The LED backlit displays (talking about the new Cinema Display, not the MBP LCD) are supposed to have a broader gamut. That's not a glossy versus matte thing though.
I prefer matte screens, but I think the whole matte versus glossy argument swings far into hyperbole way too quickly. It gets as bad as the worst of the Canon or Nikon fanboy arguments. But that's as much as I'm going to venture into that subject.
I agree with many comments you make in this post. It is silly arguments like this, and the constant Canon / Nikon debates that make me feel almost ashamed to be one of the many semi-professional photographer members of this forum. I rarely post in, or read this section of the forum, but stumbled upon this thread while looking for discussions on Lightroom / Aperture.
I really don't have any qualitative input in this thread, and expect to be thoroughly thrashed for my conflicting opinion. But that is a part of life here on the Digital Photography forum on Macrumors.
Judging by the responses and comments in this thread, I dare not consider myself a professional photographer, so I won't. Regardless of that fact, I still really like my new 15" MBP. I was (and still am not) overly thrilled that I am limited to only buying a glossy screen equipped system, but when I poked around the net, and thought about it, it really isn't that big of a deal to me. At this point the reflection (to me) is no worse than the Macbook it replaced overall.
While many will jump on that comment stating that I am the
"perfect customer" because I moved up from a Macbook, I want to add that I have also owned a Powerbook before that, and an iBook for a period before the Powerbook. Two of which had matte screen finishes, and all of which (including the "glossy" MacBook) produced images good enough for me to gain credibility as a credentialed photographer.
I will admit reflections did get annoying at times (talking in context of my old Macbook since my MBPs only hours old to me), but it is something I have actually gotten used to. Quite honestly, after attending some local classes, and reading some literature on the subject, I never considered the Macbook, or even the recently replaced MBP, to be exceptionally accurate when it came to color representation (this issue was touched on by SimD). The old panels were great, but they pale (IMO) in comparison to high end LCD or CRT screens that I had the opportunity to play with in the past.
If you need a mobile powerhouse that runs OS X naively, I highly suggest looking at these systems. I am amazed how well the GPU handles some of the tasks I am throwing at it. I can also honestly say that I have never owned or operated a more structurally sound laptop. The solid feeling of this device reminds me of my long gone, but much missed Powermac G5. I don't miss the plastic gasket that framed in the old Powerbook (and MacBook Pro) aluminum, and I am no longer worried about chassis flex if I ever need to pick this thing up with one hand.
Just my $0.02