Retina Display MBP pointless for user who uses low screen res? ( visually impaired )

[maf2k8]

So i might be interested in one of the new Retina Display MBPs

I was holding out until the update to purchase one ( i no longer own one )

When i did own a 15" MBP, I did set the screen res pretty low ( 1024x768 stretched ) or something along those lines.

I am visually impaired ( not blind ) and i prefer to have a lower screen res over maxing out the res. and using the zoom feature. ( not a big fan of the zoom feature )

So will the Retina Display be pointless for a user like myself?

I am "thinking" that if i set the screen res on a 15" to 1024x768 ( or whatever is around that number that fills the screen ) would it look VERY clear? due to the retina display? or will it be the exact same as a standard MBP? seeing as how its set to only display 1024x768?

any thoughts on this would be great.

Would i only notice a difference using the ZOOM feature?

 

[Stetrain]

It isn't very well described, but it seems that thew new MBP supports smooth scaling to different effective resolutions:

Supported resolutions: 2880 by 1800 pixels (Retina); scaled resolutions: 1920 by 1200, 1680 by 1050, 1280 by 800, and 1024 by 640 pixels

I don't know if that will look any better than setting one of the older MBPs to such a resolution. It sounds like something you should check out in person at the store.

Edit: Here's an article on how the new Macbook Pro handles display scaling by AnandTech

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5996/how-the-retina-display-macbook-pro-handles-scaling

And here's a screenshot of what the new Macbook Pro display looks like when in 1024x600 "large text" mode:

http://images.anandtech.com/galleries/2078/Screen Shot 2012-06-11 at 4.35.25 PM.png

It appears to be much smoother and better rendered than simply setting the resolution lower on an older model.

 

[houkouonchi]

So i might be interested in one of the new Retina Display MBPs

I was holding out until the update to purchase one ( i no longer own one )

When i did own a 15" MBP, I did set the screen res pretty low ( 1024x768 stretched ) or something along those lines.

I am visually impaired ( not blind ) and i prefer to have a lower screen res over maxing out the res. and using the zoom feature. ( not a big fan of the zoom feature )

So will the Retina Display be pointless for a user like myself?

I am "thinking" that if i set the screen res on a 15" to 1024x768 ( or whatever is around that number that fills the screen ) would it look VERY clear? due to the retina display? or will it be the exact same as a standard MBP? seeing as how its set to only display 1024x768?

any thoughts on this would be great.

Would i only notice a difference using the ZOOM feature?

If you are already turning down the resolution then zoom would be no different. Zoom could be better if you were running at the native resolution though. Honestly though I would not waist my money if I was visually impaired.

 

[aapl fan]

I used to use my desktop display set to a lower resolution for the same reason so I know what you mean. The downside was that graphical elements lost sharpness. Assuming that the retina MBP can scale that low, I would expect it to be a lot sharPer at that resolution. Scalability is one of the benefits of the extra high dpi screen.

 

[stormdanny]

The new MacBook Pro not just having great retina display. It is also "Lighter" or the lightest MacBook Pro? Next it spot using SSD, faster chip to write read on SSD.

If your concern is more on performance, I believe this is the fastest MacBook Pro every build. Retina screen is just sugar icing on cake.

 

[leman]

Low resolutions will look much more clearer than on the regular MBP. However, don't you have glasses or something like that? My eyesight is really bad btw., but I don't have any problems with high resolutions (I do wear eye correction all day long).