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Retina Displays Also Coming to Next-Generation iMac?
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Make of that what you will, but it’s quite funny to once again see rumours emanating from source A, then being cited by B and then A using B’s citation of their original rumour as validation.
So let’s cut through the chaff.
There are basically three main points here that everyone is regurgitating:
- USB 3
- NVIDIA GPU
- Retina Display
USB 3 – confirmed via plist reportedly in the ML code. Without seeing the snippet personally, it’s impossible to confirm, but this is a fairly logical one. I think we can be fairly confident of this happening.
NVIDIA GPU – again, just like the above it’s difficult to confirm that the code being cited exists without seeing it personally. Considering the work NVIDIA has been doing in terms of drivers for OSX that you can download and use with a Mac Pro (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1360927/), then this could well be a reality since they wouldn’t be writing drivers for xxxxs and giggles.
Retina Display – The high resolution icons in ML do suggest that this will happen sometime in the future. However, don’t forget that high resolution icons were already found last year when Lion was released to devs. I think this is the least likely to happen out of the 3 main points, but may be a possibility.
The sub-points are (related to MBP though):
- Firewire ports?
- Ethernet ports?
The rumours around the ports being gone are based on this paragraph
9to5mac said:
Considering Apple's penchant for (what they think is) simplicity, the reduction of ports could happen. We can all argue that these ports are important or not. There are adaptors out there and more are coming. Sure, adaptors may not be as handy to use as having the port, but it is what it is. Looking at NAB 2012, the professional video and audio device manufacturers are embracing Thunderbolt with both hands. TB is also coming to the PC.
Whatever we get in the latest refresh there will be interesting and exciting times ahead with joy, trepidation, gnashing of teeth and, of course, the mandatory "is my computer running too hot?" threads.
Really hoping for no retina in the iMac. I love the 2560x1440 work space, and I'm really banking on a 7970m in the new iMac. 1440p + 7970m = High settings gaming at native res for any game I have interest in for the foreseeable future. (Guild Wars 2, SWTOR, Diablo 3, Starcraft 2, DOTA, CS:GO, etc).
Man, I am so sick of hearing this. Ever since the Intel era of Mac's, most of the macbook pro's, and now even the iMacs have better video cards than 98% of the PC's out there.
They are great for mid to upper mid level 3D gaming. Resident Evil 5, which came out in 2009, runs as smooth as butter on my iMac with the 6750m video card ... at full resolution with full details, btw.
It was one of the many considerations I took into account when buying that mac. I get the mac os, a great quality build, and then can run windows on bootcamp and get great gaming too.
What exactly is so 'dumb' about that?
If there's one thing the MacRumors forums have taught me, it's that a lot of people have really awful eyesight.
After the disappointment that was selling my iPad 2 for the new iPad, I am not actually looking forward to a retina display iMac.
The pixel-doubling that is required to fill the display on the iPad renders fonts beautifully as they are scalable, but results in really blurry images. Does anyone else find this?
I for one would not like to use a display that is doubling the pixels. If the new iMac does come retina then I'll save some cash and go for a 2011 model or hopefully an option of a non-retina display.
Whatever happens Apple, please hurry up! I have cash I want to throw at you!
The pixel-doubling that is required to fill the display on the iPad renders fonts beautifully as they are scalable, but results in really blurry images. Does anyone else find this?
I for one would not like to use a display that is doubling the pixels. If the new iMac does come retina then I'll save some cash and go for a 2011 model or hopefully an option of a non-retina display.
Whatever happens Apple, please hurry up! I have cash I want to throw at you!
You wouldn't be playing the games at native resolution on a display like that anyway. Throwing a 2D GUI desktop around, even at 5### X whatever resolution, is not asking the graphics card to work that hard.
the amount of intelligence and awareness on this thread is mind-blowing...
couple of hints:
sharp produces high resolution igzo displays that will be used in imac in a couple of weeks (cost-effective)
retina isnt necessary quadrupling resolution, just bumping it
you dont have to game at full resolution
its funny, couple of sentences and a link address 99% posts on this thread. and then we go again...
couple of hints:
sharp produces high resolution igzo displays that will be used in imac in a couple of weeks (cost-effective)
retina isnt necessary quadrupling resolution, just bumping it
you dont have to game at full resolution
its funny, couple of sentences and a link address 99% posts on this thread. and then we go again...
Doing anything on an LCD at anything but native res is garbage. I'd rather not play my games through a veil of Vaseline just so that my desktop and text are a little clearer when i sit closer than arms length away from my 27" screen.
Playing at a pixel doubled resolution is equally garbage.
Playing at a pixel doubled resolution is equally garbage.
I really hope this is true. It's just the sort of real-world improvement I'm hoping for, instead of just another effectively meaningless processor bump.
