I really hope Apple offer a 15" MacBook Air. I would buy one in a heartbeat.
Unlikely. The folks that would buy such a device would be too small a group. The Air attracts those that want something small and that's not the perception of the 15 inch models. ANd those that want the 15 inch size typically want the power in the Pros as well.
Now what they might do, with all the notebooks, is just try to make them overall thinner and lighter. Make SSDs the standard as the price comes down. Perhaps remove all the optical drives from store models and make you custom order a model with one built in.
In fact I think it is reasonable to say that Apple is moving that way (Air ish notebooks across the board) for the future the only question is when the planets and pricing will align to make it happen
As for the ipad3 rumors, I'm not buying it. I can't see them releasing a model just to have a better screen or doing a whole new model in six months. Frankly I think that perhaps they had pondered this newer screen for the ipad 2 but they couldn't get stock in the quantities they would need until fall and someone is getting their info crossed and assuming that Apple's interest is still that quick (rather than perhaps going for it next year with the ipad 3)
Unlikely. The folks that would buy such a device would be too small a group. The Air attracts those that want something small and that's not the perception of the 15 inch models. ANd those that want the 15 inch size typically want the power in the Pros as well.
Now what they might do, with all the notebooks, is just try to make them overall thinner and lighter. Make SSDs the standard as the price comes down. Perhaps remove all the optical drives from store models and make you custom order a model with one built in.
In fact I think it is reasonable to say that Apple is moving that way (Air ish notebooks across the board) for the future the only question is when the planets and pricing will align to make it happen
As for the ipad3 rumors, I'm not buying it. I can't see them releasing a model just to have a better screen or doing a whole new model in six months. Frankly I think that perhaps they had pondered this newer screen for the ipad 2 but they couldn't get stock in the quantities they would need until fall and someone is getting their info crossed and assuming that Apple's interest is still that quick (rather than perhaps going for it next year with the ipad 3)
I kinda disagree with you. I was a 15" MacBook Pro user who downgraded to a 13" model because of the weight. Since I bought an Apple monitor to plug my MacBook Pro into when in the Office, I don't miss the screen real estate. I did consider the 13" Air but really it doesn't have enough power or GPU performance for my needs or memory. Basically, I want 13" MBP power in an Air size.
A 15" Air would give me back the screen real estate in a machine that weighs less than a 13" MacBook Pro. There would enough room for a decent sized hard drive and a discrete GPU. So long as a 15" Air gave me comparable performance versus a 2.7 Ghz Sandy Bridge 13" MBP, then I'm sure a whole bunch of 15" users would migrate right along over.
The fact is, EVERYONE wants thinner and lighter laptops. Now we've seen what's possible with the latest Airs, we want more. And some of us are even prepared to accept a little less horsepower in the processor department to get slim 'n lite machines.
Unlikely. The folks that would buy such a device would be too small a group. The Air attracts those that want something small and that's not the perception of the 15 inch models. ANd those that want the 15 inch size typically want the power in the Pros as well.
Now what they might do, with all the notebooks, is just try to make them overall thinner and lighter. Make SSDs the standard as the price comes down. Perhaps remove all the optical drives from store models and make you custom order a model with one built in.
In fact I think it is reasonable to say that Apple is moving that way (Air ish notebooks across the board) for the future the only question is when the planets and pricing will align to make it happen
As for the ipad3 rumors, I'm not buying it. I can't see them releasing a model just to have a better screen or doing a whole new model in six months. Frankly I think that perhaps they had pondered this newer screen for the ipad 2 but they couldn't get stock in the quantities they would need until fall and someone is getting their info crossed and assuming that Apple's interest is still that quick (rather than perhaps going for it next year with the ipad 3)
I do not know. There are a lot of us old farts who ruined our eyes coding for many years that might like a larger display....
I have a 15" MPB and a 13" MBP ( Work Computer ). When I am at home is almost always use the 15" so I can see it better....
Hopefully with a lighter and smaller model than the 11.6-inch for true Mac mobility.
My 11.6" is the perfect size for being able to use a computer and travel. I stopped complaining about this when it came out. The aspect ratio of the screen mixed with light weight is awesome. I always wish for more battery life but I can't complain about 6 hours in that form factor.
I don't know what the rendering code looks like, but you are missing the point here, including Lorre who replied above about how Apple could just as well introduce a 2.5x content scale factor.
The idea behind the content scaling in iOS serves 2 purposes: scaling up scalable stuff automatically (think UI layout and spacing, fonts, widgets, etc), but it is also for automatic bitmap asset selection. If you deploy to iOS 4 and enable retina display support, you bundle low-res and high-res bitmap assets with your application, and the OS automatically selects which version to use based on the device you are running on. The developer only has to bundle a bitmap with the '@2x' suffix, and iOS automatically uses it.
