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Glossy vs Anti-Glare

I still vastly prefer matte screens to glossy screens. I have a lot of experience using both screen types and from a year of using a MacBook Air with a glossy screen as my main computer I will never get another glossy screen ever again. Horrible reflections, artificially saturated colors, a pain to color calibrate and more eye strain, I loved everything about the MacBook Air except for the darn screen. Needless to say I am firmly in the matte screen camp.
 
ibookg4user said:
i still vastly prefer matte screens to glossy screens. I have a lot of experience using both screen types and from a year of using a macbook air with a glossy screen as my main computer i will never get another glossy screen ever again. Horrible reflections, artificially saturated colors, a pain to color calibrate and more eye strain, i loved everything about the macbook air except for the darn screen. Needless to say i am firmly in the matte screen camp.
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+1
 
macduke said:
I don't get the people who say that they can see themselves in a glossy display. I'm looking into one right now and can't see my face at all.
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I love glossy displays, but the one your looking at im assuming isn't the 2009 and up macbook with glass. The glass I think is what causes the biggest impact.
 
I figured I'd give the ag a look see and went to the store to check it out. Unfortunately I was quite disappointed. To my eyes, it's definitely less "vibrant" than the glossy, which made it look somewhat "washed out", as other posters have noted.

In any case, my cinema display is glossy, my iPad is glossy, my iPhone is glossy, so my eyes have definitely gotten accustomed to glossy. So I'll be ordering glossy.

(Interestingly though, whenever I go get something framed, I struggle with deciding between the normal/"glossy" glass or the anti-reflective/"anti-glare" glass, and always end up with the anti-reflective..., even though the normal glass lets colors show through better)
 
Anti glare is better

I don't know why Apple put such a glossy screen on the iPad. My Panasonic plasma is anti glare and it looks awesome aand works great. As is my 24" monitor on my pc.

I still love the iPad but it makes using it in the car or outside even on a cloudy day a PIA.
 
If you wanna give yourself a neat shave dude (or smack some makeup on you rosy cheeks dudess), then the gloss is just perfect. :D
No, but seriously, I have used both and eventually dont notice the difference, but something tells me matte is best for working with text. It's personal. :cool:
 
Looks like AG clearly has the upper hand. If only the display of the AG was as good if not better than the MBA
 
tfa8rva said:
Glossy vs Antiglare is a personal preference. Go to your local Apple store and try them both out and then decide. However, my vote is for antiglare.
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Reclaim3r said:
Whenever I got my first Mac back in 2007, the options were Glossy or Matte. You could pick either one with no price difference. I chose Matte and was very satisfied with my decision.

I plan on purchasing a new MBP soon, but I'm probably going with glossy just because paying $150 pains me too much (although the higher resolution would be very nice).
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Yes, Apple just can't help themselves. They're addicted to ripping off customers. According to them everything is extra special & obscenely priced. 5 minutes later they're bragging how much of your money they take.
 
macduke said:
4. You can always add an anti-glare film to a glossy, but you can't make a matte into a glossy.
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If you have anti-glare, you never want glossy (glare). So, not a problem.

I don't get the people who say that they can see themselves in a glossy display. I'm looking into one right now and can't see my face at all. Brightness is even at 75%. Even when I move Firefox aside and look into my darker gray desktop I still can't see anything. If I turn it down to one bar I can see the faintest outline. Who ever uses their brightness at setting 1?
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http://www.zdnet.com/blog/apple/apple-reconsidering-anti-glare-screen-options-users-rejoice/4408

scroll down a bit. Can you see the reflection?

more:
* http://www.strongmocha.com/2009/07/07/apple-macbook-pro-glare-glossy-vs-non-glare-matte/
* http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?t=100581&page=3
(if you think the previous link seemed too heavily stacked against glossy, this one demonstrates a reflection of the person in front of the laptop in indoor conditions)
 
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JonD25 said:
I got the 2010 glossy and I've been regretting it for a while now. REALLY wish I could trade for an anti-glare version.
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Same. I have the 2010 and got the glossy hi res because I didn't really know what the anti glare was like.

Ive regretted it since the screen first started getting dirty, the smears and stuff are so easy to see.
 
Whitelightning said:
Looks like AG clearly has the upper hand. If only the display of the AG was as good if not better than the MBA
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are the MBP AG displays not the same/similar look as the MBA? In what do they differ?

skier777 said:
Same. I have the 2010 and got the glossy hi res because I didn't really know what the anti glare was like.

Ive regretted it since the screen first started getting dirty, the smears and stuff are so easy to see.
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+2 how true. My iMac 27" i7 shows up everything, dust, smudges, fingerprints etc. mind you, i guess all the vain people love the glassy look, as they go up to their screens every day to breathe a mist over them before they wipe clean, but as they come up to close to 'mist' their glass they get to see their pretty reflections and pucker up :D:D
 
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Does anyone know the percentage of glossy and matte sales for the models that have the option?

JohnG
 
sparkie7 said:
are the MBP AG displays not the same/similar look as the MBA? In what do they differ?
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The MacBook Air has a glossy display without the glass overlay, just like the MacBook. I guess you could say it isn't as glossy, but there are still reflections and glare galore on the MacBook and MacBook Air (IMO, and I used a MacBook Air for a year, so it is an informed opinion). The MacBook Pro with the Anti-Glare screen is a matte screen, there is a huge difference between the Anti-Glare screen and the glossy screen of the MacBook Air and MacBook.
 
ah yes, now i remember. i checked out the MBA's a while ago and you're right. The MBP 'AG's are 100% matte like the (sadly) discontinued cinema displays. The MBA has a semi-glossy coating on it. Personally I prefer the AG/matte displays
 
sparkie7 said:
ah yes, now i remember. i checked out the MBA's a while ago and you're right. The MBP 'AG's are 100% matte like the (sadly) discontinued cinema displays. The MBA has a semi-glossy coating on it. Personally I prefer the AG/matte displays
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It's not "semi-glossy", it is a glossy display. The only difference between the glossy display of the MacBook/MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro is the glass overlay.
 
It's hard to describe. It's not shiny, as 'glossy' might suggest. which is why i opted to say 'semi'-glossy to be describe more accurately. YVMV
 
Now if only they sold a glossy with no glass option... I would totally be up for that....

Matte... Glossy glass... Matte... glossy glass...
 
Whitelightning said:
Now if only they sold a glossy with no glass option... I would totally be up for that....

Matte... Glossy glass... Matte... glossy glass...
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If they could, they would sell the antiglare with a glass overlay too. It looks amazing if you aren't trying to actually see the display. Personally, I went with AG, but I would've preferred glass to protect the screen. Oh well, at least my machine will be a fraction of an ounce lighter.
 
axu539 said:
Personally, I went with AG, but I would've preferred glass to protect the screen. Oh well, at least my machine will be a fraction of an ounce lighter.
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and quite a bit more impact resistant if dropped. reckon an AG display will fare much better than a shattered glassy display
 
Glossy vs. matte aside, is there any indication that they've changed over to IPS panels in either case? Or are they still using TN panels?
 
sparkie7 said:
It's hard to describe. It's not shiny, as 'glossy' might suggest. which is why i opted to say 'semi'-glossy to be describe more accurately. YVMV
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Just so you know, when the glossy option was added for the MacBook Pro it was a choice of either glossy or matte. The glossy display was the exact same type as the MacBook and MacBook Air, so I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that it is a glossy display and not 'semi-glossy'. The only difference between what you believe is 'semi-glossy' and the glossy display on the MacBook Pro is the glass overlay, that's it. Both are glossy displays, just being blunt here, semi-glossy does not describe it accurately.
 
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