They only had an iMac with it – I assume it’s the same? If so, it’s _mostly_ equivalent, but the glossy screen definitely has deeper contrast, and appears sharper for text, though terminal usage wasn’t quite as pronounced as the browser.
I’m still tempted to buy one to try, and return the one I end up not liking. Most of my usage isn’t in areas prone to glare, but occasionally it is, and it’s annoying. I just don’t want to sacrifice sharpness, because I love how crisp text is on these screens.
It’ll be delivered in a couple of weeks. I’ll use both for a while, and reply back to this thread for posterity.
As to the screen, I was immediately pleased. The difference, I think, is that Apple stores have perfect lighting. There are no reflections, so the screens look as good as they possibly can. If you have a photography studio or something, you probably do still want the glossy screen, as it has deeper colors in perfect conditions. But in my house, the opposite was true: since there were nearly always some form of reflections, minimal or otherwise, the nano-texture screen actually appeared to have _more_ contrast, since my eyes didn’t have to fight to concentrate at a certain depth in the screen.
I put some 4K HDR videos on both, and honestly couldn’t tell the difference. I could tell a slight difference in the terminal (Alacritty, Solarized Dark) in that the base blue color appears slightly different, but it doesn’t bother me.
I’ll post again if I notice anything else, but my immediate reaction is that the nano-texture screen is better for most people, and to not rely solely on in-store experiences to determine preference.
The only caveat is the nano texture is much more difficult to keep clean and maintain.