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Anti-Glare 15" MacBook Pro Review

Timur said:
Saying that usually you should not get as distracted by the glass/mirror image as the OP describes he is. Normally your eyes focus on the screen content and thus blend out any present mirror images from the glass, because those mirror images are somewhere out of focus behind you.
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That's not true. You see reflections on the glass and glossy coating screens. Your eyes try to focus on the stuff you see. If it focuses on the screen this would be the image displayed by the panel plus all the reflections. Trying to distinguish between reflections and what the panel is displaying can be very very difficult as some reflections can obstruct the view on the panel or make your eyes go nuts about what to focus on. They don't blend out reflections as they are part of what you're looking at. Humans can not look at both images behind each other and that's why glossy stuff is bad.

Try reading the screen when sitting in a room with TL-lighting like an office or a classroom. The matte screens will be much easier to read as the reflection of the lights don't obstruct the image on the panel behind the glossy coating/glass.

iBookG4user said:
Do you think that the MacBook Air looks weird? It has a silver bezel and black keys.
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The difference between the matte display option on the MBP and the MBA are 2 elements. The MBA only has black keys, everything else is aluminium or grey plastic/rubber. The matte MBP does not. The rubber hinge area is black and not grey as on the old pre-unibody MBPs. The rubber around the aluminium bezel is black as well. They just take off the glass, replace the glossy panel with a matte version and put in the aluminium bezel. If they also changed the rubber around the bezel and the rubber in the hinge area it would have been on par with the MBA and the old pre-unibody MBPs. It's those 2 elements that make it look a bit off and ugly to a lot of people. If they used a black bezel or grey rubber people wouldn't have complained about it being ugly I guess.
 
dunno bout anyone else, but i'm down to trade my new 15'' glossy for anyone who's got the matte. It's gotten to the point where I'm glad my screen is dirty with dust and murk, since it stops the screen from spewing reflections in my face lol.. wasn't a fan of the 17'' matte look, but definitely like the 15'' for some reason..
 
dudeitsjay said:
dunno bout anyone else, but i'm down to trade my new 15'' glossy for anyone who's got the matte. It's gotten to the point where I'm glad my screen is dirty with dust and murk, since it stops the screen from spewing reflections in my face lol.. wasn't a fan of the 17'' matte look, but definitely like the 15'' for some reason..
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Hah do it! I sold my glossy and got the matte. Loveeee the reflection-free screen.
 
dyn said:
That's not true. You see reflections on the glass and glossy coating screens. Your eyes try to focus on the stuff you see. If it focuses on the screen this would be the image displayed by the panel plus all the reflections. Trying to distinguish between reflections and what the panel is displaying can be very very difficult as some reflections can obstruct the view on the panel or make your eyes go nuts about what to focus on. They don't blend out reflections as they are part of what you're looking at. Humans can not look at both images behind each other and that's why glossy stuff is bad.
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I disagree. You either focus on the screen or on the reflection!

While you are right that the light of the reflection might obstruct on-screen informations *if* the screen is set too dark or the reflection is too bright you are wrong about the focus.

The objects you see as a reflection are usually someplace behind you and thus your eyes have to focus on them as if they were some meters in front of you in order to see them sharp. The moment your eyes focus on the plane of the screen all reflections get blended out (unless their brightness overrides the screens own).

It's not like I'm defending Apple's glAssy screen, it's a pain in the *ss to have that untreated glass plate in front of the real screen. The real screen *is* treated. Fortunately Apple's matte screens don't seem to be *too* matte, because that's a problem, too (sparkling colors, lacking sharpness and contrast).

One of the main drawbacks of matte screens is when you've got a very bright and concentrated light source shining on the screen: the glossy screen will show it as a concentrated spot while leaving the rest of the screen readable, the matte screen will spread the light all over the place and thus affect a far larger area.

Here is a comparison between a *very* matte screen and a *half* matte screen. A glossy one would have a lot smaller bright area compared to both of these.

s2111wantireflexionfa0.jpg


Old post about colors and reflections of matte vs. glossy: https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/6447613/
 
'Totally Agree.

The matte MBP is a must for what I would use it for. The glossy image-distorting viewing experience on the standard 'Pro is best left for basic computing usage.

