Apple to Launch 2880x1800 Resolution 'Retina Display' MacBook Pro in Q2 2012?

[MacRumors]

In a report sure to excite our readers, DigiTimes is saying that Apple may be readying an ultra high-resolution MacBook Pro for as early as second quarter (Q2) 2012:

Apple is likely to launch its new MacBook Pro lineup with a display resolution of 2880 by 1800 in the second quarter of 2012, setting a new round of competition for panel specifications in the notebook industry, according to sources in the upstream supply chain.

The publication cites supply chain partners as the source for the information which would double the resolution of the MacBook Pro to 2880x1800 pixels.

This new high resolution MacBook Pro would presumably be a 15" model which currently carries a native resolution of 1440x900 pixels. By doubling the resolution in each dimension, Apple would achieve four times the number of pixels and provide developers an easy way to scale existing artwork.

TextEdit running in HiDPI mode, via Arstechnica

We've known about Apple's work to support these ultra high resolution screens, but we didn't necessarily expect them to arrive so soon. That said, support seems to be building for exactly such a thing.

Intel's upcoming Ivy Bridge processors are known to support resolutions as high as 4096x4096. Meanwhile, Apple has already added new "HiDPI" modes in Lion that support this resolution-doubling mode. Apple has even added ultra-high resolution artwork in Lion with desktop images at 3200x2000 pixels and icons at 1024x1024 pixels.

And Apple's not the only company preparing for the possibility. Microsoft is also building in support for high dpi monitors in Windows 8.

A Q2 2012 launch would place it near what has been expected to be the arrival of a 15" MacBook Air. Based on the expected timing of that product (Q1 2012), it seems this MacBook Pro may be a different product altogether.

Article Link: Apple to Launch 2880x1800 Resolution 'Retina Display' MacBook Pro in Q2 2012?

[Steve121178]

That would be amazing if true!

[The Great Boony]

Someone is now going to say that this wont be as good as Chromebook...

[fox10078]

Oh just take my money now

[talkingfuture]

Yes please, that sounds great.

[The Great Boony]

I hope this is true... I think me 2007 MBP is coming to the end of it's life and am waiting on a new model.

[arn]

Seems a little soon I guess. But I suppose the same advances with the iPad retina display would carry over to 15" screens?

arn

[The-Pro]

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet

[Ahheck01]

Originally Posted by fox10078

Oh just take my money now

I second this. I would gladly pay a $500 premium on a 15" MBP for this. That said, if they pull it off for less than that, where can I preorder?

[porky]

Good! 1440x900 is waaaay to low. Even 1680 x1050. Laptops with that price should have full HD standard.

[andalusia]

I am very much looking forward to a 'retina' display laptop. I am not looking forward to it's price. I imagine it won't be pretty.

[H17737]

I don't see why double resolution would make it a retina display MBP
You only need to double the resolution for iOS devices in order to simplify the migration for devs
Desktop OS doesn't need to exactly double the resolution

[camsoft]

Does this mean that even though the screen will have a native resolution of 2880x1880 visually it will be the same as current MacBook Pro 15" resolution of 1440x900 but with a higher DPI so it will just look sharper.

This actually won't give you more desktop space.

Also what happens to the 1680 x1050 hi-res option displays will they also get bumped up to 3360x2100?

I personally would prefer to just have 2880x1880 of desktop space at the current DPI.

[RichardBeer]

I'm just wondering if current laptop GPU solutions would be able to push this kind of resolution. And if they could, how would this affect performance; I imagine the resolution would need to be dropped when playing games.

[exscape]

Originally Posted by porky

Good! 1440x900 is waaaay to low. Even 1680 x1050. Laptops with that price should have full HD standard.

Since this is a retina display, things should appear the same size as 1440x900, but a lot sharper. Thus this display would fit less things than a 1680x1050 display (if it works like the retina display in the iPhone/iPods).

[Swedishbacon]

...and then imagine retina on 27'' iMac. *drool*

[djrod]

You know this 2880x1800 screen will look like a 1440x990 with sharper text, right?

Unless you can choose it to run in HiDPi or regular mode, though

[KnightWRX]

Originally Posted by porky

Good! 1440x900 is waaaay to low. Even 1680 x1050. Laptops with that price should have full HD standard.

Hum... 2880x1800 is 1440x900, only "sharper". Quadrupling the pixels is nice. Keeping the same real-estate while doing so.... yuck.

Let's hope this is for the 13" model, not the 15". The 15" at the current 1440x900 is abysmal. The "optional" "hi-res" display (all in quotes yes) should be standard. There should even be a 1920x1200 option for the 15".

[Swedishbacon]

Originally Posted by exscape

Since this is a retina display, things should appear the same size as 1440x900, but a lot sharper. Thus this display would fit less things than a 1680x1050 display (if it works like the retina display in the iPhone/iPods).

That's really something I've been wondering about. Will it work like in the iPhone or will it just increase resolution? Either way it'll be amazing for photo editing.

[BeamWalker]

The first good news about that is obviously the great resolution and the second good news is that they're sticking to a 16:10 ratio. Yeah.

[KnightWRX]

Originally Posted by RichardBeer

I'm just wondering if current laptop GPU solutions would be able to push this kind of resolution. And if they could, how would this affect performance; I imagine the resolution would need to be dropped when playing games.

Oh no not this again.

Yes, the laptop GPUs would be fine. Performance would be great. We're talking desktop framebuffers here people, not gaming. In 1996, GPUs could push out desktops at 1600x1200 without sweating. I think 15 years later, we're covered for way more pixels.

As for gaming, just drop back to a lower res for 3D graphics.

[Jayse]

The world is better when everything is more detailed! Thankyou Apple!

[Hildegunst]

Originally Posted by camsoft

?
I personally would prefer to just have 2880x1880 of desktop space at the current DPI.

This would require you to have a 30" laptop. And if you mean you'd prefer to have the 2880x1880 resolution at the current screensize with the current UI dimensions, than that would make small text and UI elements completely unreadable.

This is not to say that increasing resolution without scaling the UI can't be good – the current MacBook Air models show that – but that wouldn't work for such a drastic resolution increase.

[Summersify]

Won't this mean that all the pictures on the internet will either be pixelated or smaller than before?

Why don't we all just move to vector graphics!

[wikus]

Originally Posted by KnightWRX

Oh no not this again.

Yes, the laptop GPUs would be fine. Performance would be great. We're talking desktop framebuffers here people, not gaming. In 1996, GPUs could push out desktops at 1600x1200 without sweating. I think 15 years later, we're covered for way more pixels.

As for gaming, just drop back to a lower res for 3D graphics.

Considering that the resolution of a monitor would be THAT high, would FSAA then be useless? The pixel density would be insane on a large screen like that, I doubt the quality would need to be any better or any more noticeable.

I would think taking into account not using FSAA would let the card run faster (but then slower at a higher resolution).