Stop a Macbook screen reflecting glare

Q I recently replaced my rather old laptop with a brand new Macbook. The new computer is great but has one key problem: when the sun shines through the window behind my desk it ruins my view of the screen.

I’m surprised as the old computer was used in exactly the same place and although the sun fell on the screen it did not have the same effect.

Dennis Evans

A This problem is caused by a reflective coating on the new laptop’s screen. Such coatings have become popular over the past few years as they make colours appear more vivid and blacks more inky, but the downside is that they tend to reflect bright lights: windows, spotlamps and fluorescent tubes are often reflected as annoying bright patches.

Although displays built for home users tend to have the shiny coating, many designed for offices do not – look for ‘anti-glare coating’ or similar in the product description.

As the computer is a laptop, though, your best option is to fit an anti-glare filter. Various types are available, from clip-on panels to thin films that stick permanently across the screen.

Custom-sized anti-glare films for Apple’s Macbook laptops are available from the Apple Store. At £30 they are not cheap, but far less expensive than a new display.

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