Apple rumored to launch 2880x1800 Retina Display MacBook Pro in Q2 2012

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Apple is rumored to be preparing a new MacBook Pro for launch in the second quarter of 2012 with a Retina Display resolution of 2,880 by 1,800 pixels.



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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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 104
    blastdoorblastdoor Posts: 3,258member
    This would certainly be a good way to distinguish the "pro" models from the air models.
  • Reply 2 of 104
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    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.
  • Reply 3 of 104
    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.
  • Reply 4 of 104
    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.
  • Reply 5 of 104
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleGreen View Post


    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!)
  • Reply 6 of 104
    sricesrice Posts: 120member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleGreen View Post


    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.





    You are working on the assumption that text size has to shrink. iPhone4/4S (Retina) and iPhone3G/3GS have the same menu/text size, but the iPhone4/4S series have much higher resolution. This is because they decreased dot pitch -- the screen pixels are closer together -- that's where the extra resolution is going.



    This is the same reason big 17" 'laptop hunter' screens are so poor quality. The screen size is larger, but the manufactures kept the resolution the same by increasing dot pitch.

    /which explains why your pr0n is all dotty.







    This is AWESOME. I've been waiting for a Retina display laptop since I first experienced it on iPhone4. I. AM. STOKED. Go Apple!
  • Reply 7 of 104
    ...actually sounds like July 4th, but...



    a 17" MacBook Pro with 3840x2400 (or even better 4096x2400) display

    dual Thunderbolt

    quad-core Ivy Bridge with Intel's HD 4000 + a nice top-of-the-line nVidia discrete GPU

    512GB SSD, 16GB RAM

    No optical drive (in lieu of bigger battery)...give me a real 8 hours

    3 USB 2.0 ports

    4 pounds



    $2999



    I will pre-order that today, and I'll take an updated 11" Air with Ivy Bridge, 8MB RAM and a 512GB SSD on the side to replace my current Air for travel time.



    It's nice to have a camera with 8MP (and some have 23MP or higher). It's even nicer to be able to edit those high-res pictures or even (gasp!) RED video on a laptop with no scaling.
  • Reply 8 of 104
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    An iTunes SD movie would look kinda silly playing at it's native size. Even a 720p won't be so great. But there were rumors a while back that Apple were negotiating with the studios for 1080p.
  • Reply 9 of 104
    neilmneilm Posts: 985member
    After flirting with the implementation of resolution independence several years ago, Apple allowed this ability to decouple the size of displayed items from the underlying pixel density to languish mostly unused in OS X. But as pointed out above by Srice, iOS takes this in its stride (at least for predefined display density multiples).



    If Apple is to introduce very high density displays then it will have to get real with Mac resolution independence support. Frankly that would be welcome even for those of us not using high density displays.
  • Reply 10 of 104
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Srice View Post


    You are working on the assumption that text size has to shrink. iPhone4/4S (Retina) and iPhone3G/3GS have the same menu/text size, but the iPhone4/4S series have much higher resolution. This is because they decreased dot pitch density -- the screen pixels are closer together -- that's where the extra resolution is going.



    This is the same reason big 17" 'laptop hunter' screens are so poor quality. The screen size is larger, but the manufactures kept the resolution the same by increasing dot pitch.

    /which explains why your pr0n is all dotty.







    This is AWESOME. I've been waiting for a Retina display laptop since I first experienced it on iPhone4. I. AM. STOKED. Go Apple!



    Well explained. This complaint always comes up and so many fail to grasp this.
  • Reply 11 of 104
    ssquirrelssquirrel Posts: 1,196member
    Just to show the math here, the highest density will be on the 17" screen w/the proposed resolutions. This is assuming the screen sizes remain exactly as they are currently.



    13.3" 2560x1600 226.98

    15.4" 2880x1800 220.53

    17" 3840x2400 266.37



    EDIT: If they cut off the fractional inches and go with 13 and 15" screens, here is the difference in PPI:



    13" 2560x1600 232.22

    15" 2880x1800 226.42
  • Reply 12 of 104
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Srice View Post


    This is the same reason big 17" 'laptop hunter' screens are so poor quality. The screen size is larger, but the manufactures kept the resolution the same by increasing dot pitch.

    /which explains why your pr0n is all dotty.



    Or they'll keep a nice high-resolution but sacrifice picture quality. Just look at the Asus Ultrabook - big res in a 13" screen but the contrast, colour reproduction, brightness, black-levels (pretty much everything) is 1/6th of the MacBook Air and 1/10th of the MacBook Pros.
  • Reply 13 of 104
    i can't help but to think battery life is going to suffer big time from an upgrade like this. I hope i am wrong....
  • Reply 14 of 104
    cnocbuicnocbui Posts: 3,613member
    I wish they would sort out some more serious issues before introducing new ones. The viewing angle on my Macbook Pro is atrocious for a supposedly hi-end laptop. With the horribly reflective screen, tilting it to where the reflections are not blinding, means the screen still looks awful because of the now less than optimum angle.



    If Samsung introduce a laptop with good build quality and a super AMOLED screen, I think I will go Hackintosh as I am not happy with the low quality/high price Apple delivers.
  • Reply 15 of 104
    aizmovaizmov Posts: 989member
    Why doesn't Apple bring a 19 or 20" MacBook Pro? That would the ultimate desktop replacement.
  • Reply 16 of 104
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Apple ][ View Post


    They're going to have to, if they want the MBP's to remain relevant as iPads and other iOS devices go retina.



    Abject nonsense.



    Quote:

    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.



    "So… why shouldn't I buy this computer?"



    "The iPad has a better screen!"



    "How much more powerful is the iPad than this computer?"



    "It's a couple orders of magnitude less powerful, actually."



    "… I'm buying the computer. You're a moron."



    Quote:

    CPU's and GPU's can handle it no problem, so bring it on!



    We don't actually know that.



    Quote:

    When I take a picture with my digital camera, I want to see every pixel on the screen,



    Why? There's no point jamming a gorgeous landscape into a 15" screen. I'd rather be able to project it onto a wall–the image growing to 15'x15'-at these retina resolutions.



    Now THAT'S…



    Quote:

    …something that is not possible today…



    … by consumer standards.



    Quote:

    I want to cram more stuff on my desktop.



    That won't be happening. Resolution independence will see to that.
  • Reply 17 of 104
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cnocbui View Post


    I wish they would sort out some more serious issues before introducing new ones. The viewing angle on my Macbook Pro is atrocious for a supposedly hi-end laptop. With the horribly reflective screen, tilting it to where the reflections are not blinding, means the screen still looks awful because of the now less than optimum angle.



    If Samsung introduce a laptop with good build quality and a super AMOLED screen, I think I will go Hackintosh as I am not happy with the low quality/high price Apple delivers.



    Ludicrous.
  • Reply 18 of 104
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post


    Ludicrous.



    I think he's just making a joke without a sarcasm tag.
  • Reply 19 of 104
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cnocbui View Post


    I wish they would sort out some more serious issues before introducing new ones. The viewing angle on my Macbook Pro is atrocious for a supposedly hi-end laptop. With the horribly reflective screen, tilting it to where the reflections are not blinding, means the screen still looks awful because of the now less than optimum angle.



    If Samsung introduce a laptop with good build quality and a super AMOLED screen, I think I will go Hackintosh as I am not happy with the low quality/high price Apple delivers.



    if you truly believe in what you wrote (you are mistaken or blind. maybe both, but whatever..) what are you doing here/waiting?
  • Reply 20 of 104
    better display is always fun... you cant lose
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