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Apple again offers matte screen option for 15-inch MacBook Pro

appleinsider.com

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Re: Apple again offers matte screen option for 15-inch MacBook Pro

#11

Post by mcantelon »

dlevine wrote: post #5

It's interesting how responsive Apple is to customer feedback. A lot of times, customers complain about Apple's new product leaving out some feature, and then the next revision magically incorporates that feature (a good example would be Firewire on the 13-inch macbooks). They aren't at all vocal about this, so people see Apple as being super closed, but I think that they do care a lot about what customers think. The…

I would say this a good example of them being closed and not appearing to care what their customers think:

http://mantia.me/blog/macbook-pro-thousands-of-colors

And, showing this isn't a one-time thing:

http://www.betanews.com/article/Apple-Sued-Over-MacBook-Disp...

Re: Apple again offers matte screen option for 15-inch MacBook Pro

#12

Post by raquo »

dlevine wrote: post #5

It's interesting how responsive Apple is to customer feedback. A lot of times, customers complain about Apple's new product leaving out some feature, and then the next revision magically incorporates that feature (a good example would be Firewire on the 13-inch macbooks). They aren't at all vocal about this, so people see Apple as being super closed, but I think that they do care a lot about what customers think. The…

They wouldn't have needed to bring back matte displays have they listened to their users and not removed this option in the first place.

__

I don't know why they fanatically remove useful features and options. It's 2009, and I can't even choose a _custom_ color to serve as a wallpaper for Mac OS X, only one of _ten_ colors provided by Apple. It's so unimaginably idiotic to have to create a png file for this purpose.

Re: Apple again offers matte screen option for 15-inch MacBook Pro

#13

Post by CamperBob »

cookiecaper wrote: post #3

In what situation would someone prefer glossy? I don't get that. Glossy is obviously much worse. Can someone explain this to me?

Make your widget look better in the store, and you sell more widgets. A trick as old as TV retailing.

Re: Apple again offers matte screen option for 15-inch MacBook Pro

#14

Post by cesare »

yalestar wrote: post #9

Amen to this. I've never understood the appeal of glossy displays. To me they're almost unusuable except under the most ideal lighting conditions.

Glossy displays are cheaper to make (since they lack the anti-glare coating).

Most consumers even prefer glossy vs matte (especially when they see them side to side at the shop) because the matte coating (obviously) reduces brightness and colors are perceived as less vibrant. Of course, as soon as you have to work with them (apart from viewing a movie in a dark room) you'll regret it.

Cheaper + clueless consumer = market trend.

The previous generation of MBP had both options. I bought the matte, and the price (IIRC) was the same.

I believe that Apple didn't offer this option for these models from the beginning because the screen of unibody machines has glass in front of it and so the process to add the coating wasn't ready yet or it was much more costly.

Re: Apple again offers matte screen option for 15-inch MacBook Pro

#15

Post by axod »

cookiecaper wrote: post #3

In what situation would someone prefer glossy? I don't get that. Glossy is obviously much worse. Can someone explain this to me?

Blacks look blacker :/ In the right lighting it looks far brighter with better contrast I think. Just depends on what your lighting is though.

Re: Apple again offers matte screen option for 15-inch MacBook Pro

#16

Post by javanix »

yalestar wrote: post #9

Amen to this. I've never understood the appeal of glossy displays. To me they're almost unusuable except under the most ideal lighting conditions.

No kidding.

They look nicer when the computer is turned off? Is that really worth the extra glare for people?

Re: Apple again offers matte screen option for 15-inch MacBook Pro

#17

Post by figital »

The glossy screens are certainly nicer for watching crisp video. I wish I had gotten the matte screen as I don't watch much on my computer. (Glossy certainly looks better in the showroom)

I did buy a screen protector at the Mac Store for my iTouch which mimics a matte finish on top of the glossy screen. If I were to buy the upcoming larger-screen iTouch tablet I would highly recommend getting a matte finish to cut down on glare & fingerprints, etc.

Re: Apple again offers matte screen option for 15-inch MacBook Pro

#18

Post by modoc »

cookiecaper wrote: post #3

In what situation would someone prefer glossy? I don't get that. Glossy is obviously much worse. Can someone explain this to me?

I use my laptop mostly indoors in my home office with controlled lighting. The glossy screen looks better, deeper blacks, more vibrant colors, etc... While I wouldn't use it for photo or pre-press work, I really like it in general.

Re: Apple again offers matte screen option for 15-inch MacBook Pro

#19

Post by axod »

javanix wrote: post #16
yalestar wrote: post #9

Amen to this. I've never understood the appeal of glossy displays. To me they're almost unusuable except under the most ideal lighting conditions.

No kidding. They look nicer when the computer is turned off? Is that really worth the extra glare for people?

I don't think it's quite as clear cut.

Matte never look black, more a sort of dark grey. Contrast+brightness on glossy seems better.

Re: Apple again offers matte screen option for 15-inch MacBook Pro

#20

Post by mustpax »

raquo wrote: post #10

So now they acknowledge that glossy screen is even $50 _inferior_ to matte.

That's one way to look at it. Another way would be that lower production volume for matte screens means higher per unit cost, so they have to make up for this with the additional $50.
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