So while you *can* set the scaleFactor property of a UIView to other values than 1.0 or 2.0 (the docs only mention you typically only use 1x or 2x), you will not get the automatic bitmap assets selection. For many applications this is not really a big problem, because they don't use bitmaps. But for many, many others, it means bitmaps will have to be scaled and resampled, which degrades image quality, and introduces drawing overhead (which is particularly annoying for games, where resampling every bitmap is simply too expensive).
Of course Apple could officially introduce @2.5x bitmap assets, and @4x or whatever, but you can imagine where this would go if you want to make applications with bitmaps at native resolutions for all supported content scale factors. Developers would have to bundle 3, 4 or even more versions of the same bitmaps, making the application unnecessarily big, and most importantly: which may not be *forwards* compatible with devices still to come. Scaling from 1x to 2x does not degrade image quality or add a lot of drawing overhead, because it doesn't require resampling, but scaling from 1x to 2.5x will.
So in the end, I think Apple would be wise to stick to 1x and 2x only, which is perfectly possible because at 250+ ppi, there is no reason to ever go any higher.
Comments
which makes my point, I think.
If your point is that the scale factor could change in future then I guess it does, but my claim was about the capabilities of the current OS.
...have to have...
1. Why?
2. "THE YEAR OF IPAD 2"
IOS is resolution independent right now.
Well the current doco says to use 1.0 or 2.0. If you want to go plugging in other values in your app go right ahead.
But how do you know the point->pixel rendering layer doesn't look like this:
<!-- php buffer start --><code><span style="color: #000000">
<span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">if ( </span><span style="color: #0000BB">self</span><span style="color: #007700">.</span><span style="color: #0000BB">scaleFactor </span><span style="color: #007700">== </span><span style="color: #0000BB">1.0f</span><span style="color: #007700">) {
<br /> </span><span style="color: #FF8000">// do nothing
<br /></span><span style="color: #007700">} else if ( </span><span style="color: #0000BB">self</span><span style="color: #007700">.</span><span style="color: #0000BB">scaleFactor </span><span style="color: #007700">== </span><span style="color: #0000BB">2.0f </span><span style="color: #007700">) {
<br /> [</span><span style="color: #0000BB">self doubleEverything</span><span style="color: #007700">];
<br />} else {
<br /> </span><span style="color: #FF8000">// TODO: Support other factors in iOS 6
<br /> </span><span style="color: #007700">@throw [</span><span style="color: #0000BB">NSException exceptionWithReason</span><span style="color: #007700">:@</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"Unsupported developer assumption"</span><span style="color: #007700">];
<br />}
<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB"></span>
</span>
I really hope Apple offer a 15" MacBook Air. I would buy one in a heartbeat.
Unlikely. The folks that would buy such a device would be too small a group. The Air attracts those that want something small and that's not the perception of the 15 inch models. ANd those that want the 15 inch size typically want the power in the Pros as well.
Now what they might do, with all the notebooks, is just try to make them overall thinner and lighter. Make SSDs the standard as the price comes down. Perhaps remove all the optical drives from store models and make you custom order a model with one built in.
In fact I think it is reasonable to say that Apple is moving that way (Air ish notebooks across the board) for the future the only question is when the planets and pricing will align to make it happen
As for the ipad3 rumors, I'm not buying it. I can't see them releasing a model just to have a better screen or doing a whole new model in six months. Frankly I think that perhaps they had pondered this newer screen for the ipad 2 but they couldn't get stock in the quantities they would need until fall and someone is getting their info crossed and assuming that Apple's interest is still that quick (rather than perhaps going for it next year with the ipad 3)
Who writes this shit? Of course the "3" will come in 2012. It will be the standard 2012 refresh; probably in April.
Unlikely. The folks that would buy such a device would be too small a group. The Air attracts those that want something small and that's not the perception of the 15 inch models. ANd those that want the 15 inch size typically want the power in the Pros as well.
Now what they might do, with all the notebooks, is just try to make them overall thinner and lighter. Make SSDs the standard as the price comes down. Perhaps remove all the optical drives from store models and make you custom order a model with one built in.
In fact I think it is reasonable to say that Apple is moving that way (Air ish notebooks across the board) for the future the only question is when the planets and pricing will align to make it happen
As for the ipad3 rumors, I'm not buying it. I can't see them releasing a model just to have a better screen or doing a whole new model in six months. Frankly I think that perhaps they had pondered this newer screen for the ipad 2 but they couldn't get stock in the quantities they would need until fall and someone is getting their info crossed and assuming that Apple's interest is still that quick (rather than perhaps going for it next year with the ipad 3)
I kinda disagree with you. I was a 15" MacBook Pro user who downgraded to a 13" model because of the weight. Since I bought an Apple monitor to plug my MacBook Pro into when in the Office, I don't miss the screen real estate. I did consider the 13" Air but really it doesn't have enough power or GPU performance for my needs or memory. Basically, I want 13" MBP power in an Air size.
A 15" Air would give me back the screen real estate in a machine that weighs less than a 13" MacBook Pro. There would enough room for a decent sized hard drive and a discrete GPU. So long as a 15" Air gave me comparable performance versus a 2.7 Ghz Sandy Bridge 13" MBP, then I'm sure a whole bunch of 15" users would migrate right along over.
