness, which makes these good units for looking at HDR content, especially if you like to take photos or edit videos. Meanwhile the Air maxes out at 500 nits, so the effect and contrast is drastically reduced for those models.

Normal content is still limited to 500 nits, and these being mini-LED displays, contrast is already infinite.

Unless you’re making Instagram content, very few photographers use HDR. Everything else will look the same on both screens.

Re: My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

#112

Post by nwienert » Fri, Oct 31, 2025, 10:45 PM UTC

deaddodo wrote: post #56

inference-god wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's crazy is that Vivid app...costs money!

Welcome to the Mac ecosystem. Where basic functionality is gated behind apps that Apple fans will tell you "are lifesavers and totally needed in Windows/Linux/etc)" for $4.99-14.99/piece. And, when they get popular enough, Apple will implement that basic functionality in its OS and silently extinguish those apps. And that's when they let you modify/use your OS the way you want.

There’s multiple free versions and forcing HDR on isn’t a basic feature by any means.

Re: My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

#113

Post by andrei_says_ » Fri, Oct 31, 2025, 10:46 PM UTC

LeoPanthera wrote: post #28

rottencupcakes wrote: post #16

It's classic Apple to spend over a decade insisting that that glossy screens were the best option, and then to eventually roll out a matte screen as a "premium" feature with a bunch of marketing around it.

Historically, traditional matte screen finishes exhibited poor optical qualities by scattering ambient light, which tended to wash out colors. This scattering process also affected the light from individual pixels, causing it to refract into neighboring pixels. This reduced overall image quality and caused pixel-fine details, such as small text, to appear smeary on high-density LCDs. In contrast, well-designed glossy…

> High-quality glass glossy displays are often easy to use even in full daylight…

Not my experience in lit environments. Looking at a mirror-like surface trying to distinguish content from reflections is exhausting.

Unless I blast my eyes at full brightness which is more exhausting.

Re: My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

#114

Post by dylan604 » Fri, Oct 31, 2025, 10:50 PM UTC

asdff wrote: post #71

LeoPanthera wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Historically, traditional matte screen finishes exhibited poor optical qualities by scattering ambient light, which tended to wash out colors. This scattering process also affected the light from individual pixels, causing it to refract into neighboring pixels. This reduced overall image quality and caused pixel-fine details, such as small text, to appear smeary on high-density LCDs. In contrast, well-designed glossy…

I used to have a 2006 macbook pro with the matte screen. It was glorious. None of these issues were present or really noticeable. Maybe you'd notice it in lab setting but not irl. Kind of like 120hz and 4k; just useless to most peoples eyes at the distances people actually use these devices. I've only owned matte external monitors as well and again, no issues there. The glossy era macbooks otoh have been a disaster i…

> Unless your room is pitch black it is so easy to get external reflections

This is nearly my preferred setup, only I have wall lights on the wall behind the monitors so it's not truly a dark room (which is horrible for your eyes). No over head lights allowed on while I'm at the keyboard.

Re: My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

#115

Post by mrcwinn » Fri, Oct 31, 2025, 10:51 PM UTC

Same experience. I cannot consider any screen that does not have the nano texture coating. It is exceptional and a huge improvement. To the point that I actually prefer a tester Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra over Apple’s own iPhone display.

Re: My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

#116

Post by dylan604 » Fri, Oct 31, 2025, 10:54 PM UTC

m463 wrote: post #23

rottencupcakes wrote: post #16

It's classic Apple to spend over a decade insisting that that glossy screens were the best option, and then to eventually roll out a matte screen as a "premium" feature with a bunch of marketing around it.

I wonder if they will (re)introduce premium keyboards with sculpted keys that self-center your fingers someday. magsafe coming back was nice, maybe more extra ports?

MagSafe + SD card reader + headphone jack + USB-C/TB4 only ports is fine by me. In 2025, I'm well past needing USB-C to USB-A dongles. We've had since what 2015/16 to start the conversion to C only.

Re: My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

#117

Post by dylan604 » Fri, Oct 31, 2025, 10:57 PM UTC

IshKebab wrote: post #61

criddell wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are going to start making a list of expensive hobbies, $3K for a computer isn't going to be anywhere near the top of the list.

I think it actually would be quite near the top, in terms of ranking. Most hobbies are a lot cheaper. Of course, not near the top in terms of money because there are a few hobbies that cost vastly more.

Just off the top of my head in hobbies that I've been in/around that this $3k would be a nothing burger: photography, wood working, grease monkey, cycling, gun collecting, antiquing, recreational substances...

Re: My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

#118

Post by heavyset_go » Fri, Oct 31, 2025, 10:58 PM UTC

asdff wrote: post #104

dontlaugh wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

4K too, at anything over 15” or so. I’m always baffled people insist otherwise.

At the distance I look at my TV screen (about 7 feet from the couch) I can't make out the pixels of the 1080p screen. 4k is lost on me. 2020 vision but I guess that is not enough.

Unless the screen is right in front of your face, video codecs and their parameters matter more than FHD vs UHD, IMO.

At least to me, with corrected vision, a high quality 1080p video looks better than streaming quality 4k at the same distance.

Re: My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

#119

Post by heavyset_go » Fri, Oct 31, 2025, 11:00 PM UTC

BoorishBears wrote: post #70

zdragnar wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> High-quality glass glossy displays are often easy to use even in full daylight, I guess Apple cheaped out on their glossy displays, because I definitely didn't care for mine in full daylight

Glossy vs matte has started to matter less as the peak brightness goes up. When your screen can do 1,600 nits, daylight isn't as much of a problem

I'd rather not blow my battery budget on fighting the sun for visibility.

Re: My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

#120

Post by boredtofears » Fri, Oct 31, 2025, 11:04 PM UTC

asdff wrote: post #71

LeoPanthera wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Historically, traditional matte screen finishes exhibited poor optical qualities by scattering ambient light, which tended to wash out colors. This scattering process also affected the light from individual pixels, causing it to refract into neighboring pixels. This reduced overall image quality and caused pixel-fine details, such as small text, to appear smeary on high-density LCDs. In contrast, well-designed glossy…

I used to have a 2006 macbook pro with the matte screen. It was glorious. None of these issues were present or really noticeable. Maybe you'd notice it in lab setting but not irl. Kind of like 120hz and 4k; just useless to most peoples eyes at the distances people actually use these devices. I've only owned matte external monitors as well and again, no issues there. The glossy era macbooks otoh have been a disaster i…

Both 4k and 120hz were very noticeable improvements imo.