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Photoshop CS6 and Lightroom 4 will support HiDPI, MacBook Pro Retina Display in 'the coming months'
You know who's likely to buy the MacBook Pro with Retina Display? Creative professionals (obviously). So you know what programs should really be optimized for that 2,880 x 1,800 screen? Try Photoshop, or Lightroom. Adobe hears your frustration, and apparently empathizes mightily: the company just posted a blog post promising Photoshop CS6, Lightroom 4 and Photoshop Touch will support HiDPI, including the MacBook Pro's Retina Display, within the "coming months." (No, this near-term update does not include Photoshop Elements, unfortunately.) While that timetable is on the vague side, the outfit says having a Creative Cloud membership will ensure you get that update sooner. Until then, your frankengadget renders will still look a little blurry, sorry.
Site tracks growing list of retina Mac apps
Do you have a Retina MacBook Pro, wondering which apps are going to look their best on the massive amount of glossy pixels before you? Well, Microsoft might not be ready, but quite a few developers have updated their apps, and those are showing up on Retina Mac Apps. It's a simple site with a simple purpose: to show you which apps are ready for the big (resolution) screen.
Microsoft has no plans for Retina display Office apps (updated)
There's someone who's kicking sand out of the Retina display sandbox, and that company appears to be Microsoft. Even though Microsoft boasted that Office for Mac is ready for OS X Mountain Lion, Macworld is reporting that users with Retina display MacBook Pros are describing a less-than-stellar experience when using Office for Mac on one of these machine. This isn't a surprise, as about the only current OS X Mountain Lion feature that Office for Mac supports is Gatekeeper, which I think is largely a move to keep the average user from thinking that Office isn't working with Gatekeeper turned on. Other yet-to-be-delivered features include iCloud support (no surprise), auto-saving, versions (though there is a workaround) -- the last two being Lion features that the Office for Mac team was supposedly working on. In the blog, an Office for Mac team member claimed that Outlook does support Retina display. "Outlook for Mac 2011 already supports Retina Display and the remaining apps will have the same viewing quality as on any non-Retina device. Unfortunately at this time, we cannot comment on any future updates regarding supporting Retina on Word, Excel or PowerPoint," the person said. The same isn't holding true for other software. Adobe's Creative Suite also lacks Retina display support, but told Macworld in an email that it would be coming later this year, and the same goes for AutoCAD. But the support is coming, as Photoshop and AutoCAD were demoed during the MacBook Pro with Retina Display announcement. The installed base of Office for Mac users that own Retina display MacBook Pros might not be big enough to justify adding the support right now. As more Retina display machines are adopted in the business industry, Microsoft might eventually come back to the Retina display issue and other Lion and Mountain Lion features that it's neglected. But, I suspect that given Microsoft's laissez-faire attitude toward the Office for Mac suite, those features might come some time in 2016 ... maybe. Update: As one of our commenters pointed out, Office for Mac is written in Carbon while Retina display supports requires Cocoa API. The current Outlook was written in Cocoa.
OWC offers 480GB SSD upgrade for Retina MacBook Pro, requires screwdriver and careful math
Order up a Retina MacBook Pro and you'll likely be confronted with a gravelly message about how the SSD is "built into the computer" and not user-upgradeable. As it turns out, that's not quite true -- so long as you're prepared to ignore a whole bunch of other warnings written inside the chassis itself, iFixit has shown how to remove the factory drive and now OWC has a new SSD to replace it with. The only downside is the cost: at $580, OWC's 480GB Mercury Aura Pro is actually more expensive than Apple's official 512GB upgrade. In an effort to sweeten the deal, OWC is offering those who buy before September 30th a compact USB 3.0 enclosure to make use of the freed-up drive. Alternatively, you may want to wait for prices to drop or for OWC to offer an even bigger capacity with better cost / benefits.
BBC iPlayer for iOS gets Retina display support for iPad
The BBC has just finished what was probably the best coverage of the Olympic games in the world, but the corporation is not slowing down. Today the BBC released an update to its wildly popular BBC iPlayer app for iOS. The major feature improvement in this update is support for the new iPad's Retina display. Other changes include improved video performance for better playback, bug fixes and "general tidying, so you'll notice even smoother performance," and more Voice Over controls for better accessibility. BBC iPlayer version 1.3.2 is a free download from the UK App Store. Now let's just hope BBC and Apple can agree to get iPlayer on the Apple TV.
