It's trivial and cheap to apply a matte screen protector if that's your preference.

But you can't convert a matte screen to glossy.

Also, matte doesn't necessarily translate to more legible outdoors either. Matte removes reflections by reducing contrast which has its own drawbacks.

Not on the new macbooks. You will break your display over time. The distance between screen and keyboard when closed is 0.1mm

If we keep talking about quality, you lose much more clarity/contrast by some 3rd party sticked matte layer than what manufacturer actually puts into screen itself. But I guess anything is better than cheap looking glossy screen intended for any serious work.

I would love to get a recommendation of a good glossy screen matte-er.

Honestly, and I'm not sure of the technical specifications, but the screen is so bright that I really never notice the reflections unless I'm in the absolute worst conditions- where I probably shouldn't be running my laptop outside in direct sunlight.

It's an interesting issue, because I have the same feelings about the recent launch of the SteamDeck. The highest priced model has an etched mat screen and the lower models have a reflective one. I'd say that it's far more noticeable in the steamdeck than it is on my macbook screen, even though they look very similar.

My guess is the adaptive brightness and sensors are very well tuned.

I've got a MB Pro 14", can't really use it outside at normal max brightness (500 nits); there's a program called Lunar which let's you blast the full display up to the normally-HDR-content-only brightness levels (so probably somewhere around 1000 nits); easily usable outside if not in direct sun; even in direct sun still somewhat usable. (Drains battery pretty fast though.)

Still not as nice as e.g. an e-ink display would be.

I don't think the M2 Air has this option, so I would say: not very usable outside.

Yes, the glossy screen means that more light reaching your eyeballs.

I use a 2012 mac outside. In the direct sun its fine if you use white background and black text for your editor.

Can you use it in an office?

My m1 is unusable at 80% of the comfortable angles, and not at all at the optimal one.

This is such a weird claim that doesn't stack up at all with my experience.

Unusable at 80% of the comfortable angles? Come on now.

My Lenovo has a matte screen and has an a lot less visible screen than my wifes glossy macbook air. Unfortunately glossy or matte no longer is an indicator on how readable a screen is.

The glossy Air works better outside than the matte Lenovo? I find that hard to imagine.

Which Lenovo is it?

Lol can you describe some of these angles? It works fine on my desk and lap. I could see the keyboard being too small, but that's not unique to Macs.