On Tuesday Apple announced their redesigned MacBook and MacBook Pro, as well as an updated Cinema Display. The new lineup is undoubtedly gorgeous, streamlined, and a good step forward for the consumers.

What’s conspicuously absent in Apple’s new lineup is any new matte screen option. Despite the fact that 17″ MacBook Pros and older Cinema Displays are still available, it looks like soon there won’t be a single Apple product without a reflective display.

Glass covered displays have brilliant color saturation and deep blacks, but I feel they have three major issues for use in my work:

1. Color Accuracy – I’m skeptical that even with hardware calibration that they can be as accurate as a matte display.
2. Glare – A notebook is a mobile machine, one that will undoubtedly find itself in a variety of lighting conditions. It can be a huge disadvantage to have a reflective screen, and certainly makes working outdoors nearly impossible.
3. Non Standard – Granted this is a pretty arbitrary issue, but it’s something I feel strongly about. When preparing work for web delivery – whether that be photography or general web design, I want to use the monitor that most closely represents what an average reader will be using. Glass covered displays might become the norm, but they aren’t now.

Only time will tell, and I’ll admit my experience with Apple’s newer glass displays has been limited to two days work on a current generation iMac. It’s possible my fears are overblown, but it seems just as possible that the next time I’m in need of a display upgrade Apple’s displays won’t even be considered.