How well can the MacBook Pro with Retina display handle Windows games?
After jumping the hurdles of our review gauntlet, the MacBook Pro with Retina display proved itself as a top-notch machine for the creative professionals it's geared towards, and anyone willing to pay a premium. Save for a brief bout with Diablo III, our time spent gaming on the hardware was limited. Ever since, we've wondered how the Kepler-toting, Ivy Bridge-packing laptop would handle one of our favorite graphics-intensive pastimes. Sure, Apple machines aren't exactly en vogue when it comes to playing video games, but Cupertino's ultra-high-resolution Mac simply begs to be put to the test. We loaded up Windows 7 on a MacBook Pro carrying an NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 1 GB of VRAM, the stock 2.3GHz processor and 16GB of RAM (upgraded from the vanilla 8GB configuration) and put it through its paces to see how it performs.
Temple Run breaks 100 million downloads
There's big news from Imangi Software, the husband-and-wife team behind the breakout iOS hit Temple Run. The game has picked up 100 million downloads in within a year on the App Store. The team has a lot to show for it, like a long time on the Top Free apps chart, plenty of microtransactions (surely), and even that Disney-branded spinoff for Brave. It's well deserved, as Temple Run is a great, fun game. And it's getting better still. The latest update brings high-res Retina Display graphics to the iPad. There's also a new powerup that will revive you at the end of a run, and the ability to turn off powerups whenever you want. All that comes with a few more bugfixes, so the game is running smoother than ever. Temple Run is a phenomenal success, and it's east to see why. #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
Added configuration options for MacBook Pro with Retina display let you max out the base model
$2,199 for the basic MacBook Pro with Retina display is certainly a lot to pay for any laptop, but those looking to add a few more features without going all the way up to the next model so far haven't had a lot of options. That now looks like it's changing, though, with configuration choices for processor and storage now showing up on Apple's online store in addition to the existing one to double the memory -- letting you, for instance, bump up the processor without also jumping to a larger SSD (or vice versa, although adding the larger SSD puts things just $100 shy of the higher end model that also comes with a faster processor). Those options aren't quite a sure thing just yet, though, as they've appeared and disappeared from the site a few times this morning. We'll keep you posted if they stick. Update: It appears things have finally settled down, and the added options have stuck for good.
Google Chrome 21 stable release adds Retina MacBook Pro support, webcam use without plugins
Some Retina MacBook Pro owners have been waiting for this day for six weeks: that promised Retina support in Google Chrome is now part of a finished, stable release. Chrome 21 is now crisp and clear for those who took the plunge on Apple's new laptop but would rather not cling to Safari for the web. No matter what hardware you're using, Google has rolled in its promised WebRTC support to let webcams and microphones have their way without Flash or other plugins. Other notable tweaks like wider support for Cloud Print and gamepads tag along in the update as well. If you're at all intrigued by the expanded hardware support in Chrome, Google has an abundance of details (and downloads) at the links below.
Samsung Retina-like 11.8-inch tablet in the works according to court docs
If you've been following the Apple vs. Samsung case even casually, you're probably aware that today marked the start of the patent trial in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, with Judge Lucy Koh presiding. And while the proceedings themselves won't necessarily justify an Olympics-level play-by-play, several interesting bits are sure to come to light. Today's nugget relates to Samsung's tablet roadmap, revealing that a Retina-like tablet may be in the works. The P10, as it's been labeled internally, packs a 2,560 x 1,600-pixel, 11.8-inch display, along with WiFi and LTE connectivity. Details are thin beyond that, and it's still possible that Samsung may not have a high-res tablet for us this year -- though with the company's mysterious New York City event coming up in two weeks, followed by IFA later in the month, there are plenty of opportunities in August alone for such an official reveal. Philip Palermo contributed to this report.