The fact that the black two-tone look is gone for the anti-galre machine allows this to be the best-looking of the current line up of Macs, in my view of course. The raw aluminum bezel to match the body is just excellent, and it's such a nice aesthetic relief from all of the run of the mill black black black that Apple has recently adapted from all of the other PC manufacturers in existence.

'Excellent!
 
To OP: The lid does not feel sturdier because there isn't glass in front. It should feel less sturdy because there is less material supporting it's shape. Glass affects the hinge, not the lid.

I'm honestly not seeing the point of matte simply because it "has no reflections". Actually, both matte and glossy (some people call it glassy) displays have reflections. It's just a matter of how hard it is to see them. Matte reduces reflections by spread the light across the entire surface of the display. Glossy doesn't do anything to the light and lets it bounce wherever.

The advantages matte offers hardly makes it superior to glossy. Either screen will look like crap outside. And inside, it's not like you can only see reflections on glossy.
 
how do you determine which screen model you have for the matte screen (you have the 9b2c screen)?

I recently (in october) bought my umbp w/ anti glare screen. I am curious to know which screen I have.

Thanks!
 
thejadedmonkey said:
I'm not a vein person (ok, maybe I am, I own a mac :p ) and this is the first time I've really seen pictures of the UBMBP without a glassy screen, and WOW!

I might look into selling my MBP and getting a UB 13" if they ever give a non-glassy option on it!
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not a vein person huh?
 
SnowLeopard2008 said:
To OP: The lid does not feel sturdier because there isn't glass in front. It should feel less sturdy because there is less material supporting it's shape. Glass affects the hinge, not the lid.
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The lid feels studier because there is less weight. It doesn't move when the laptop is picked up like my old glassy uMBP. The glass isn't weightless you know. Although it appears Apple has tightened the hinges on all MacBook Pro's..

SnowLeopard2008 said:
I'm honestly not seeing the point of matte simply because it "has no reflections". Actually, both matte and glossy (some people call it glassy) displays have reflections. It's just a matter of how hard it is to see them. Matte reduces reflections by spread the light across the entire surface of the display. Glossy doesn't do anything to the light and lets it bounce wherever.
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Matte diffuses the light. Very faint reflections, and light diffusion across the panel - which in any normal usage environment has no effect/unnoticeable. Glossy on the other hand reflects light so in normal usage you can see reflections.

FYI: people call it a glassy display not because it is glossy, but because it has a glass panel over it which also reflects light. So combination of glossy and glass..

SnowLeopard2008 said:
The advantages matte offers hardly makes it superior to glossy. Either screen will look like crap outside. And inside, it's not like you can only see reflections on glossy.
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Stop talking crap.. please. I don't any reflections at all on my matte display when used indoors. The screen can be completely black and I don't see myself looking at the screen. Glossy has lots of reflections.

There is no argument about glossy having reflections and matte having pretty much none - the argument people discuss is what is better; and answer is always the user preference. Glossy has rich colours, matte not so rich. It is whether you can tolerate the reflections on glossy..
 
Great review. If I was to buy my computer now, I would def go for an antiglare.
 
Kilamite said:
It is whether you can tolerate the reflections on glossy..
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That's really what it comes down to and the answer is different for everyone so there really is no right or wrong answer. I do use a variety of laptops between home, work, and other family member's laptops so I get to see first hand the issues between matte and glossy. I have also noticed there are different degrees of matte screens too.

To quickly sum it up from my perspective about the issue, with a glossy screen I spend more time moving around, tilting the screen, and tilting my body to avoid reflections. It's a lot more noticeable on dark areas of the screen like when the screen is off or when I'm watching movies with dark scenes. It's also noticeable when there is a strong light source right behind me. I'm kind of limited as to where I want to sit with a glossy screen. Sure if I have a higher tolerance to reflections then I can sit anywhere. I can get it to a point where there is basically no reflections but I have to work at it. It's definitely prettier to look at than the matte screen in my opinion if you can live with the reflections.

