iBook 12" vs. 14"

[iAFC]

Hello everybody,

I want to know why the iBook 14-inch has the same display resolution as the 12-inch model (1024x768). Is the 14-inch display technology old?

Thanks!

 

[grapes911]

I consider any 1024x768 screen old technology. I believe the reason Apple keeps both screens at this resolution is that the 12-inch PowerBook is also at this resolution. Apple doesn't want the iBook to be better than the PowerBook, because they are already so close anyway.

 

[javiercr]

Hello everybody,

I want to know why the iBook 14-inch has the same display resolution as the 12-inch model (1024x768). Is the 14-inch display technology old?

Thanks!

the resolution for the 12" is fine, for a 14'' is pathetic, as said before it has too do with product differentiation (such as no superdrive for the 12'' ibook) but i think they are making an error there, 1024x768 is disgraceful for an otherwise beautiful laptop

 

[Xeem]

Right now I'm typing this on a 15" LCD TV at 1024x768, and it looks just fine. I would say that 1024x768 is perfect for the 12" screen (very crisp at that size), and while I guess they could've gone 1280x1024 for the 14", it isn't going to look bad by any means. 14" is still small when compared with most monitors.

 

[AP_piano295]

Right now I'm typing this on a 15" LCD TV at 1024x768, and it looks just fine. I would say that 1024x768 is perfect for the 12" screen (very crisp at that size), and while I guess they could've gone 1280x1024 for the 14", it isn't going to look bad by any means. 14" is still small when compared with most monitors.

yeah the 14inch looks fine I should know using it now and all its nice to have things a bit larger

 

[grapes911]

yeah the 14inch looks fine I should know using it now and all its nice to have things a bit larger

Not to troll or pick you out, but the question wasn't does the 14-inch look fine. The OP wants to know 'why not a higher resolution for the 14-inch?' and 'is 1024x768 considered old?'

If your answer is that Apple doesn't need to update it because the 14-inch looks fine and doesn't need a higher resolution, than IMO that is a poor answer. My 1.67 PowerBook runs fine. Should Apple never increase the speed of their chips?

 

[California]

Not to troll or pick you out, but the question wasn't does the 14-inch look fine. The OP wants to know 'why not a higher resolution for the 14-inch?' and 'is 1024x768 considered old?'

If your answer is that Apple doesn't need to update it because the 14-inch looks fine and doesn't need a higher resolution, than IMO that is a poor answer. My 1.67 PowerBook runs fine. Should Apple never increase the speed of their chips?

Higher resolution on the PBs actually is HARDER to read documents for people because the font size is smaller. I LOVE the resolution on my 14" iBook and use it for my work machine. If I need to watch a dvd or do any graphics stuff, the 15" PB. When you write documents, who the heck needs that wide screen? The 14" iBook actually provides more of the length of the page than PBs -- reminds me of the ancient full page monitor that a friend of mine used to have in the early nineties -- because it saves writers scroll time on their documents. An Apple tech I once met told me that Apple used to time "scroll time" on their monitors and calculated that up to 15 -20 percent of creative writing time was being taken up by just scrolling the full length of the page! That's stealing concentration time -- that's what our computers are for -- for us to NOT think about technology and just work.

That's why I love the 14" resolution. Why do you all need the higher res? And the 12" iBook would be way too small for me and the 12" powerbook would be a nightmare because of the higher resolution and therefore even smaller type. Nightmare. But guys with better vision and less need to work with documents might love them.

 

[grapes911]

Higher resolution on the PBs actually is HARDER to read documents for people because the font size is smaller. I LOVE the resolution on my 14" iBook and use it for my work machine. If I need to watch a dvd or do any graphics stuff, the 15" PB. When you write documents, who the heck needs that wide screen? The 14" iBook actually provides more of the length of the page than PBs -- reminds me of the ancient full page monitor that a friend of mine used to have in the early nineties -- because it saves writers scroll time on their documents. An Apple tech I once met told me that Apple used to time "scroll time" on their monitors and calculated that up to 15 -20 percent of creative writing time was being taken up by just scrolling the full length of the page! That's stealing concentration time -- that's what our computers are for -- for us to NOT think about technology and just work.

That's why I love the 14" resolution. Why do you all need the higher res? And the 12" iBook would be way too small for me and the 12" powerbook would be a nightmare because of the higher resolution and therefore even smaller type. Nightmare. But guys with better vision and less need to work with documents might love them.

I can see your point about things being bigger on the 14-inch with 1024x768 and I can't agree more. But I have some quesitions/responses.

1) The the 12-inch iBook and 12-inch pbook have the exact same resolution. Why did you describe the iBook as 'way too small', but the pBook as a 'nightmare'?

2) I just compared a 15-inch powerbook and a 12-inch powerbook and I actually got 4 more lines of a word document on the 15-inch. Obviously the characters where smaller due to the higher res, but still less scrolling if you use the standard res and keep word at 100% viewing size.

 

[California]

Why did you describe the iBook as 'way too small', but the pBook as a 'nightmare'?

2) I just compared a 15-inch powerbook and a 12-inch powerbook and I actually got 4 more lines of a word document on the 15-inch. Obviously the characters where smaller due to the higher res, but still less scrolling if you use the standard res and keep word at 100% viewing size.

The iBook 12" , I believe, delivers less lines on a word document than the 14". That's what I meant about being way too small. Compare that with the 12" PB, and you get smaller type as well as less lines than the 15".

And I did not try to downgrade resolution on any new powerbook than an older 667mhz 15" powerbook -- and when I did, the lesser res screen was totally blurred on Word. Unreadable. I don't know how it looks on my 1ghz powerbook 15", machine is at Apple at the moment, but would presume it delivers that same blurred image for documents. I found that the only powerbook screen I liked for Word is the non DVI Tibooks, very old machines.

Anyway, hope my little iBook/PB experiments helped. For me, a writer, I've had to settle for the 14" iBook/15" Titanium PB solution. I may even keep an old 550 Tibook along with my 1ghz Ti PB just because.

 

[grapes911]

The iBook 12" , I believe, delivers less lines on a word document than the 14". That's what I meant about being way too small.

That is incorrect. Being the same resolution, they will have exactly the same number of lines assuming Font size and view size is the same. The characters will be slightly bigger on the 14-inch though.

And I did not try to downgrade resolution on any new powerbook than an older 667mhz 15" powerbook -- and when I did, the lesser res screen was totally blurred on Word. Unreadable. I don't know how it looks on my 1ghz powerbook 15", machine is at Apple at the moment, but would presume it delivers that same blurred image for documents. I found that the only powerbook screen I liked for Word is the non DVI Tibooks, very old machines.

Anytime you change resolution on an LCD, you will have some sort of distortion. Pixels will have to be split, or multiple pixels will have to work as one. It's just never a good idea.