Running the Retina MacBook Pro at Full 2880x1800 Resolution

[mkoesel]

Um, this is what the retina display does by default.

No, it simply renders at an effective 1440x900 resolution, but looks extremely crisp.

What I mean is if you could adjust the font size and icon size arbitrarily (like you can in Windows for example), you could have your 2880x1800 real estate and then scale up text to taste until it becomes readable to you. For most people you probably would not need to double everything back up to where it would be if you chose the 1440x900 retina resolution. So you would see an increase in useful screen area.

How can you make the font size bigger without making the UI elements that contain the fonts bigger as well?

For UI elements that contain non-scrolling text regions, generally speaking, you can't. But there are many UI elements (such as the text box I am currently typing this in) which don't fall into that category.

 

[JohnDoe98]

Wait, there's a concept behind this?

There's a concept behind verything.

 

[Asclepio]

for those have problems to understand the retina thing, it double the pixels, same aspect ratio.

 

[mkoesel]

Is there a setting like this in OS X?

Not that I am aware of, unfortunately. I also don't think you can change icon size in the finder, can you (other than for the dock)?

 

[Chrisg2014]

You know the RMBP is not looking so good right now as to when they released it. Sure even though it has a better picture you can't use the display to its full potential with out a hack, or also you can't even upgrade ram because it is built in and same with storage. They even designed it so you cant have and extra battery and they have to replace it for you if it breaks and even charges more for it. They really screwed people over. In my opinion it does not diserve the "Pro" but the an "Air" and even that I don't think it should get that tittle because it a little better then the air.

I hope there will be a software update for you guys or something so you can use the computer with it's full potential.

 

[Firen]

There are some very smart, informed posts in this thread and a lot lot lot of less smart ones from people who should really read what the smart, informed people wrote.

 

[liam5150]

There are some very smart, informed posts in this thread and a lot lot lot of less smart ones from people who should really read what the smart, informed people wrote.

... as happens in every single thread in this site.

 

[So Random]

You know the RMBP is not looking so good right now as to when they released it. Sure even though it has a better picture you can't use the display to its full potential with out a hack, or also you can't even upgrade ram because it is built in and same with storage. They even designed it so you cant have and extra battery and they have to replace it for you if it breaks and even charges more for it. They really screwed people over. In my opinion it does not diserve the "Pro" but the an "Air" and even that I don't think it should get that tittle because it a little better then the air.

I hope there will be a software update for you guys or something so you can use the computer with it's full potential.

What is the "full potential" supposed to be?

Look at your iPhone 3G. Now look at your iPhone 4. Impressed? THAT is Retina. That ALONE is the big selling point for the new MBP. Because you get to stare at it for god knows how much time and be given a real visual treat. You get to enjoy what you're seeing on a whole new level. Because it makes other displays look like total ass. Any extra capability beyond that one phenomenon is just gravy.

Keep thinking "iPhone 3G display vs. iPhone 4 display." And just forget about the raw numbers. The visual feast alone makes it all worth it.

As to your other arguments, by the time you need more RAM in it or a new battery you'll be more than ready for your next Retina MBP.

 

[gnasher729]

You know the RMBP is not looking so good right now as to when they released it. Sure even though it has a better picture you can't use the display to its full potential with out a hack, or also you can't even upgrade ram because it is built in and same with storage. They even designed it so you cant have and extra battery and they have to replace it for you if it breaks and even charges more for it. They really screwed people over. In my opinion it does not diserve the "Pro" but the an "Air" and even that I don't think it should get that tittle because it a little better then the air.

I hope there will be a software update for you guys or something so you can use the computer with it's full potential.

Now for a reality check: The Retina MBP is significantly cheaper than a 15" MBP with comparable processor, RAM, and SSD. It is also significantly cheaper than a Dell Alienware laptop with comparable processor, RAM, and SSD. It comes with a quad core processor capable of doing 60 GFlops, has 16 GB of RAM, runs three external monitors in addition to the built-in one which is the best laptop monitor that you can buy for any money, weighs about four pound, has 7 hours battery life, from a battery that does 1,000 charges, and is so successful that it is sold out already for the next weeks.

Yeah, Apple really screwed people.

(Only if you are trying to sell a high end ultrabook that isn't made by Apple. In that case, yes, you are screwed).

 

[doelcm82]

The rMBP is definitely overrated.

That means it's rated highly by most, and you happen to disagree.

If I were to go on the advice of strangers, I'd go with "most" over just you.

Anyone who tells you something is overrated, is telling you that most people like it.

 

[semitry]

Keep thinking "iPhone 3G display vs. iPhone 4 display." And just forget about the raw numbers. The visual feast alone makes it all worth it.

But you look at your laptop at a much further distance than your phone. The difference is a lot less substantial.

 

[KnightWRX]

But you look at your laptop at a much further distance than your phone. The difference is a lot less substantial.

Hence why the iPhone is a 326 PPI screen and the new Retina MBPR is a 220 PPI screen.

You need less PPI to achieve the same effect since the viewing distance is farther away.

 

[semitry]

Hence why the iPhone is a 326 PPI screen and the new Retina MBPR is a 220 PPI screen.

You need less PPI to achieve the same effect since the viewing distance is farther away.

But it's not the same effect. Staring at a retina iphone up close vs a retina macbook far just didn't have the same effect on me.

