New Macbook with matte screen possible?

Wanted to pick up a macbook for several months now so I waited for the new macbook to come out but the only drawback is the glossy screen.
Any chance Apple will offer matte screens anytime soon (say MacWorld next month?)? thanks!

 

Really don't think it's going to happen, simply because the MB is the low-end Apple notebook, and most people who buy this notebook are consumers, and the majority of everyday consumers prefer a glossy, vibrant screen. Now the 17-inch MBP has a matte screen, because most professionals pick the MBP over the consumer line MB. Professionals also prefer the non-glossy screen for high end photo and movie editing.

 

Nope. They haven't had matte as an option on the standard MacBook for nearly three years or so.

 

Yeah, MacBooks have been glossy since their inception, I believe.

On top of that, one of the new trumpeted features of the Unibodies is the edge-to-edge glass covering, meaning putting a matte screen in is impossible.

You can, however, buy an anti-glare coating that should help with the reflections.

 

haven't* been matte

(or)

have been glossy*

 

If that were true about "professionals" (come on, the MacBook Pro is just a consumer notebook priced twice as high as an equal consumer PC) then why is the 15.4" MBP now glossy only?

The whole matte versus glossy thing only exists because a very small number of people mistakenly believe that matte is better. In reality, matte distorts the image, blurs the text, and washes out the color. The matte coating actually diffuses light and the image, which causes the distortion. Glossy does not do this.

Plus people can NOT compare matte and print. Two entirely different mediums. Print uses vastly different technology to deliver the visible product plus it relies on ambient lighting to be visible, while the LCD screen generates the image and light itself. The two are as different as computers and cars.

 

The matte format would not fit into the Uni-Body screen lid right. That's why the 17-inch MBP has Matte, because it will fit into the screen properly, and plus that's the high end notebook.

 

Didn't you notice that the 17" system was not updated that day that the MacBook and 15.4" MacBook Pros were?

Didn't you notice it still uses the older GPU (which is faulty) and older Santa Rosa chipset with slower DDR2 RAM?

Don't you remember that the 17" Core Duo MacBook Pro didn't debut until 2 months after the 15.4" MacBook Pro started shipping? The 15.4" MacBook Pro actually got a nice processor upgrade and was on its second revision by the time the 17" model came out. Apple was still shipping the 17" G4 PowerBook in that 2 months it was shipping 2 different 15.4" MacBook Pros.

So its not a matter of the 17" being the "high end" model, when its considerably lower-end hardware wise compared to the 15.4" models, it's just the fact that Apple hasn't updated it yet. http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...ore-2-duo-2.5-17-early-2008-penryn-specs.html It's the same model released almost 1 year ago.

Edit: the 17" did receive a couple of updates. Apple bumped the screen resolution up to 1920x1200. What it should have been to begin with. They also bumped the RAM to 4GB default, also what it should have been before, as well as the HDD space. But otherwise its exactly the same. It is most certainly not high end considering its still the Santa Rosa chipset, its still the faulty 8600M GT, and it still has the older weaker casing.

 

It was reported by several outlets in Oct/Nov that Apple had issues in getting the unibody 17" MBPs ready for release at the same time as the 13/15 models, and that was the main reason for the minor bumps in specs when the others got the complete refresh..... but that they (17 MBP) will also be changed to the new form sometime in the first quarter 09 so the line maintains its uniformity across models.

 

Heh, fixed. Thanks.

 

I was mainly referring to the screen quality and resolution of the current 17-inch MBP.

 

the same company the makes screen films for iPhones and iPods make anti-glare screen protectors, waste of money if you ask me though. Adaptation is free and usually good for you in the end.

 

Thanks for all your comments. Didn't know Apple never made non-glossy macbooks.

went to the Apple store to take a look again today. The reflections weren't too bad but the store was dimly lit. also looked at the Air and liked it a lot but it's just too overpriced for me and I would probably kick myself later for buying it. thought about the pro but they're just too bulky and heavy.

Will give myself a couple more days/weeks to decide

 

The Macbook Air has a very good screen. I've owned two and love it. It's semi glossy and there for not very reflective. It's got excellent brightness, contrast and blacklevels. Working outside on it is no problem, even in bright sunlight. Well one time when I was wearing a white shirt with long sleeves it made it a bit more difficult.

If you don't really need more power or connections I recommend picking up a second hand Air.

 

QFL. "Quote For Lies."

 

No offence but I hope you're being sarcastic.

I've worked with quite a few pros in the graphics business and every single one of them would completely disagree with you.

I've personally worked with MBPs from the last gen with both glossy and matte screens mainly with Aperture and Photoshop for cataloguing and printing and I'm sorry to say that the matte blows the glossy out of the water for screen-to-print accuracy.

Now, I haven't worked with the new MBPs so it's possible that these new glossy screens are excellent. And if glossy works for you then that's what matters.

 

Exactly what I was getting to.