Glossy v. Matte screen: color reproduction

Got to visit the apple store and talk to some to help me with what I'm looking for in a new laptop, but I forgot to ask one thing: color reproduction.

I got a chance to use an anti glare MBP and when I switched over to the glossy display, glare hit me like a brick wall. I am going into animation next year and I heard that colors can be washed out a bit on the anti glare screen however I am not sure if this is 100% true. Basically how is color reproduction on the anti glare display compared to the glossy display?

 

Colors will be more true-to-form without the glossy display's additional saturation. They will also look quite a bit washed-out, though I found it to be a minor difference at the Apple Store.

Honestly, if you're going to spend $1900-$2000 on an antiglare MacBook Pro, just find a way to splurge a little on the Retina MacBook Pro. If you care about the display, which you do by asking, the difference is hugely worth it. Color reproduction on the Retina Display is by far better on it compared to both the glossy and antiglare, you will also see up to four times more detail in your work. Not only that, but the Retina display is about 25%-75% less reflective than the standard glossy.

 

Well when I talked to the guy about what to look for he mentioned that I would most likely need the 3720qm model which for the retina MBP would shoot it up to $2699 without extras. That being said I don't really believe the rMBP is for me per say.

Also random but would you consider apple care to be worth it for someone like me who wants to "future proof" it?

 

you really dont need to spend the extra $1000 on the marginal processor upgrade for animation. You'll probably use separate computers (or many separate computers using your computer lab as a render farm) to do your rendering.

The process of animating itself is not that system intensive.

You also don't need super accurate color reproduction for animation. You need super-accurate colors for print media, or possibly certain types of web media. For animation, and particularly animation study, you just need a brain and preferably two hands, and a decent computer with a nice high resolution display (possibly multiple displays).

 

The sales rep misled you, shocker. You would see a small performance boost with the 3720QM model, although you will without a doubt find the Retina Display model to be a bigger difference overall in terms of usefulness. The flash memory in the MacBook Pro Retina model will actually yield a more noticeable performance increase. You won't regret going with the base Retina model, it has a smaller footprint as well, and of course there's a much better display.

 

The Retina display is nowhere near 75% less reflective. I'd give you 25% but no more.

 

I only included that range since Apple claims up to 75%, which isn't so unbelievable when taking outside use into consideration in comparisons I've seen.

 

I always thought the increase from the 2.3 to 2.6ghz was more reasonable oppose to the 2.7ghz cpu. Also there is something about the rMBP that keeps me away: If I wanted more memory, more storage, I have to buy it altogether, I can't user upgrade anything. Plus I do sometimes want to be able to use the OD. Plus the 256gb ssd would be to little for actual use (I have a 250gb hd) and i I get into intense work I'd want 16gb ram so I wouldn't have to worry bout running out. That already raises the price to about $2900.

P.S. if I did do upgrades and something not related to those upgrades messes up, If I swap it out will my warranty still be voided?

 

Definitely matte + RGB LED!

 

OWC is offering SSD upgrades for the RMBP right now. They are a little expensive but are user replaceable (though it might violate Apple's warranty) and OWC offers free instructions online. As it stands, that is the only thing that can be upgraded aftermarket.

It appears that is the direction Apple is moving though. They did it in the 2010 MBA, 2011 MBA, 2012 MBA, and now the 2012 RMBP. Ditching the optical drive and going all custom gives them the opportunity to make thin notebooks. With an optical drive, I have no doubts the 15" RMBP would be thicker and heavier than the current standard 15" MBP to accommodate the larger battery.

Some people like the design, some don't. I ditched my optical drive back in January whenever I purchased my MBA. I still have an external USB one but I rarely ever use it. I think the drive has gone for 5 months now without even being plugged into my MBA. Anytime I do use it, it is to copy content off of a data disc and onto one of my hard drives to have a digital backup. The loss of a built-in optical drive seems to be something many people are willing to "live" with. I know someone who spent the extra money to buy a Windows notebook with a built-in Blu-ray drive and they have yet to watch a single movie (DVD or Blu-ray) on their computer.

