[Schneb]

Well, personally, I think R&D is getting lazy. The Apple motto used to be "think different" whereas now it should be "think our way". The answer is simple, the glass should be attached to the body via a shallow lip. The default screen is glossy, however, for a nominal fee, you can purchase a replacement matte glass which includes small plastic wedges that can pop the screen out. The Apple store will replace it for free under warranty.

This is better marketing. You provide the choice to the user and let them decide what is best for them. You then gather your bean-counters and tally how many people chose the upgrade path, and how much more money you made by offering it. I'm in marketing, and to me, this is Marketing Basics 101.

[RiversideGuy]

They won't give you what you want because they already know 90% of the "bitchers & moaners" will capitulate and buy the glossy screen anyway.
The only unusual thing is that when the fruit does it's typical "let's abruptly and without any warning drop this" the fanbois jump up and "shout down" anyone who complain or even tries to show how and why it was a bad move. BUT interestingly enough, those guys calling us idiots seem to be muted.
So let me be clear, Apple builds and designs what Jobs wants. Period. Glossy screens make for much better in store WOW factor, Apple is all about WOW factor, thereby matte screens are banished.
My way or the highway.
BTW, I'm cultivating some PC techs who know how to run X on common hardware... I'd suggest same to those who aren't getting any hardware love from the wormy fruit.

[PetitPaul]

Year after year, it is becoming more and more obvious that Apple is moving away from the actual professional users market into the consumer users market. And this, probably, for the great benefit of Apple stocks.
Us, as professional users, we'll need to get accustomed to the fact that Apple has left us behind, us that has helped saving the Apple brand. But who cares...
You only have to look at how much interest Apple has devoted to it's Pro applications lately (Final Cut Studio I'm talking about), that is almost zero, and to it's "Pro" machines (What? No BluRay? Even as Build to Order? Not even BluRay authoring in DVD Studio Pro).
Expect the imminent disappearing of Apple Servers anytime soon, and Server version of MacOS X in the wake of it. Too costely to develop and maintain, no significant margins. Hence, bye bye...
It is a very very sad time for all of us, but I assume, we'll have to learn to live without Apple for our professional needs and switch to real "Pro" configurations, most likely one on the Unix and/or Linux flavor.
Very sad times... Good bye Apple, we loved you, you know...

[BAMann]

I will add that this issue isn't limited to graphic/photo oriented pro users. I am basically a writer. I don't need fast video or accurate color. I do, however, need to be able to spend many hours with the screen. I've tried the glare-o-ramas and it's impossible. Of course, I won't go PC...I do that at one of my jobs and don't like it. But I will hold on to my wonderful little G4 PB and even consider buying a "backup" from eBay or something.

I guess Apple never heard about "New Coke."

[BAMann]

I agree, this is very sad. And it's not even smart for the consumer market. I consider myself mostly consumer and most of the people I know who use computers are, in fact, the consumer market. True, the computer is just a toaster. We want it to look nice, work properly, make good toast. But even we consumers don't like the glare-o-ramas. I believe my consumer-friends, if we were given the CHOICE, would opt for a toaster that didn't shine eye-piercing light beams at us if held at the wrong angle.

[Timichango]

I've got a petition going to bring back the Matte screens - get your signatures in there!
www.ipetitions.com/petition/matte-macbook-pro/index.html



just wanted to mention that this is the same petition posted above by rogue68, but with the correct URL!
Message was edited by: Timichango - clarification added regarding previous petition link.

[Mac212]

They should call them the MacBook Mirrors. Great for grooming while on location. :(


See illustration here.

[repmek]

Clearly, the MacBook "Pro" is not targeted at the PROfessional anymore. The addition of "Pro" is a joke. Just call'em all MacBooks. Who needs a matte screen, FW400, BluRay storage anyway? Maybe some day there will be a laptop deserving to be called "Pro" again.

Apple is abandoning it's graphic professional base. It is a shame. I won't buy a glossy screen laptop or desktop. No thanks, Mr. Jobs.

[mcleodmorgan]

Regarding the glossy, reflective, glary screen in which I see my own silhouette:
Why, why, why would Apple marketers bow to the CFO on inventory economies of scale issues. So very inconsistent to the overall branding strategy of Apple user-sweet products. Hello... this world runs on choice and personalization. Bad enough there is no 17" upgrade but this essentially is a block play for graphic designers. I'm glad I bought the 2.6GHz MacBook Pro when I did and will savor it's matteness until the uproar awakens Steve.

