I just came back from the store where I could have a look at the latest line of Macbooks. It was my first time seeing a Retina display and I have to say, WOW. Really really up close, I mean REALLY up close, this display (15") is very impressive. But when looking at it from a normal distance?
I couldn't see a difference between a Retina display and the 17" anti-glare display on my early 2011 MBP. I remember being absolutely mind blown by the quality of the display on my MBP in the first few days after I got it. I was absolutely amazed at how closely I had to look to see individual pixels. I still am. The resolution is amazing. This display absolutely kicks asses, I'm sure those who have seen it will agree.
There were also 2 Macbooks next to the one with the Retina display that had standards glossy displays. I have been greatly surprised to notice how their quality, in comparison to my 17", was absolute CRAP! What the hell? Has it always been so with glossy displays Macbooks? Or has Apple purposely downgraded their quality to make the Retina displays look better?
I was speculating that they may have retired the absolutely awesome anti-glare displays like the one on the 2011 17" MBP because they would have rendered the Retina displays almost pointless, since from a normal distance, there is no really noticeable difference.
Does anyone have a Retina display and a mate 17" display to compare from a normal viewing distance?
Does anyone have one of the latest Macbooks with a standard display and one from ~2011 to compare?
Also, there IS glare on the Retina display. I did notice it enough to think "what a waste".
There's something I should point out: The 1920x1200 matte display in the 17" MBP is amazing. That display was one of the major selling points of the 17" model. It was a TN panel, but it's one of the best performing TN panels I've ever used. I don't believe the panels in the smaller models were ever nearly as good.
About all you can expect from the rMBP is for it to maintain that color quality while increasing the ppi. You also get the advantages that IPS implies, mostly better viewing angles (+no vertical gamma shift, which is impossible to avoid even on a perfectly calibrated TN panel).
The loss of the matte option on the rMBP is kind of unfortunate. Glossy is technically going to be more accurate, but the matte is usually better if you have to work in a real world with no option of light control. It also removes a major weak point from the display: The giant plate of thin glass.