I understand that mobile phones have glossy screens to be more scratch resistant (although I'd still prefer a matte phone), but why laptops? Even MacBook Pro used to have a matte screen option 10 years ago but now all you can do is either buy an ugly screen protector or hide from the light.
On phones, capacitive screens use a glass layer. Apple extended the glass layer to the laptops because it looked better (probably because matte screens looked worse than phones). Before them the screens were matte. Of course, everybody copied Apple and introduced glossy screens, because when looking at a glossy and a matte screen next to one another (in a shop) the glossy will win. And of course, everybody introduced glossy screens without the anti-reflection coating that Apple uses (cargo cult), so it made everything worse.
There was a time period when you had to really search for a non-glossy screen. Now it's a bit better, you can find them, but the touchscreen ones will always be glossy, and I did not yet see an OLED without glossy screen (could be because they are more fragile, although folding OLEDs do exist, so it's not clear).
As a developer, I could not use a glossy screen for the life of me. Thankfully there are many laptops with matte screen. I keep an up to date collection of them on Product Chart:
https://www.productchart.com/laptops/sets/1
I made a show HN when I created it for the first time. Let me find it ... ha! 5 years ago:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10197939
Unless we discover a type of glass that lets light pass in only one direction, this divide between matte and glossy screens will probably continue up to the day we all wear VR headsets.
Non-coated glossy screens or with a cheap coating are clearly inferior in this regard.
Coming now to other motivations, a glossy screen at the point of sale: A Macbook with a glossy screen in a shiny Apple Store is just way more impressive and will trigger more impulse buys. It's like a jewel or expensive watch sparkling in all its glory at you. Glossy screens go also seamlessly to the edges or in other words, there is no bumpy plastic edge which just looks more like a slick and polished product. In contrast, ThinkPads are more of an enterprise product and not in need to trigger impulse buys + need to signal "hey I am workhorse for professional users" => matte screen. But be aware that Lenovo puts glossy screens on very similar specced Yoga models which target consumers and are found at the point of sales. Those models have also more showy aluminium cases while the Thinkpads have also beautiful cases but their beauty is more of a subtly beauty which needs longer to lure buyers into a buy (if they aren't loyal ThinkPad users already). To drive this even further, Lenovo recently introduced alu-cased Thinkpads and a new subbrand "Thinkbooks" to target really any user out there. So, matte or glossy is more about demographics and their value system and beliefs than about functionality.
Last advantage which most forget: High-dpi screens have eg way crisper fonts on glossy than on matte, hence are overall sharper, eg code or a terminal on a 300dpi glossy screen is just incredible (check out 4K 13-14 inch notebooks or Dells 8K 32 inch).
Why this didn't happen to monitors I'm not sure. Perhaps monitors are more often purchased online based on comparing specs, but laptops are more of a fashion item since we managed to make computers pervasive in society.
- glossy (glass): vivid, easy to care for, susceptible to reflections, cheaper.
- matte (anti-glare): colors not as strong, can be comfortable. Worst in bright sunlight.
- anti-reflective: colors almost as vivid as glossy, difficult to care for, costly. Not really difficult (warm water and soft cloth) but more difficult than the general public can do. Used on high-end displays/TVs.
You can tell the difference between anti-glare and anti-reflective as one has more texture/grain vs smooth. Also when looking at the reflection of a point source of light, the anti-reflective will dim the point, the anti-glare will spread it out like a ball, which is why it washes out in bright ambient light.
For a high resolution mobile screen only glossy and anti-reflective would give a good image in wide range of lighting (assuming you can shuffle to avoid reflections). Care and cost prohibit anti-reflective.
My preferences are anti-reflective for home monitors, glossy for laptops, phones, tablets.
(To clarify, Glossy screen is part of the reasons, but there are tons of thing I hate about macbook pro)
https://www.reddit.com/r/Monitors/comments/gyii6k/gaming_mon...
Some of the flashier models from the Apple wannabe manufacturers are starting to go glossy or have a glass overlay, especially if they have a touchscreen, but the vast majority of laptop displays are still matte.
E.g. All Thinkpads and Dell XPS models are available with matte displays
There are e-ink displays with colours, and there are e-ink displays with acceptable (to me) refreshrates (around 30hz). I'm not aware of any display that has both, but surely it will come.
Thing is, I don't think anyone will build a laptop with such a display, cause everyone is into selling sexy looking mirrors.
Hopefully Apple's micro-etched matte tech from the Pro Display XDR makes its way down to consumer machines.
- laptops are purchased by consumers and are shiny and modern looking. Personally I think glossy sucks, but it's like buying a shiny clean car when you see it in the store.
- monitors meanwhile, are very large and will not fall "in your shadow" so to speak. You will see everything behind you. Even with a matte screen, I have to turn off lights behind me to see dark ares on the screen, like when watching a movie.
It doesn't look pretty compared to a macbook, but it's much better on the eyes in a lit room.
Poor IQ people go for glossy, Good IQ people go matte. So, manufactures are forced to release more and more glossy laptops. Certainly, Apple played a big role in pushing glossy. Please forgive, I don't want to insult people with Laptop. I too have one glossy Laptop and two matte Desktop. It is a cruel joke for me!.