[dreyfus]

ericole said:

I think that b/c all of the generic PC makers are now using (exclusively?) this type of screen, that's all you're going to see from Apple. If they are the only ones selling matte screens, the cost of them would be significantly higher I would think. Plus, they won't "look" as good if someone was comparing the two side-by-side. The first reason is hard to get over, the second one is because of somebody's stupid idea to go to the glossy screens in the first place and everyone else jumping on board.

This is definitely not the case. E.g. Lenovo and Toshiba do still carry matte panels, Lenovo even makes two series (W500/W700) that cater exclusively to the creative crowd. At a price point similar to the MacBook "Pro" (which is not pro anymore and even comes in a white box now to prove it), you get more resolution on the 15" model, Wireless USB, UMTS, Turbo Memory and all the stuff Apple has (BT, WiFi, "iSight", "Superdrive" or optional an BD-drive)... Bottom line the Lenovo is cheaper - so the cost argument does not last either.

Even out of the manufacturers offering glossy panels, with only a very few models they are stupid enough to add insult to injury by putting an additional glass panel over them - to make sure colors are hyper-wrong, contrast is hyper-off and reflections are extra-dimensional. It requires the fading star of Sir Ive to invent such junk. (Well, he said the new Books look more impressive on the inside than on the outside! He was right about it.)

[farleftone]

Do I take this to mean that if I want to use OS X on a matte screen in the future I have to:

Buy a MacPro or MacMini and get a monitor from another company?

And there is NO Option for a matt laptop except a stick-on?

Apple has been increasing their sales due to quality, it's too bad they've changed direction.

Yes, I did go this morning to the Apple store, bought a 23" matte screen. Yes, it was expensive but I'll be able to see it.

Steve in Hawaii

[dreyfus]

farleftone said:

And there is NO Option for a matt laptop except a stick-on?

Well, actually these stick-ons do only work to a certain degree with sheer glossy panels. Apple's ultimate disaster concept is worse than that - there is a glossy panel plus a glass screen on top of it. No stick-on will be able to completely fix that - actually even if you would use a 100% hood covering your entire body and the laptop, you would still see your own reflections (caused by the light being emitted from the screen). All a stick-on will do is reduce glare somewhat at the expense of making colors and contrast even worse.

[ToddBradley]

I use my 15" MBP for video editing, and was really looking forward to replacing it with the latest, fastest, hottest thing. I've been saving my money for months waiting for this new line of portables to come out. Everything sounds great about the new MBP, but then I read about the lack of a matte screen. At first I said that's a deal breaker, but then I decided to give Apple the benefit of the doubt.

This afternoon, after work, I drove down to the local Apple Store. Sadly, they didn't have a single of the new MBP on display. But they did have some of the new MacBooks. So I tried one out, knowing it's mostly the same from a screen and keyboard perspective. God, the display was so terrible! I arranged it in every pose possible within the store, and looked at it from every angle. There's just absolutely no way I could use this display for video editing, and I probably couldn't stand it for even day-to-day web surfing and word processing.

It really made me sad, after having saved my pennies to upgrade to the new top of the line Apple notebook. I've got all this money burning a hole in my pocket, but nothing to spend it on. I guess at this point my options boil down to the following:

1) keep my old MBP and upgrade the RAM with 3rd party chips, and continue to use that

2) hope some 3rd party comes out with a display upgrade to a matte finish

3) wait for Apple to come up with another product line update, which is likely to be 9 to 18 months away, and hope they gain their senses to offer a matte option

4) buy a top end "PC" notebook with a matte finish, and run Mac OS (and Final Cut Studio) illegally on it

Any suggestions?

[myramoki]

ToddBradley said:

... I guess at this point my options boil down to the following:

1) keep my old MBP and upgrade the RAM with 3rd party chips, and continue to use that

2) hope some 3rd party comes out with a display upgrade to a matte finish

3) wait for Apple to come up with another product line update, which is likely to be 9 to 18 months away, and hope they gain their senses to offer a matte option

4) buy a top end "PC" notebook with a matte finish, and run Mac OS (and Final Cut Studio) illegally on it

Any suggestions?

Go with option 4. Apple doesn't care about you as a customer obviously, why should you care about them as someone to spend your money on?

Apple is holding OS X hostage in their machines, and while I think Psystar needs to be squished, more and more I think it would be good if in some part their lawsuit opened up the market for others to build Apple hardware that actually satisfied the needs of us consumers (both regular and professional).