 

It seems you should be fine with going for the retina macbook pro base model (but with 16gb ram). You will fall in love with the screen right away (trust me, I got to look at one the other day and having it set at 1920x1200... it still looks incredible with tons of space for windows and such). Also, as said before you can buy OWC ssds, but can also buy a simple usb3 external drive or thunderbolt drive. I have a small 300gb usb powered drive I use for my macbook pro that can easily fit inside my pocket; they're extremely useful for storing data on and barely have a very small size impact. And optical drives can be bought for like $20 if you ever really need one.

So in all honesty, I'd go with the retina. Learning from my mistakes, you might as well spend a little extra now then regret it down the road. It's a great computer that will last you a very long time.

 

I respect everyone's input, and as tempting as the rMBP sounds, I'm gonna have to turn it down for the MBP w antiglare display for these reasons:
There's a 99% chance I won't utilize the Retina Display to make that a deciding factor.
I cannot stand to be so restricted on user upgrades & post warranty upgrades.
I can save money for upgrades when I NEED them.
Personally, I like the size of the standard MBP better.

All in all while it is a nice machine and great screen, it isn't for me and I am confident that I'll do just fine with the normal MBP.

Also can someone confirm on if the 2.6ghz cpu is worth it/not (the support specialist suggested this due to the possibility of working with Maya in college)?

 

So you like the idea of carrying around a thicker, heavier unit? Granted, it may not be by much but the standard 15" MBP is thicker, wider, and heavier than the RMBP. It's perfectly fine if you won't want to spend the extreme amount of extra money Apple is wanting for the RMBP (I know I won't be getting one until they come down into the $1500 price range whether it is a 13" or 15" unit). However, at least to me, saying that you prefer the larger, heavier unit seems like it is a bit of a stretch.

As for the processor upgrade, it isn't required. I'm not sure what Maya is but, if it is the software offered by Autodesk (the same makers of AutoCAD), both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions run really smoothly on a Core 2 Duo with 4GB of RAM. The baseline Ivy Bridge CPU offered in a 15" MBP is going to blow away a Core 2 Duo with similar clock speeds meaning Maya will run just fine on the baseline hardware. The CPU upgrades that Apple offers are incremental at best and definitely not worth the higher prices since they don't offer that much of a real world performance increase. The higher speed processors might look better on paper (i.e. benchmarks) but I highly doubt you are going to notice those differences. Installing an SSD yourself will give you a much more noticeable speed boost than going from 2.3GHz processor to a 2.6GHz processor.

 

For what you're looking to do, absolutely not.

If you have Micro Center store near you, I would check out this deal:

Micro Center - MacBook Pro MD385LL/A 15.4" Laptop Computer - Silver

It's last year's model but includes the most powerful CPU you could get in that generation of MBP as well as the high-res antiglare screen. It will be more than adequate for your needs. Unfortunately, the offer is only valid in store, so you can't have it shipped. This machine would have cost $2649 at the Apple Store right before the new models came out, so this is a significant savings. The refurbished version of this exact system is $1829 plus tax (if applicable) from Apple.

I jumped on this myself and was able to sell my old MBP (early 2011 model with glossy screen and 2.2 GHz CPU) for about the same price, meaning the upgrade cost basically the equivalent of the sales tax. The antiglare screen is fantastic. It makes the machine much easier to work with at home and on the road.

 

Since I've been carrying around 6lb+ laptops for the past few years, yup, I can deal.

 

Thanks, however there's nothing in the link, also how is the gpu difference, and the fact that there is no usb 3.0?

