Sam Oliver
Citing sources in Apple's upstream supply chain, DigiTimes reported on Wednesday that Apple's new Retina Display MacBook Pro lineup is expected to set off "a new round of competition for panel specifications in the notebook industry." A resolution of 2,880 by 1,800 would be exactly twice that of the 1,440-by-900 display currently found on the 15-inch MacBook Pro.
"While the prevailing MacBook Models have display resolutions from 1680 by 1050 to 1280 by 800, the ultra-high resolution for the new MacBook Pro will further differentiate Apple's products from other brands," the report said.
Only the 2,880-by-1,800 display was specifically cited in the report in reference to a new MacBook Pro "lineup." Given that Apple's different MacBook Pro screen sizes sport different resolutions, it's likely that the 13- and 17-inch models would sport double-pixel resolutions of 2,560 by 1600 and 3,840 by 2,400, respectively.
Rumors of Retina Display MacBook Pros from Apple in 2012 have reportedly already spurred the competition to work on their own higher resolution displays for notebooks. Acer and Asustek are said to be preparing high-end Ultrabook models with display resolutions of 1,920 by 1,080, an improvement from the 1,366-by-768-pixel displays found on current models.
More evidence of Macs potentially gaining Retina Displays came in September, when Intel revealed that its next-generation Ivy Bridge processors will support the 4K display resolution, at up to 4,096 by 4,096 pixels per monitor. A 4K resolution with a 16-by-9 ratio would be screen resolution of 4,096 by 2,304, or a pixel density of 174 pixels-per-inch.
Apple introduced its Retina Display branding with the iPhone 4 in 2010, featuring a resolution of 960 by 640, packing 326 pixels-per-inch. Recent reports have suggested that Apple also plans to increase the resolution of its next-generation iPad in early 2012.
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104 Comments
This would certainly be a good way to distinguish the "pro" models from the air models.
They're going to have to, if they want the MBP's to remain relevant as iPads and other iOS devices go retina.
It would be silly for somebody to buy an expensive MBP that has a much worse screen than somebody else buying a much cheaper iPad.
Display resolutions have long been stagnant and it's about time that displays begin to catch up to the other improvements in technology that has been happening for a long time now. CPU's and GPU's can handle it no problem, so bring it on!
When I take a picture with my digital camera, I want to see every pixel on the screen, something that is not possible today. I want everything to look sharper and better. I want to cram more stuff onto my desktop.
Unless Apple makes it possible to increase the size of the text in menus, the retina displays will be hard to use for many. Even now, the high resolution displays in the 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pros have menu text that is too small for some people.
A high-res 17" model would be very popular I think. It would make that laptop even more of a "portable desktop" than it already is.
Unless Apple makes it possible to increase the size of the text in menus, the retina displays will be hard to use for many. Even now, the high resolution displays in the 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pros have menu text that is too small for some people.
So true (for me at last!)
Impossible to use even higher res on a 17" screen! Maybe time to do something with a vector based ? resolution independent ?interface? (PLEASE!)