Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Why might Apple not use Sharp's new IGZO displays in the next MBAs?
- Thread starter Yixian
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
You would hope that one of the largest computer manufacturers in the world would have been working with manufacturers behind the scenes before they announced it to the public, I mean... That has always been the case.
Maybe, maybe not.
http://www.qualcomm.com/media/relea...s-market-ltedc-hspa-chipsets-mobile-broadband
iPhone 4S didn't have it
iPhone 5 did
19 months from Qualcomms public press release, to iPhone integration.
You were saying?
you are seriously underestimating the amount of effort it takes to upgrade a panel esp for new tech.
As I understand it the 'energy savings' claims are compared to displays of the same resolution using older display technology.
An IGZO retina display will probably still use more more power than the current displays.
Also that doesn't take into account the extra load on the graphics chip to handle the higher resolution all the time.
The problem with that is that the way OSX works going to a slightly higher resolution screen would just make text etc. even smaller.
I really doubt Apple would increase pixel density without going all the way to retina 220+ dpi at this point.
Agreed. It is highly unlikely that Apple will increase the resolution of the screen resolution without 'going retina' (doubling it like they've done to all other devices).
Moving to an IPS screen with possibly higher contrast, I can imagine happening (although I think I'll still wait until a retina screen is available for the 11" MBA before I upgrade).
I think this will be an interesting measure of whether Apple has lost its distinctiveness.
Apple usually beat commodity PC makers to market with advanced displays by closely collaborating and locking up supply in advance of release. I think if this display ends up in PCs before Macs, that's a pretty damning fact on the post-Jobs Apple.
Apple usually beat commodity PC makers to market with advanced displays by closely collaborating and locking up supply in advance of release. I think if this display ends up in PCs before Macs, that's a pretty damning fact on the post-Jobs Apple.
If Apple doesn't use this display it will be because they chose not to, either because the price, quality and specs weren't agreeable or because they can't get enough quantity to fulfill demand.
You can't have some percentage of MBPs randomly having 30% more or less battery life because Sharp can't fulfill all of the orders.
That's why Apple usually uses a mix of several suppliers for major components.
I think the fact that they were using 220+ dpi display in notebooks for about a year before they became available as 'mass produced' is pretty noteworthy on its own.
My original thought was that Apple would first use an IGZO screen in the iPhone since the smaller screen could handle lower yields than a larger notebook screen.
After thinking about it more, it actually makes more sense for Apple to first use an IGZO display in a notebook computer (with a MBA possibility) since it would be less risky.
If the mass production of the IGZO displays had problems, it wouldn't matter as much in a notebook computers which is less of a 'cash cow' than the iPhone. Not being able to sell iPhones would be a much more serious problem than not being able to sell cutting edge MBAs (with IGZO screens).
After thinking about it more, it actually makes more sense for Apple to first use an IGZO display in a notebook computer (with a MBA possibility) since it would be less risky.
If the mass production of the IGZO displays had problems, it wouldn't matter as much in a notebook computers which is less of a 'cash cow' than the iPhone. Not being able to sell iPhones would be a much more serious problem than not being able to sell cutting edge MBAs (with IGZO screens).
Agree. However I use a MBA 11" and the screen on that is not competitive IMO. They ought to upgrade it this cycle.
Not competitive in DPI or quality?
I'd agree with the quality, looking at them side by side in the Apple stores the Air displays just look washed out and have obviously worse viewing angles.
Both.
What bothers me more is resolution.
MBA 11.6": 1366x768
Sony Vaio 11.6": 1920x1080
I think it puts Apple in a tough position: They provably really want to go 'retina' (double) but maybe that can't be done yet. But not adding a higher resolution screen now also is bad for sales since they are then behind the curve.
Would they possibly say that not going 2x (yet making it higher) qualifies as 'retina' when they've always doubled it in the past?
The problem is that just going to a high resolution screen (Say 11.6" 1920x1080) would result in very small text, buttons, menus, etc.
Windows has a function to enable arbitrary UI scaling (like 125%) but it can look pretty rough when apps don't support it well.
With OSX's method of handing high res displays Apple pretty much has to go to super high DPI (220+) to make it work well.
I'm going to add production constraints as well. We will be getting new Macs on June 10th (or at least announced). Is that enough time for Sharp to meet production on such a high selling laptop? We all know Apple doesn't want a repeat of the last iMac release, especially the 27in iMac.
Well the Retina models have not replaced the non Retina models. So just as you have a 13 MBPwRetina and a regular 13 MBP, you might have the same with the MBA 11.
However if they leave the base display as is, then they are stuck with a premium but affordable machine with a **** display, and a very expensive machine with retina but which most people won't buy. That would be dumb IMO.