Apple updates iWork suite with support for Mountain Lion, Retina MacBook Pro
Looking for something else to download once you're finished with all 4.34GB of Mountain Lion? Then you'll be glad to know that Apple has now also updated its full iWork suite of applications for the occasion. That includes Pages, Keynote and Numbers, all of which have not only be updated with support for new Mountain Lion features like dictation and iCloud syncing, but support for the new Retina display-equipped MacBook Pro as well. No major changes beyond that, from the looks of things, and all three are of course free updates in the Mac App Store for those that have already purchased them (they run $20 apiece for everyone else).
Acorn 3.3 adds Retina Canvas, Smart Export, more
Version 3.3 of the popular Mac image editor Acorn is out, and developer Gus Mueller writes up the biggest changes on his blog. The Retina Canvas is likely the coolest update: If you're using Acorn, you can now see any art you create at a 1:1 ratio on a Retina Display. So if you have a MacBook Pro with Retina Display and Acorn, you can now see your own work perfectly clearly. All of the other elements have been updated for the new display as well. The update also includes the option to trim a certain selection out of a picture, redo a selection if you lose it for any reason, and the Smart Export feature as well (which will automatically save layers in a piece separately for later use in code). Acorn 3.3 is a sandboxed, App Store-only version (which makes sense, given that Apple is cracking the whip on that lately). But Mueller also says that if you'd rather run the version downloadable straight from the website, it'll know whether you've run the App Store version before, so you still have your choice. Sounds like a nice solid update to a great app.
Mac App Store now requires a 1024x1024 app icon
Developer Daniel Jalkut notes that the latest requirements for the Mac App Store include an app icon that's at least 1024x1024 pixels, which is extraordinarily huge. To put that in perspective, each and every submission to the Mac App Store going forward needs to include an icon that's bigger than my MacBook's display (1280x800), and bigger even than a standard resolution iPhone or iPad screen. That's a big icon for sure. The main reason for an icon this big is the Retina display, currently implemented on the MacBook Pro with Retina display, but presumably coming to even more Mac screens in the future. Icons like this are also used in the Mac App Store in various places, and because Apple's screens are including more and more pixels all the time, bigger icons are required. The drawback, however, is that a huge icon like this uses up more and more disk space in the app's bundle, not only taking room on the user's hard drive, but also taking up space in the computer's memory when rendered. On cutting edge computers, that's not an issue, but when you're showing dozens or hundreds of icons like this at a time, that memory can add up. Apparently that's a trade-off Apple's happy to make. [via Shawn Blanc]
Parallels Desktop 7 gets the Retina Display treatment
Parallels has announced that its popular virtualization software is ready for the Retina Display MacBook Pro. Parallels Mobile was updated for iOS device Retina Displays earlier this year. The desktop software has now followed suit and is ready to let you see OSes such as Windows 8 and Windows 7 running on your brand new MacBook Pro. And, if you need a copy of Parallels, you can grab it in this excellent bundle of software, featuring over $900 worth of apps for just $50. Someone asked me the other day how to find some excellent Mac apps, and I recommended they grab a bundle and start installing. Even if not all the apps are great, chances are there'll be something good in there well worth the purchase price. [via 9to5Mac]
Apple launches new iPad in China on July 20th (update: here's why)
Apple is about to complete an important part of the puzzle for the new iPad's world rollout: it just confirmed that its Retina display-packing tablet will reach mainland China on July 20th. The company isn't specific about local pricing, but it's promising both WiFi and cellular versions at its own stores and through resellers. The company is keen to avoid some of the mobs and scalping it's seen in the past and will open reservations for pickup starting on July 19th -- although the company is unusually limiting the reservation window to just three hours each day, between 9AM and noon. No matter how it shakes out, the official Chinese expansion is likely to keep the number of slingshot-delivered imports to a minimum. Update: As some commenters have noted, the Chinese launch is helped mostly by the truce with Proview. The current iPad design has been certified since March; Apple isn't about to mention Proview by name in the release, but it likely wasn't keen on risking another store ban when it could just avoid the battle altogether.
VLC 2.02 adds Retina display support, ditches font cache interruptions
The latest version of everyone's favorite file-type-friendly media player has been updated on both Windows and OS X, although the Apple iteration gets the most major addition -- playback support on the new MacBook Pro's Retina display. Alongside sharper menus, VLC's latest update extends functionality to the video itself, maintaining crispness on smaller viewing windows and even fully-blow 4K video. Good news on all platforms though, as the developers have now nixed that grating "building font cache" pop-up window. Smaller changes include support for Growl and the return of the "keep aspect ratio" option. Hit up the changelog for a full run-down of the other changes.
