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Does anyone regret getting a Matte screen?

Every Mac I've owned has had a matte screen, but I thought I would take the plunge and try a glossy display this time round. As fate would have it, I discovered that the Apple stores do not stock the high-res glossy displays, only standard-res glossy or hi-res AG, so I ended up taking home the latter model.

A couple days later, I did a swap with a friend so I could do some software installation/configuration trickery on hers (same model, except for the glossy display). Within minutes of switching on, I was grateful for having avoided possibly the worst decision of my Apple-owning life. Even in the relatively shady (or so I thought) confines of my home office, the reflections were ATROCIOUS. There is no way I could've lived with this display; I was frustrated beyond belief and this was indoors, away from any flourescent lighting!

Sat side-by-side with my old MBP ('07 C2D), the display is immediately and significantly improved. I don't know how much more "pop" is really needed, but for me, the colour rendition and clarity are more than good enough. I was only too happy to hand hers back and retrieve my own the next day. So, any regrets? Only on her behalf...
 
I have the 15 inch widescreen antiglare model.

I wouldn't say that I regret my choice, I don't. But I do have to say that I'm a bit sad about the brightness of my particular model (9CBB). Most of the time, when there's some natural light in the room, I need to set the brightness to the maximum setting and even then it's not bright enough for me. I would prefer it one square or two higher. When I'm in the dark and need to lower the brightness, I find the whites to be a bit too gray sometimes. That and the vertical viewing angle sucks, the screen needs to be perfectly aligned with your eyes or it looks bad. Yes, I know, I'm too picky, bla bla bla. Tell me something I don't know.

I also disliked the colours at first. The default calibration was way too blue for my taste. I have tried a few colour profiles in another thread and found one that makes it much better. Of course, my previous laptop was a glossy 13 inch (summer 2009 MacBook Pro) and I absolutely loved the colours and brightness on it (but hated the reflection).

So, I'm glad that I got rid of the reflections but kind of I miss the brightness and the colours of my old glossy 13. Glossy vs. matte are both completely different experiences and you really have to try them before you make a decision.

That being said, I would probably choose the high-res again if I had the choice. After all, I work on this thing and the positives outweigh the negatives.
 
Do I regret getting a Matte Screen? Just got delivered from the APPLE on-line store and opened up my new 'custom' MBP 17" a short time ago. I've had matte screens on all my previous Mac Laptops over the past ? years - has it been THAT LONG! - well… since my first 230 DUO, but was thinking maybe a change would be interesting.

I'd seen the glossy screens often at the APPLE STORES and other retail shops, and a few weeks ago spent more than a hour looking back and forth at a pair of 17" with the matte and glossy side by side.

Both looked very good of course and hard to say 100% which I'd been happier with. The glossy did have a bit more 'pop' - maybe - and the reflections were there, but not too bad in the APPLE STORE. But I was almost surprised at the very beautiful matte for some reason, maybe a bit brighter (had thought the glossy would be more), colors maybe not so vibrant, but also not 'artificially' so and looked great, contrast was very good with shadow details in photos that the glossy just made black, and true blacks were still deep on the matte, and of course there wasn't any - any - reflections to try and look around.

Glossy may have been a 'fun' choice, but the matte was for one thing 'safe' and to my surprise actually looked better in many ways. It reminded me of when you had the glossy or matte option when making prints at the film developing shop, I always picked matte for that 'classic' look.

Yesterday I was on the train with my new iPod Touch I also got with this MBP and even with a small screen I found myself moving it this way and that because of the reflections. Made me more glad I went with the matte on a big 17" MBP.
 
I have HiRes AntiGlare, and am happy with it. I looked at all the options and used a Glossy MBP for a while before getting mine.
 
slapple said:
I'm wondering - is there anyone who got a matte screen and wished they got the glossy instead?
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No ;)

Seriously, I have both, and, when I use the matte screen, I don't think about it, but, when I use the glossy, I wish it had matte. This is after three years of side-by-side comparisons.
 
entatlrg said:
If that happens it will disappoint a LOT of people who prefer larger fonts and readability for text ... just look at all the complaints online already about the hi-screens.
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I have aging, astigmatic eyes, and, I still vastly prefer the high-res (antiglare of course). I have heard many people over the years worry about too many too small pixels, but, in reality, it isn't a problem.
 
I compared both at the apple store, not having a glare is phenomenal. I got hi-res matte screen and I love it, in the car, outside, in the house with lights on I don't see any dumb reflections and the quality is great.
 
Just got my 15" hi-res antiglare, and WOW. the screen on this thing is absolutely gorgeous.

yes, the glass screens look better for video, i'll give you that. in fact, the iPad screen (IPS) is maybe the nicest i've ever seen.

For text, however, antiglare (and hi-res) cannot be beat. Seeing as how I use this for working, it's a no-brainer.

I'll probably get an iPad for casual video watching and stuff, and I can deal with the reflections etc, but for my main machine, I could not imagine dealing with the glass screens day in day out.
 
i feel like this is a subjective thread. everything gets boring eventually, so those with glossy screens a year or 2 down the line might wish they had a matte, just because they got bored of the glossy (i probably wont though :D) and vice versa for those with matte screens. but i will add that i could imagine some with the matte to wish they had glossy just for the "lack" of vibrant colors etc that the glossy has to offer.
 
I love the high res matte screen, coming from a nearly 4 year old non-LED back lit MBP, I was blown away with the screen brightness and sharpness.

The glossy is great for watching movies in ideal lighting, but if thats all I was going to do, I'd just use a TV. The reflections kill the glossy for me. :(
 
longball11 said:
Anyone with AG, does this happen often?
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I haven't owned my current MBP long enough to comment on it, but my first MBP was antiglare and I never had any problems with dirt getting trapped in the edges. In fact I found it to be easier to clean than my previous, glossy MBP.
 
I bought a first gen unibody 15" so I was forced into a glossy display, but as soon as the option came back for matte, I ordered it. I have come to love matte displays ever since I purchased my first MacBook Pro in 2006. I wouldn't trade the matte for any glossy display, especially the new glassy stuff..
 
dsprimal said:
i feel like this is a subjective thread. everything gets boring eventually, so those with glossy screens a year or 2 down the line might wish they had a matte, just because they got bored of the glossy (i probably wont though :D) and vice versa for those with matte screens. but i will add that i could imagine some with the matte to wish they had glossy just for the "lack" of vibrant colors etc that the glossy has to offer.
Click to expand...

I dont think it's a case of wanting to change to Matte because they get bored of Glossy... maybe irritated by it though. And I for one am happy with the slightly less vibrant colours of the Matte, as they are still vibrant. Anyone with Matte wishing for a swap to Glossy for more vibrant colour obviously didn't do their research in the first place.
 
My matte screen is A++ awesome (9CBB). I'd gotten so used to not being able to see my work whilst commuting that I'd started to use it to watch people in other parts of the train carriage instead :p

If you want a mirror, buy a mirror.
If you want to see your screen, buy an AG
 
by the way, I'd still say the smaller text on the high res is generally bigger than that text printed on a newspaper, which you'd read in a similar way, right?
 
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