 

hate to be the pessimist here boys, but if the OP is planning on doing alot of MAYA and its assiciated renders / rendering engines, the 650 is less than ideal. it uses FP64 where kepler GPU's get kicked around badly and is a sub par option.

for example my 650m vs a Quadro in the W530 is a pathetic 300%

quick link to old MAYA benchmarking
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/firepro-v3900-review-benchmark,3153-7.html

if you use vray-vt you actually want a Fermi based GPU on the nvidia side

as to origional question

MBP = about 70% sRGB matte, 65-67% glossy
MBP-r =about 95% sRGB, but whitepoint is way off

 

After looking through the core curriculum, yes MAYA will be used in 3D animation works, but won't happen until well into my college career (3 yrs most likely) whereas I'll get into 2D animation much sooner.

 

Going back to original question, the matte isn't as reflective as glossy, this mean reflective surface will bounce the environment color&brightness more freely, this lead to color inaccuracy from the viewer PoV. I mean it's not like the screen change itself everytime and thus color changes everytime, but rather the it's a mixture of being emitive and reflective surface that cause the appearance to be difference. When I got my rMBP I installed a protective screen then calibrate. I think if you care about color reproduction that much, you should already have the calibration tool.

 

what it comes down to, is that the matte mbp can be used outside and in brightly lit environments, which isn't very realistic on the glossy versions. The retina mbp is slightly more tolerable than the full-on glossy models, but you really want a matte display if you're going to work in a place with the potential for light to reflect off of the screen, or outside.

the 2.6 ghz cpu upgrade isn't necessary for you (or pretty much anyone else).

if you're going for a matte display mbp, you may want to look into a 2011 model to save a lot of money. You could probably walk away with a high res (1680x1050) matte display / quad core i7 / amd 6750 / applecare for about $1300 from a private party if you look for deals on craigslist / ebay (guessing).

 

How bout the gpu and us 3.0? BTW would 512mb vram be decent enough?

 

depends on what you are doing. it's probably a non-issue. it's not like people who bought high end apple laptops 4 months ago are going to have any disadvantage whatsoever in your classes with a computer requirement.

 

You need to choose a store from the drop-down menu at the top of the page. Pick "IL - Chicagoland/Central." It might not be near you, but that store does have lots in stock so you'll be able to the see the specs and the (very appealing) price. Simply choose the store nearest you if you want to make a purchase and see if they have stock. Most locations still have it.

As far as the GPU goes, the Radeon 6770M is going to perform worse than the 650M at least as far as gaming goes. It might be the same story for the professional stuff, though how great the difference is, I have no idea. For my own uses, the performance difference between the clearance 2011 and comparable-in-spec 2012 model is not enough to make up for the money I saved buying the former.

USB 3.0 is not a big deal as I don't have anything to take advantage of it. FireWire, Ethernet, and USB 2.0 more than satisfy my own peripheral connectivity requirements.

As a side note, one thing you might or might not know is that the 2011 MBP is capable of running up to 16 GB of DDR3-1600 RAM. Apple only lists a maximum of 8 GB of DDR3-1333. Not that it makes a ton of difference for most users, but in a professional setting, it's nice to know the capability is there.

I pretty regularly check Craigslist in Chicago, and these machines don't come up very often. The matte display is the hard part. You're spot on with your price estimate for the given specs, but the price people usually ask for such machines is much higher than that. It might be because, at least around here, matte screens don't come up very often. Prior to my buying the system in my signature from Micro Center, I was pursuing one on CL but the seller was completely unwilling to negotiate. He probably thought that because the matte screen is "rare" that he could get somewhere close to his high asking price.

 

On any given day, you likely wont be able to find a seller willing to sell at that price. You'll have to hunt and be willing to wait if you want to find a deal like that.

 

Thanks didn't know about the RAM, I did save an $1899 refurb model in the Apple Store so I can look into that.

 

That exact machine is $1599 at Micro Center.

 

An early 2011 model (matte) would be that price from my humble knowledge of Macs. I sold my earlier 2011 Mac glossy for around that price with 1 month left in apple care. I guess that it would depend upon supply and demand, as when I ended up buying my new matte MBP, there weren't many refurb mattes in the apple refurb store.

 

my estimate was 1300 with the extended warranty.

in the end, yes, the prices will fluctuate, and it will depend on supply and demand. 1300 is a good target for a picky buyer with the extended warranty