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I'm discouraged that for those of us wanting matte displays, we have to get a pretty crummy looking white-gray border around the screen rather than the sleek black edge that normal MacBook Pros come with:

Is there a way to get a matte display without having to get the terrible-looking edge? Could I buy a regular MacBook and use some commercial screen overlay which would give the same effect without compromising the black edge?

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Uh, there is no "normal" MacBook Pro. MacBook Pros and PowerBooks had matte screens long before Apple went to glossy. I have a MacBook Pro with an Apple-supplied matte screen and love it. I have no idea how people can do serious work on a glossy screen: reflection, over saturated colors, ugly black edges (just a joke). One thing about the glossy screen: the screen resolution is a bit lower and so, easier to read. My screen's native resolution is higher and so, a bit tougher on my old eyeballs. – Richard Dec 16 '11 at 18:22
I agree, I can't stand glary, glossy screens. Heaven only knows how much damage I've done to my eyes by working on a laptop with a glossy screen; as soon as I switched to 27" matte ViewSonic displays, the frequency of headaches and the vision problems I was having dramatically decreased. By saying "normal," I mean "glossy," as when you order, it's an "upgrade" to get matte. – TK Kocheran Dec 16 '11 at 18:49
It just seems weird to me that they'd do the weird edge; my ViewSonic monitors have matte screens but glossy edges and they look great. – TK Kocheran Dec 16 '11 at 18:50
TK: "Weird" is in the eye of the beholder. Note that the most popular portable Mac on earth at the moment, the MacBook Air has your "weird" edge AND a semi-glossy screen: apple.com/macbookair – Richard Dec 16 '11 at 21:33

3 Answers

up vote 2 down vote

There are lots of options a simple Google search for Macbook screen protector brings up many sheets of anit-glare plastic that can be applied over the screen in the same way as an iPhone protector.

http://www.gearzap.com/power-support-anti-glare-screen-protector-macbook-pro-13-inch.html

Is one of the first page hits, it is UK based though.

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Yes, a $10 matte electro-static overlay + a glossy MacBook Pro is ideal. I opted for a matte MBP, and not only is it less pretty, I wound up buying a screen overlay in the end anyways (to avoid getting dust all over the screen), which makes it about the same level of gloss as the alternative anyways! – username Dec 16 '11 at 21:27
up vote 1 down vote

I once saw someone using a sort of matte finish film on their MacBook display which seemed pretty effective.

It was something like the item in this review

Looks like you'd have to be very careful when applying it.

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up vote 1 down vote

I have one of these on my glossy 15" MacBook Pro and love it. I use the same film on my iPhone 4S (and have used it previously on iPhone 4 and iPhone 3G with great success).

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Thanks for the personal recommendation here, it's most appreciated. :) – TK Kocheran Dec 16 '11 at 23:26

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