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Blizzard further optimizing 'Diablo III' for MacBook Pro Retina display

Though the blockbuster game "Diablo III" currently runs on the new MacBook Pro at the native resolution of its Retina display, developer Blizzard has indicated it is working on further improvements to the title specific to Apple's latest notebook.

In an official statement given to AppleInsider, Blizzard said it was "pleased" that Apple decided to include Diablo III in its keynote presentation at the Worldwide Developers Conference last week.

"While we can confirm that the game runs natively on and takes full advantage of the full screen resolution for the new MacBook Pro, we need to do some work to optimize it for windowed mode on the new system," the developer said. "We will provide our Mac players with an update when we have further details to share."

AppleInsider tested Diablo III on the new MacBook Pro with Retina display, and the results were detailed in the official review published this week. It found that the title consistently ran around 30 frames per second when playing at the highest possible resolution of 2,880 by 1,800 pixels with all settings on high and anti-aliasing disabled.

At last week's WWDC keynote, Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, highlighted Diablo III as one application that would benefit from the new Retina display on the next-generation MacBook Pro.

"You're going to see a gaming experience with this resolution unlike any you have ever seen before," Schiller told the audience.

He also revealed that Apple had been working with "key developers" prior to the announcement to help ensure that their software looks up to standard on the new Retina display. While Blizzard's game was shown off on stage, Schiller never specifically said that Apple had worked with the developer regarding Diablo III's performance on the new MacBook Pro, and Blizzard did not answer a question about how closely it worked with Apple.

Also highlighted by Schiller last week were new Retina display-compatible versions of Adobe Photoshop and Autodesk's AutoCAD. Schiller said that the development team at Adobe is doing "amazing work" on a version of Photoshop that will be "jaw dropping," while the updated AutoCAD will allow "a level of detailed work and design never possible on a notebook before."

Apple's native applications in OS X already take advantage of the Retina display of the new MacBook Pro, and separate updates are also available for iMovie, iPhoto, Final Cut Pro and Aperture.



26 Comments

roadkingclassic 13 Years · 3 comments

This is good news.

 

I wonder if Blizzard will go back and mess with some of their other game engines like SC2 and WoW.  Especially that both games have expansions coming out this fall.

saarek 17 Years · 1594 comments

It's such a shame that Apple insists on shipping the crud Intel Graphics on so many of their newest machines, forget anything like this on those.

sockrolid 15 Years · 2789 comments

Meh.  I'd much rather play with Diablo Cody.

sflocal 17 Years · 6150 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by saarek 

It's such a shame that Apple insists on shipping the crud Intel Graphics on so many of their newest machines, forget anything like this on those.


The pro's use Nvidia chipsets and has been shown running on four displays without any real noticeable performance issues.  What the heck more do you want?

If you want a Macbook Air with Macbook Pro features, hold your breath.

saarek 17 Years · 1594 comments

The 15" MacBook Pro's do indeed feature Nvidia Graphics, the 13" model however does not. Considering the starting price of a 13" MacBook Pro is £1000 I find it, frankly, insulting that they sell a "professional" machine, with a price tag to match, that features such cheap graphics.

 

Before you say, well don't buy one then, I won't. My 13" MacBook Pro is still chugging along nicely and although I'd have upgraded it by now I'm holding off on principal.

 

Don't get me wrong, I love Apple and own many of their products, heck I could almost open a mini Apple Store with the amount of hardware that I have from them, but when I pay a premium price I expect Apple to supply a premium product in all aspects.