With a matte screen I've noticed that I spend less time thinking about where I can use the laptop to avoid reflections. Even with a strong light source behind me the glare is tolerable for me compared to the glossy. That's just my opinion though. This makes a matte laptop usable in more areas for me. Pictures don't have the same vibrancy though but I'm not looking at pictures all day so everyone has to make a choice as to which is more important to them. If a person looks at text most of the time with their laptops such as with some business laptops then I personally think the glossy screen is wasted.

I don't think either are perfect for every environment and it depends on what kind of environment a person deals with on a daily basis. A person's tolerance to reflections does have a lot to do with it because what annoys one person may not annoy someone else. Each person has to decide for themselves which is more important to them.
 
Replacable?

Does this mean that the screen can be replaced since there is no glass laminated to the screen?
 
Is there anything that can be put over the glossy/glassy screen to give in the matte look when needed. Sort of like a privacy screen.
Thanks :)
 
Just got a mattbook 15. It is unbelievable how light this thing feels. I was stunned when I took it out the box, and then remembered I had to fit the battery - and then realized the battery was already in :D

The screen is simply fantastic, no reflection at all - and no finger prints around the edges. Suits me fine.
 
different strokes, for different folks I guess.......
it appears that 90% of users on here prefer matte over glossy.

I've had the Alu iMac for 2 years now and I love the glossy, the colors pop and is a great experience...i've never had a problem with reflections, it is so easy to just move the screen if there happens to be one.

I will be ordering the 17" glossy this week, and I feel the screen will be no different. It will be so easy to just move the screen a little, change my sitting position, or simply tilt the screen a few inches.

Don't see why people are complaining about glossy. Unless there is some big problem with color correction that photographers are so picky about, which I could understand. Since I am not a photographer and very rarely deal with photos outside of photoshop, I have nothing to worry about

Oh well, everyone has their own preferences
 
Is there still the problem of the lid being too loose with these new MBPs? I use my MBP now daily in bed (I use it as an ereader pretty much) and it’s mostly vertical resting on my leg.

The only reason I’m not buying this new MBP is because when you tilt the device more than 45/60 degrees, the screen involuntarily starts falling.
 
EndlessMac said:
What I don't understand when I see statements like these is that the last generation was all silver so how can a silver frame look weird? The irony is that people were saying the black frame looked weird when they first came out. I'm guessing you weren't interested in Macs until recently because the silver frame makes it look more like the previous generation MBP.
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The silver frame looks weird because of the black rubber gasket that seals it; it looks like the afterthought it really was. It would have looked so much better with a black bezel.

Maybe I'm just used to my Powerbooks that were all black. I'm guessing you weren't interested in Macs until the Powerbook G4 came out.
 
Can anyone comment on the black level of the matte version (i.e., is it better or worse than the glass version)?
 
darngooddesign said:
The silver frame looks weird because of the black rubber gasket that seals it; it looks like the afterthought it really was. It would have looked so much better with a black bezel.
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Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and I was trying to understand the comment of it being weird. I have a suspicion that Apple went with a silver bezel because they were giving people who didn't like the black bezel an option since the previous MBP was a popular design and for the record I never personally said I didn't like the black bezel.

darngooddesign said:
Maybe I'm just used to my Powerbooks that were all black. I'm guessing you weren't interested in Macs until the Powerbook G4 came out.
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The new anti-glare MBP with silver bezel looks a lot closer to the all silver MBP than a glossy MBP does to an all black PowerBook which is why I made my statement. My PowerBook has black keys too so it's not like I'm not used to black.
 
i plan on gettin a15" mbp matte and i was wonderin about SSD.. i hear there r some problems with these drives is this true?
 
wankey said:
Is there still the problem of the lid being too loose with these new MBPs? I use my MBP now daily in bed (I use it as an ereader pretty much) and it’s mostly vertical resting on my leg.

The only reason I’m not buying this new MBP is because when you tilt the device more than 45/60 degrees, the screen involuntarily starts falling.
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The hinge is tight. There is less weight in the screen because of the lack of glass.. though I think the hinges have been tightened on all uMBP's now.

klover said:
Can anyone comment on the black level of the matte version (i.e., is it better or worse than the glass version)?
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The blacks are great - really deep. Of course, glossy wins no problem. The colours you get with a glossy screen are really fantastic. It is just the reflections that ruin it.
 
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