Glossy or Matte - How To Work Out Which One It Is

[Zagreus]

Hi, this might sound a bit strange but I hope someone on here may be able to help me, I've placed my 2007 MacBook Pro for sale but I've recently had enquiries from a buyer with a question that I can't answer in that of whether the screen is Glossy or Matte. Now I never realised there were two options thinking it was a more recent development in the product line but after some research I discovered that it was an option when the machine was purchased. The only problem is that I brought it second hand and no information was included to enable me to work out this detail, so is there a visual analysis I could perform or are there any images I could post so that people would be able to work out which type of screen I have?

The model of MBP is the Mid/Late 2007, Merom Based 17" MacBook Pro with the Hi-Res Screen outputting at 1900 x 1200.

I can post pictures of the laptop if it's necessary/will help

 

[un.titled]

Glossy on left, matte on right.

 

[NickZac]

Is the screen completely clear and is the outside piano black reflective?

 

[Zagreus]

Thank you very much, that's exactly what I needed

 

[croooow]

The model of MBP is the Mid/Late 2007

I know the more recent models use a silver border (as shown in un.titled's post) for the matte screen (because the glossy uses glass to hold up the LED display, they use a silver frame to support it in place of the glass sheet) I believe this applies to the 2007 17" MBP, but someone may need to correct me (or confirm)

 

[WardC]

All of the Santa Rosa / Merom models were matte. The screen on the right hand side in your photo is a matte display, the one on the left is glossy.

Hope this helps.
-Ward

 

[croooow]

There were all matte? I did not know that.

 

[Cool Runnings]

All of the Santa Rosa / Merom models were matte. The screen on the right hand side in your photo is a matte display, the one on the left is glossy.

Hope this helps.
-Ward

No, glossy was an option.

And i don't know why someone have pictures of the unibody when it's clear that it's the previous model.

The easy way to tell the difference is with a lamp/flashlight or a window in daylight/sun. Does it blend the screen, matte, get a glare/reflection, glossy.

 

[WardC]

There were no Glossy models of the 2007 MacBook Pros. Glossy didn't become an option until 2008.

 

[Cool Runnings]

There were no Glossy models of the 2007 MacBook Pros. Glossy didn't become an option until 2008.

Mactracker don't agree...

 

[Cool Runnings]

Mactracker don't agree...

Just saw that it was the Mid/Late 2007 17" MBP the OP had. But still the same according to mactracker.

 

[MagicBoy]

Glossy was an option on the Rev D 17".

http://guides.macrumors.com/MacBook_Pro#Rev._D