(image courtesy of Cult of Mac)

So Apple quietly re-added the option to get a matte screen on your 15-inch MacBook Pro to the Apple Store online. The news broke earlier today after people started noticing it was there, and the move had to be at least partially in reaction to the furor from some corners of the Web decrying Apple for taking the option away in the first place.

Before Apple removed the option and went with an all glossy screen lineup, the choice between a matte screen and a glossy one was completely optional and free either way. Now, Apple defaults to a glossy screen, but if you want a matte screen you have the choice to cough up an extra $50 to get one.

Now I wasn’t one of the people who whined and cried when the matte screen was taken away, even though the two MacBook Pros I’ve purchased in the recent past have both had matte screens even though I had the option to choose glossy ones – I made the choice out of habit, not from a specific desire for a specific feature, but there have been calls from angry anonymous commenters and random bloggers around the web claiming that the matte screen is better for photography, video editing, has less glare, and just about everything else you could come up with that would make them all things good and wonderful. I thought the debate was kind of silly considering most PC manufacturers don’t give you a choice and no one’s really beating down Dell’s door to make them give you a matte screen, but the option is back now. Now, those same people who beat up Apple for taking it away, even claiming they’d be willing to pay to get it back, have their wish….and they’ll promptly start complaining that they have to pay for it now.

[ Cult of Mac: Matte LCD Screen Returns To 15-inch MacBook Pro As $50 Option ]