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Ask HN: How is the M4 MacBook Pro Nano-texture screen for long coding so far?

by imbnwa on 12/5/24, 8:45 PM with 12 comments

Am looking to get into these but have seen conflicting reports about how the nano-texture material interacts with font rendering. Am curious if anyone has empirical experience doing long coding sessions on these just yet.

  • by Logingarrett on 12/16/24, 10:14 PM

    I am really enjoying the nano-texture. After turning down the brightness it appears like an electronic reader. One drawback, the auto adjust brightness is a bit sensitive to light coming directly at it. Sometimes the screen repeatedly dims in the morning when the sun is not causing a problem.

  • by genshii on 12/5/24, 11:15 PM

    Went from a M2 MBP to a M4 MBP with the nano-texture display. I haven't noticed any difference at all in terms of font rendering or anything of that sort. Overall, the nano-texture display looks the same, if not better. IMO, the glare reduction is absolutely worth it, even if you don't think glare is normally an issue for you.

  • by sgarland on 12/5/24, 11:48 PM

    I went to an Apple Store today to try to see the difference, because I bought an M4 MBP w/ glossy, and have had doubts.

    They only had an iMac with it – I assume it’s the same? If so, it’s _mostly_ equivalent, but the glossy screen definitely has deeper contrast, and appears sharper for text, though terminal usage wasn’t quite as pronounced as the browser.

    I’m still tempted to buy one to try, and return the one I end up not liking. Most of my usage isn’t in areas prone to glare, but occasionally it is, and it’s annoying. I just don’t want to sacrifice sharpness, because I love how crisp text is on these screens.

  • by zackangelo on 12/5/24, 11:32 PM

    Perhaps I don't have such a keen eye for things like font rendering, but the nano texture display has been a pure step forward for me. No negatives at all.

  • by _nvs on 12/6/24, 5:49 AM

    It’s awesome with font rendering — have been using it nonstop for two weeks to code and design and it really shines (no pun intended) when there’s a lot of sunlight/glare. Otherwise it looks identical to the glossy display.

    The only caveat is the nano texture is much more difficult to keep clean and maintain.

  • by throwaway519 on 12/7/24, 3:51 AM

    Can it open 180 degrees yet like a ThinkPad?