 

[KnightWRX]

But it's not the same effect. Staring at a retina iphone up close vs a retina macbook far just didn't have the same effect on me.

It is the same effect. Depends on how optimal your viewing to each is. It's basically making the pixels smallers, but upscaling elements (using more pixels to display them), thus making them more detailed and sharper.

 

[mkoesel]

Not really. If you scale just the fonts and icons, then your UI elements, bitmaps and any app-generated content measured in pixels will not be scaled.

The pic posted above by pesos demonstrates what I am talking about. So he gets the 2880x1800 desktop resolution, but is able to use a smaller-yet-still-readable font size than what the 1440x900 choice under MacOSX gives on you.

Ideally - and this is where things are reported to be going with MacOS and probably Windows too - you never need to set or worry about your screen resolution. It always runs at native resolution, and you simply adjust fonts, icons, and other UI elements to taste.

 

[boomish]

lol it'll be so small I doubt you'd read anything let alone operate a program..

 

[Olo]

I think the problem is that most people aren't understanding the explanations given so far about what Retina is.

What i am gathering so far is that Retina is really just a way to move forward(with higher resolutions) while retaining a measure of backward compatibility. Retina aware apps can make use of the extra resolution while old apps get their custom user interface elements crudely scaled.

The real problem with just bumping the DPI of displays is that so many things assume a certain screen DPI of roughly 72 to 96 DPI. In the Windows world, it is very apparent when you run at native high res and bump your user interface element and font size only to have a host of applications start cutting off things because they assumed a certain pixel size for system elements.

In an ideal world, everything.. and i mean everything would be vector. Text, images, boxes drawn around stuff, scroll bars, etc. Until now, people were forced to build things at the pixel level to make them look good. Microsoft used "hinting" to force fonts to adhere to a pixel boundary because it looked crisp.

Apple didn't want to do that because it caused all sorts of errors in layout and then people complained that Apple fonts were "fuzzy". They were fuzzy, but only because the screen DPI was too low to render them well.

Now Apple has the DPI to make their more accurate fonts look good but all this legacy code breaks because it depends on pixel level rendering. So... to make all the old stuff work they had to scale it... otherwise you would have a mish mash of differently sized stuff on the screen. It would be ugly... and Apple doesn't like ugly.

So, to make a long story longer, Apple is doing with Retina what it has to do to drag people kicking and screaming into the future. In the long run, this (putting up with legacy apps that look scaled) will all be worth it.

The only question i have is how we fix the web to scale better and take advantage of these new higher DPI displays. Right now, the web is very badly pixel dependent.

 

[GenesisST]

Image

I guess that ignorance is truly bliss...

 

[mkoesel]

In an ideal world, everything.. and i mean everything would be vector. Text, images, boxes drawn around stuff, scroll bars, etc.

Yes. Furthermore, even legacy bitmapped graphic elements and icons can be vectorized and cached as such. This is apparently where things are headed. In the meantime though, I like the flexibility that Windows gives you.

 

[Renzatic]

I guess that ignorance is truly bliss...

...and a sense of humor is a helluva thing to have.

 

[itsamacthing]

Umm...here, buy our new product and then we are going to lock you out of using it all the way.... who makes these kinds of choices? Maybe it's not that useful for a lot of people, but hell..give us the choice!

 

[gotluck]

Now for a reality check: The Retina MBP is significantly cheaper than a 15" MBP with comparable processor, RAM, and SSD. It is also significantly cheaper than a Dell Alienware laptop with comparable processor, RAM, and SSD. It comes with a quad core processor capable of doing 60 GFlops, has 16 GB of RAM, runs three external monitors in addition to the built-in one which is the best laptop monitor that you can buy for any money, weighs about four pound, has 7 hours battery life, from a battery that does 1,000 charges, and is so successful that it is sold out already for the next weeks.

Yeah, Apple really screwed people.

(Only if you are trying to sell a high end ultrabook that isn't made by Apple. In that case, yes, you are screwed).

You're forgetting about the video card when comparing against the alienware. Apple needs higher end video cards! Top of the line alien wares also offer higher raw performance. Just sayin

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Umm...here, buy our new product and then we are going to lock you out of using it all the way.... who makes these kinds of choices? Maybe it's not that useful for a lot of people, but hell..give us the choice!

This is apple were talking about here

 

[Starship77]

Now for a reality check: The Retina MBP is significantly cheaper than a 15" MBP with comparable processor, RAM, and SSD. It is also significantly cheaper than a Dell Alienware laptop with comparable processor, RAM, and SSD. It comes with a quad core processor capable of doing 60 GFlops, has 16 GB of RAM, runs three external monitors in addition to the built-in one which is the best laptop monitor that you can buy for any money, weighs about four pound, has 7 hours battery life, from a battery that does 1,000 charges, and is so successful that it is sold out already for the next weeks.

Yeah, Apple really screwed people.

(Only if you are trying to sell a high end ultrabook that isn't made by Apple. In that case, yes, you are screwed).

Best post in this thread.

 

[twoodcc]

hmm, someone should set the ones at apple retail stores to this resolution and video people's reaction

 

[Larry-K]

There's a concept behind verything.

Hmm, "verything". Is this an argument for intelligent design?

I would argue that the vast majority of things in the universe do not have a concept behind them.

The burden of proof is on the positive.