so now that the 17" has an anti-glare/matte screen

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discostu514 Author

Level 2

243 points

so now that the 17" has an anti-glare/matte screen

here's hoping they wake up and offer it for the 15".

macbook pro 15.4" 2.4 ghz 4gb RAM 160gb HD, Mac OS X (10.5.5)

Posted on Jan 15, 2009 8:16 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 16, 2009 5:28 AM in response to discostu514

since MWSF came and went without any updates the 15" MBP you may have to wait a bit.

Personally, I found the glossy MBP not to be an issue and my advice is not to worry too about it. If you had not done so yet, I'd recommend that you check out the display personally and see if its a problem or not. I was concerned about color accuracy, since I use aperture and want my photographs to display accurately on my laptop After visiting the apple store and saw the laptop in action, my fears and concerns were alayed.

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Answer 2

discostu514 Author

Level 2

243 points

Jan 16, 2009 3:19 PM in response to Michael Flynn

hi michael,

haha, i was mostly meaning if they would be coming out with the matte option for the 15" for whenever the next speedbump happens. i'm not particularly interested in getting a new MBP at the moment - i have a late 2007 model 15" and i expect it to be around for a while yet... in the event that i purchase a new MBP, i would certainly hope the 15" matte option would be available again at that time (and it would likely be an entirely different design, i'm sure). frankly, since it really is only a matter of not putting on the glass component and replacing it with a silver bezel, then it seems silly that they wouldn't make it available now. but anyways...

my girlfriend has one of the new aluminum macbooks and i have to say i'm not too impressed with the glossiness of the screen. i'm also not impressed with the viewing angle of the gloss screen in general - i find the matte screen as a much better viewing angle and i don't have to tilt my screen back as far in order to see my screen properly.

that being said, i am at least glad that the concerns of the professional user didn't exactly fall on deaf ears. it's just unfortunate that to get the matte option, you have to fork out an extra $300 (not including the taxes). at least for now.

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Answer 3

asiafish

Level 1

0 points

Jan 17, 2009 12:53 PM in response to discostu514

Far more important than the extra $300 is the extra size and weight. Some of us simply do not want to lug around a 17" laptop. Even a 15" is really pushing it for me.

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Answer 4

discostu514 Author

Level 2

243 points

Jan 17, 2009 1:12 PM in response to asiafish

size is actually less important than the extra cost as far as i'm concerned. not that i want to haul around something that big all of the time, the money saved from buying a 15" with matte option over a 17" (and really, the extra 2" is somewhat negligible as far as screen real estate goes) would, you know.... keep me fed for little while longer.

now if apple can come up with a program for those who already have the new generation and wanted the matte option from the beginning to be able to take their MBPs into apple, have them remove the glass and replace it with the silver bezel. i'm surprised the just didn't go with a black insert (possibly the same glass with the screen area simply cut out of it) to maintain the look and feel of the current generation.

the other thing is that with this matte option only for 17" laptops, apple is assuming that pro users only want a 17" notebook. which is obviously far from being true.

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Answer 5

eww

Level 9

53,028 points

Jan 17, 2009 1:39 PM in response to discostu514

Another difference between the two displays that's less than obvious unless you're looking at them side by side (which you can't do yet) is that the increase from 15.4" to 17" in display diagonal comes with a much larger increase in resolution: from 1440 x 900 to 1920 x 1200. So the 10% increase in diagonal measurement brings a 78% increase in total resolution, and it's possible to have 78% more windows or palettes open and 78% more of a large image or spreadsheet displayed at once, all settings being equal. For someone who doesn't mind lugging a 17" machine or will use it as a desktop most of the time, that makes the 17" MBP an extremely space-efficient full-1080P display option.

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Answer 6

discostu514 Author

Level 2

243 points

Jan 17, 2009 9:15 PM in response to eww

good point.

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Answer 7

Jan 19, 2009 9:58 AM in response to discostu514

discostu514 wrote:
here's hoping they wake up and offer it for the 15".

Here is something you may consider if you have "deep" pockets:

http://techrestore.com/xcart/product.php?productid=18467&cat=0&page=1

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Answer 8

Mar 3, 2009 4:04 AM in response to discostu514

And this time, Apple could make an anti-glare glass, to protect the screen like the MBP was shown to us when paid for it!.

Yes, the new anti-glare screen comes WITHOUT the glass on top. So the anti-glare screen is more fragile against crashes and ugly compared with the glossy one.

They say that's the "only way" they've been able to keep the anti-glare feature of the screen part.

Let's be honest: the anti-glare film is the only difference in the screen parts, and they charged us $50 extra for it, in despite of the MISSING GLASS they saved is more expensive than such layer.

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Answer 9

eww

Level 9

53,028 points

Mar 3, 2009 5:39 AM in response to Sergio Zambrano

Hi, Sergio. Antiglare glass significantly blurs anything that you see through it, as any picture framer can tell you, and as you can see with your own eyes at any picture framing shop (I've worked in several.) For anyone who wants to see his or her display clearly and sharply, putting antiglare glass in front of it is a nonstarter. Putting a nonglare coating on the LCD itself is the only way to prevent glare and minimize diffusion of the light coming from the display. Diffusion = blur.

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