Why is Apple insisting on Glossy Displays?

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I loved my iMac but the glare, gloss, reflections, etc. decreased my design/production and hurt my eyes. Can't use them now. After I damaged my eyes . . . I tried all the tricks - dark curtains, special lighting, eye drops, custom Nasa glasses, but it's too late. Same with my MacBook Pro. Both had serious health & production issues for me.

Now I have a new MacPro & planned to get an Apple monitor. Went to Apple store -

glossy, too reflective, searingly bright. Not one would work for me.

I produce high-end print magazines - design, layout, editing & photoshop work. I'm on deadline

again and NEED a professional work monitor (no gaming, videos, movies, video production)

A 27" matte monitor (P-IPS or IPS), speakers, HDMI, ergo features (pivot, swivel, tilt, height adjustment.) Must be 178/178 at 10:1 for Portrait Mode. Prefer 16:10 not 16:9.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thank you!

LR

I love the NEC displays. I'm a high-end wedding photographer and have had great results with their 24 inch display and 27 inch display. I agree, can't go with the iMac because of the glare.

Hi, On your 27" NEC display, can you tell me the model #?
Because not all NEC's are high end.

I need a monitor for "professional" use.
For high-end print magazines - design, layout, editing & photoshop work.

Can you or any others recommend a MacPro compatible monitor with these features?

27" matte with pivot, swivel, tilt, height adjustment. HDMI, (P-IPS or IPS panels) and speakers.

Prefer 16:10 not 16:9. Prefer 178/178 at 10:1 for portrait mode.

Any help will be so appreciated!

This is all really helpful.... i have been holding onto and babing the **** outta my 15 year old matte cinema screen because i cannot work on the glossy screens MAC/Apple is making these days. I shudder to think when my MBP 17" goes because they don't make that one either.... i am a graphic designer and have worked on MAC's for years and years.... this is troubling ....

Is anyone listening to the professional end that got Apple off the ground???

I agree - I too have a 30" Cinema HD that I love, but I am not sure if it is still up to the color matching standards that you pro media folks require. Still good enough for me though, and you can still buy reconditioned ones out there.

But really, it is just nuts to switch to PCs just because of screen issues. Just go with a Mac Mini and you can use any 3rd party monitor you want, and not have to get all new software, blah blah blah.

Yes, I found a monitor for my Mac Pro - a lovely monitor that is not gloss and not matte. It's called semi gloss and uses the Anti-Glare 3D Hard Coat made by LG who also made other Apple Monitor panels. Mine is the 27" LG E2722PY-BN with Anti-Glare 3D Hard Coat. Works for me. Since reviews and specs do not use the semi-gloss term, this LG shows up as either non-gloss, or non-matte, or Non-Glare using Anti-Glare 3D Hard Coat. I called LG technicians and found out exactly what 3D Hard Coat was before purchase. Now I'm happy. Thanks to my Apple friends for your help!

I've read about 30% of this thread and one of the other posters (SpankSpurter, I think) said that the glass was a necessary part of the design, to hold the LCD screen in place.

But what holds the glass in place?

Can't the same thing that holds the glass in place hold the matte finish LCD screen in place?

If they are going to insist on that sheet of glass, they could just as easily use anti-glare/anti-reflective glass. The stuff has been around for decades and is in common use in picture frames you can buy at Walmart for a few bucks, so it shouldn't be any more expensive than regular glass by now.

I've been looking extensively on eBay for a used MacBook (leaning towards a Pro) because I am healing up an issue with my neck. Having a notebook would be helpful with this as I could be working at home and looking slightly down at a laptop and resting my neck. However, the newer, higher horsepower ones all have the glossy screens that are going to make it diffuclt to see what I am doing. You can even see people taking eBay photos of their laptops in low light to prevent showing that they are selling a Mac with a glossy screen.

Chaz1138 wrote:

I've read about 30% of this thread and one of the other posters (SpankSpurter, I think) said that the glass was a necessary part of the design, to hold the LCD screen in place.

But what holds the glass in place?

I have the 27 Inch Thunderbolt display. The only thing holding the glass is set of magnets. With a suction cup you can remove it. The LCD is secured by a set of screws. And the LCD is matte.

Theres even a company (www.macframes.com) that sells the bezzel without the glass, so you dont have to keep staring at the internals of the display after you remove the glass. They have videos showing the process.

I'am not sure its 100% matte screen, but it drastically removes the glare from my display. Its just a shame to have to buy a 1k display just to remove the glass from it. Not sure how that affects the warranty as well.

In my case, I just remove it when my eyes begin to hurt. Its simple to remove, so not that much of a problem. But really considering keeping it off permantently.

My late 2009 27" build-to-order iMac is out of warranty, so I took it apart to replace the HDD and swap the optical drive for an SSD I had sitting around.

ANYWAY.... I decided to try the computer without the clear cover over the LCD.

I NOW LOVE THE SCREEN! My eyestrain is going away also.

In the last few years, I had drastic changes in my eyes even though my eyes had changed very little in the last twenty years (almost 50 years old now).

The optometrist said it was age. My eyes have already gotten a bit better in the week since the cover was not on the screen.

I suspect it was the glossy mac that was hurting my eyes.

Best hack to my mac is removing the cover!

The inside screen is not truly matte itself, but not having a separate plane in front makes looking at this screen much much better.

c'mon apple, you can do better than doing harm to your users!

Scrap the glossy screens, or give REAL users an alternative.

fyi, much of my work involved looking at pixel level graphics since I was programming in Labview, so I may have had more of an impact than a typical apple user.

Totally agree with Maliki-digital-artist - Apple is now a complete nightmare for professional creatives and I too will move from Apple to windows. it's a real shame. I ordered my imac 27- i can't use it unless the room is completely dark. All I see are my staff going by in the reflection. I gave it to my sister. Perhaps Apple is only interested in fast pasced high gloss shinny new design for the generation Y - internet, a quick movie, or some iMovie play time. WHAT DO APPLE INHOUSE DESIGNERS USE??! Apple - it's all about consumability. You are loosing the very market who made you who you are today! The creatives. The designers. The professionals.

With a couple of suction cups, you can take off the front protective screen. That has really improved mine to the point I like it.

I agree with the sentiments here, I'm a web / graphic designer and site in a well lit office. This means galre on Apple screens really makes for strained eyes and bad backs with leaning over all the time. I would really like to see a new Thunderbolt display with a Matt finish, rather than having to rresort to removing the glass.

I'm not sure why Apple continues to put glass on the front of it's iMacs. I've got a 2006 17" iMac Core Duo that has been great and it doesn't have any glass covering the display. Just a fantastic matte finish.

I think Apple needs to rethink at least offering a matte version of it's stand alone display for mac users that don't like glossy screens. They are forcing Mac users to buy displays from other manufacturers like Dell, Asus, ect.