Splashtop for iPad gets major update: Retina support, easier remote desktopping (update: but at a price)
If you wake up to find the Splashtop Streamer widget on your PC or Mac begging to be updated, then it's probably worth it -- especially if you have a new iPad lying around. Splashtop 2 has been optimized to work with the Retina display, which makes it a cinch to squeeze your entire Windows or OS X desktop onto the 10-inch screen without it looking terrible. The system has also been redesigned to avoid the need to enter IP addresses, passwords, port numbers or Google account details. Instead, you'll create a new Splashtop 2 login that should work once across all your devices. The UI seems a lot friendlier, there's a new in-app purchase to "supercharge" network performance (edit: also required for connections outside of the same WiFi network if you're a new customer, see below), plus there's improved support for fluid video streaming at up to 30fps. (Alas, there's still no fullscreen support for Windows Media Center users though.) The new streamer and iPad app are available now, while the Android update should arrive soon. Want to see it in action? Head past the break for the promo video. Update: We didn't fully appreciate this at first, but cross-network remote desktopping is no longer free to new customers. If you're coming to Splashtop for the first time, you have to make the in-app purchase ($1 per month or $10 per year) to enable "Anywhere Access." That said, the Splashtop 2 app for iPad is currently selling for $2 -- an 80 percent discount which largely compensates for the first year of charges.
BlueStacks brings Android apps to OS X, wolves planning a rest with some lambs
BlueStacks is releasing the first public alpha of its Android App Player capable of running on OS X. The virtualization company's software is powered by its Layercake technology and includes a bundle of apps from its various partners. CEO Rosen Sharma hopes the move will encourage developers to build "retina-friendly" apps for Google's mobile OS that can then be sold to those on the other side of the technology divide. There's a sign-up sheet for developers itchy to get their hands on the goods on the company's website, but don't expect a response right away -- there's still a few more days of Google I/O to go first.
Google+ on Android, iPad goes tablet-sized
Google+ just got a makeover very recently, but it was still very much oriented towards phones -- that's been solved as of today. The social networking app is now optimized for Android tablets and the iPad, with a whole new navigation system and Hangout video chats suited to bigger screens. The layout is landscape-friendly and, if you have a new iPad, will take advantage of every pixel on that Retina display. Android users can get the update today; iPad owners will have to wait for a release coming "soon." Android phone owners are getting some of the benefits of the supersized interface in their own, more modest screen sizes as well. Check out our full coverage of Google I/O 2012's opening keynote at our event hub!
gdgt runs the numbers on Retina display sizes
Apple fans have been oohing and ahhing since the MacBook Pro with Retina display was announced a few weeks ago. Let's face it, the display looks incredible! With Retina displays starting to make inroads into the world of Mac, gdgt's Ryan Block decided to take a look at what screen resolutions would be required on the rest of the Mac line to achieve a pixel density similar to that on the new MacBook Pro. What Block did was to figure out the current pixel density and size of Mac displays, then figure out what it would take to approach the 220 pixel per inch (PPI) display on the Retina display MacBook Pro. It's not just a doubling of pixel density; Block noted that the 11" MacBook Air already has a 135 PPI display that wouldn't need to be doubled to achieve Retina quality. Block's results are fascinating: 13" MacBook Air Current Resolution: 1440 x 900, Estimated Retina Resolution: 2560 x 1600 13" MacBook Pro Current Resolution: 1280 x 600, Estimated Retina Resolution: 2560 x 1600 11" MacBook Air Current Resolution: 1366 x 768, Estimated Retina Resolution: 2200-2300 x 1200-1300 27" iMac and Thunderbolt Display Current Resolution: 2560 x 1440, Estimated Retina Resolution: 5120 x 2880 21.5" iMac Current Resolution: 1920 x 1080, Estimated Retina Resolution: 3840 x 2160 (Block thinks the 21.5" Retina iMac would get a bump above that resolution) Of course, this is all pure conjecture. What do you think? Will Apple introduce Retina displays across the Mac product line in the foreseeable future? Let us know in the comments.
