MacBook Pro First Look: Glossy or Matte? (1/4)

Vincent Alzieu
October 24, 2008 1:35 PM

Following last month's announcements, we've just got our hands on a MacBook Pro. Given the amount of controversy that has been kicked up by the glossy screen, we've decided to take a look at it in detail before we publish our full test.

We've broken this first look at the MBP's new glossy screen up into four sections:

Part 1: Glossy or Matte?

Part 2: Brightness and Contrast Measurements

Part 3: Color Fidelity

Part 4: LED Performance

Part 1: Glossy or Matte?

Before the 15'' MacBook Pro even arrived in our labs, we had read all sorts about the performance of its glossy screen on blogs and forums.

So, when we came to unpack it, we had more than a few questions.

Does the anti-glare treatment that has apparently been applied really work?

Do you get used to the reflections anyway, or is it really a deal-breaker?

Was Steve Jobs right to suggest that the brightness of the screen more than made up for the chance of it reflecting ambiant light sources?

Comparison One: MacBook Pro vs. a PC laptop

At first glance, you might be tempted to claim that Apple has made one of the glossiest screens ever, and when you first take it out ot the box the shininess is certainly stunning.

But as you can see here, where we've put it up against a laptop from Fujitsu-Siemens' P-Series, the MBP isn't any more glossy than some of its PC cousins.

Left: MacBook Pro 15'' -- Right: Fujitsu-Siemens P series

What is different, though, is the fact that the MBP's screen is contained inside a glossy frame, rather than the matte plastic of the Fujisu-Siemens model, which gives the impression of a single surface which appears glossier than it actually is.

Comparison Two: MacBook Pro vs. a Matte LCD

Up against a matte screen, the glossiness of the MBP is really apparent:

Left: MacBook Pro 15'' -- Right: Dell Inspiron

The Dell model here is a genuine matte screen--not a glossy model with an anti-glare coating, but a 100% matte number.

In case you remain in any doubt about just how reflective the glossy panel on the MBP is, here's a photo of your author that just wouldn't have been possibly if I were looking at a matte panel:

The MacBook Pro with the power off

What's it like in real life?

To be fair to Apple, the photo you can see above was taken while the MBP was switched off. It's a different story when you power it up and get on with some work.

Here's what it looks like when you power it up:

The MacBook Pro with just natural light

With the MBP sat on the desk, with no artificial light but plenty of sunlight pouring in the window, it was perfectly useable.

It's so bright (see Part 3) that you don't really notice the reflections unless you go looking for them.

Having said that, in the corners--the lower ones, in particular--where the image is darker, the screen still acts like something of a mirror.

Nevertheless, the colors elsewhere are accurate and the screen is very easy on the eye ...

Turning on the office lights lights--in our case strip lights to the right of my desk, rather than directly above it--made the refrlections more noticeable:

The MacBook Pro with natural light + office lights

If you look closely, you can see a wall to the left. It's annoying, sure, but no worse than on other laptops we've tested with glossy screens.

Watching a Movie

Sliding in the DVD of French movie Amélie, the section of the screen used to display the widescreen footage is impressively bright and a treat to watch.

However, as you can see here, the black bars created by the 16:9 aspect ratio are very glossy--along the top you can see my head, and down at the bottom the MBP's keyboard is reflected.

Despite the brightness of the main image, the reflections above and below are just too distracting unless you're watching a DVD in the dark.

Watching a movie on the MacBook Pro inside

What's it like outside?

How the MacBook Pro performs when you're outside under natural light very much depends on the ambient conditions.

In the first photo here, we were outside but not in direct sunlight, and the reflections are bearable (but still there on the top-right of the screen), but when the sunlight is brighter, in the second photo, it's a lot harder to see what's going on.