A report yesterday suggested that the two iPhone 17 Pro models could get an anti-reflective display, after Apple’s suppliers managed to overcome production difficulties.
I do love anti-reflective displays, and still have very fond memories of my all-time favorite Apple one from way back in 2004, but an iPhone one would have only moderate appeal to me …
There was a time when all screens were matte. Then along came glossy screens, Apple and the rest of the tech industry fell in love with them, and now it’s hard to find anything else.
I personally think this was one of the worst things to happen to laptop screens and external monitors. The non-reflective coating was one of the things I adored about the 30-inch Apple Cinema Display launched way back in 2004. Because on a large screen, when you’re doing things like editing photos, it really makes a massive difference.
Apple brought an anti-reflective screen back as an option in the 6K Pro Display XDR in 2019 with what they called nano-texture, but at a whopping $1,000 premium over the standard glossy one. The company then started slowly rolling it out to other products, with the 2020 iMac next in line at a somewhat more reasonable but still eye-raising premium of $500.
You can buy inexpensive anti-glare screen protectors for anything from iPhones to Macbooks, but it’s not the same as nano-texture. Back in 2021, my colleague Chance Miller called on Apple to offer a nano-texture display for both iPad and MacBook, a call the company heeded first with the iPad and later with the MacBook Pro. Zac Hall wanted Apple to go ever further, and nano-texture all the things.
I would so love nano-texture options everywhere! Nano-texture Apple Watch, nano-texture iPhone.
A modest majority of you agreed in our poll:
Glossy for life: 37%
Matte is where it’s at: 51%
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