For someone whose principal (really, only) power-intensive use case is photography, this would be *extremely* welcome.
For someone whose principal (really, only) power-intensive use case is photography, this would be *extremely* welcome.
Same. Ive been without my 2011 mbp for 3 weeks now, thus no xplane 10. But it was pissing me off so its ok. 10.10 will be out soon- lots of performance updates, amd /nvidia card fixes and art work
Plus an amazing OHare payware is coming around wwdc time so cant wait
I think you don't actually understand how this works.
Well, I do. Not really awful, but not as good as it could be. As a result, I can look at an iPad 2 and an iPad 3 and I can't see what the actual difference is, but I _can_ see that the text on the iPad 3 is a lot clearer and easier to read.
There's just no reason to do pixel-doubling on an iMac.
This is not like iOS, where the SDK and the developers' mindsets have all been fixated on a couple different devices with a set resolution, and the software would just fall all to hell if run at something different. Macs come in all sorts of crazy resolutions and aspect ratios, and the apps are all designed to run in windows of any damn resolution whatsoever. There are the usual problems with GUI elements being different sizes, but those are nothing new, and Apple has been doing things to mitigate that for years (e.g. icons that come in various resolutions).
About all Apple needs to do to put higher resolution displays in an iMac is... buy higher resolution displays. Throw some code into OS X to use higher-resolution bitmaps for the menu, controls, etc when running on one of these models, and the problem is solved. No need to push the technology envelope and push costs up by specking out pixel-doubled 24-inch displays.
This is not like iOS, where the SDK and the developers' mindsets have all been fixated on a couple different devices with a set resolution, and the software would just fall all to hell if run at something different. Macs come in all sorts of crazy resolutions and aspect ratios, and the apps are all designed to run in windows of any damn resolution whatsoever. There are the usual problems with GUI elements being different sizes, but those are nothing new, and Apple has been doing things to mitigate that for years (e.g. icons that come in various resolutions).
About all Apple needs to do to put higher resolution displays in an iMac is... buy higher resolution displays. Throw some code into OS X to use higher-resolution bitmaps for the menu, controls, etc when running on one of these models, and the problem is solved. No need to push the technology envelope and push costs up by specking out pixel-doubled 24-inch displays.
When and if Apple makes the move to Retina display for it's 27-inch monitors, count me in! Being a photographer and 5D Mark II owner, not only does that mean enhanced detail when viewing images, it also means less scaling to fit the screen.
Bring on the Retina displays, I'm ready!
Bring on the Retina displays, I'm ready!
This.
Am I the only one who thinks that doubling the pixels now it's unreal (and useless)?
I work on a 1680x1050 MBP, and i know, it's slightly over the average with 128PPI, but from a normal viewing distance it's hard to see a single pixel. But i guess that you would stand a little further on a 2560x1400 iMac, compensating the 109PPI.
There was no other way than doubling the pixels on iPhone and iPad, to avoid ugly interpolations on all the existing applications. It was a effort apple had to do.
But i don't see it happening right now on macs, cause it's a far more complicate world, and i don't think anyone really need this now. Could be completely wrong though.
Retina displays would be brilliant, but the talk of not pixel-doubling may mean the holy grail... resolution independence!
Being able to make your own screen estate / size trade off would be fantastic, especially if you were able to do it on a per-app basis.
Being able to make your own screen estate / size trade off would be fantastic, especially if you were able to do it on a per-app basis.
Not quite true. Fill rates and overdraw are massive drains on a GPU's performance, it doesn't matter if it's 2D or 3D. The desktop is still Quartz, which is OpenGL, which means lots of paged textures and LOTS of memory. It's not just games, it's every windowed application too, be it Mail or Final Cut X.
Apple haven't been too canny when it comes to video cards, if anything they're a bit predictably "safe". So I'm more curious to see what they've done to get around this if the new hardware really does support higher resolutions. Gone for top-end cards to match the old-world speeds? Because that really would attract gamers running at half-res, but with all that extra power. Not that I think that's going to happen though; it's far too unconservative.
Yes yes yes yes! Please please please please be true! I am a sucker for high quality displays. I've used Windows all my life but this will make me a Mac convert in an instant if it's true.
Retina displays are important to me because they provides better quality as a function of angle of view. And since I sit like 6 inches from my monitor to program and edit video, this will be great!
Retina displays are important to me because they provides better quality as a function of angle of view. And since I sit like 6 inches from my monitor to program and edit video, this will be great!
I will replace my beloved 2008 Dual Mac Pro/ATI 550 with an older display I ill buy a new retina display in a heart beat. I will just have do the Turnkey update for an eSATA port since I have two externals with the fastest port being an eSATA port.