The fact is, EVERYONE wants thinner and lighter laptops. Now we've seen what's possible with the latest Airs, we want more. And some of us are even prepared to accept a little less horsepower in the processor department to get slim 'n lite machines.
Unlikely. The folks that would buy such a device would be too small a group. The Air attracts those that want something small and that's not the perception of the 15 inch models. ANd those that want the 15 inch size typically want the power in the Pros as well.
Now what they might do, with all the notebooks, is just try to make them overall thinner and lighter. Make SSDs the standard as the price comes down. Perhaps remove all the optical drives from store models and make you custom order a model with one built in.
In fact I think it is reasonable to say that Apple is moving that way (Air ish notebooks across the board) for the future the only question is when the planets and pricing will align to make it happen
As for the ipad3 rumors, I'm not buying it. I can't see them releasing a model just to have a better screen or doing a whole new model in six months. Frankly I think that perhaps they had pondered this newer screen for the ipad 2 but they couldn't get stock in the quantities they would need until fall and someone is getting their info crossed and assuming that Apple's interest is still that quick (rather than perhaps going for it next year with the ipad 3)
I do not know. There are a lot of us old farts who ruined our eyes coding for many years that might like a larger display....
I have a 15" MPB and a 13" MBP ( Work Computer ). When I am at home is almost always use the 15" so I can see it better....
11.6 is already too small. It will never be smaller. Deal with it or buy a 7" EeePC and Hackintosh it.
I agree,,,,,,went in to get one last month and was shocked how small (read- toyish)
they felt. 13.3 is for me. thank goodness i waited too.
Hopefully with a lighter and smaller model than the 11.6-inch for true Mac mobility.
My 11.6" is the perfect size for being able to use a computer and travel. I stopped complaining about this when it came out. The aspect ratio of the screen mixed with light weight is awesome. I always wish for more battery life but I can't complain about 6 hours in that form factor.
Well the current doco says to use 1.0 or 2.0. If you want to go plugging in other values in your app go right ahead.
But how do you know the point->pixel rendering layer doesn't look like this:
<!-- php buffer start --><code><span style="color: #000000">
<span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">if ( </span><span style="color: #0000BB">self</span><span style="color: #007700">.</span><span style="color: #0000BB">scaleFactor </span><span style="color: #007700">== </span><span style="color: #0000BB">1.0f</span><span style="color: #007700">) {<br /> </span><span style="color: #FF8000">// do nothing<br /></span><span style="color: #007700">} else if ( </span><span style="color: #0000BB">self</span><span style="color: #007700">.</span><span style="color: #0000BB">scaleFactor </span><span style="color: #007700">== </span><span style="color: #0000BB">2.0f </span><span style="color: #007700">) {<br /> [</span><span style="color: #0000BB">self doubleEverything</span><span style="color: #007700">];<br />} else {<br /> </span><span style="color: #FF8000">// TODO: Support other factors in iOS 6<br /> </span><span style="color: #007700">@throw [</span><span style="color: #0000BB">NSException exceptionWithReason</span><span style="color: #007700">:@</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"Unsupported developer assumption"</span><span style="color: #007700">];<br />}
<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB"></span>
</span>
I don't know what the rendering code looks like, but you are missing the point here, including Lorre who replied above about how Apple could just as well introduce a 2.5x content scale factor.
The idea behind the content scaling in iOS serves 2 purposes: scaling up scalable stuff automatically (think UI layout and spacing, fonts, widgets, etc), but it is also for automatic bitmap asset selection. If you deploy to iOS 4 and enable retina display support, you bundle low-res and high-res bitmap assets with your application, and the OS automatically selects which version to use based on the device you are running on. The developer only has to bundle a bitmap with the '@2x' suffix, and iOS automatically uses it.
So while you *can* set the scaleFactor property of a UIView to other values than 1.0 or 2.0 (the docs only mention you typically only use 1x or 2x), you will not get the automatic bitmap assets selection. For many applications this is not really a big problem, because they don't use bitmaps. But for many, many others, it means bitmaps will have to be scaled and resampled, which degrades image quality, and introduces drawing overhead (which is particularly annoying for games, where resampling every bitmap is simply too expensive).
Of course Apple could officially introduce @2.5x bitmap assets, and @4x or whatever, but you can imagine where this would go if you want to make applications with bitmaps at native resolutions for all supported content scale factors. Developers would have to bundle 3, 4 or even more versions of the same bitmaps, making the application unnecessarily big, and most importantly: which may not be *forwards* compatible with devices still to come. Scaling from 1x to 2x does not degrade image quality or add a lot of drawing overhead, because it doesn't require resampling, but scaling from 1x to 2.5x will.
So in the end, I think Apple would be wise to stick to 1x and 2x only, which is perfectly possible because at 250+ ppi, there is no reason to ever go any higher.