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Conan O'Brien pokes fun at iPad Retina display
Comedian and TBS late night fixture Conan O'Brien wasted no time last week in poking fun at the new iPad. In this short video piece -- which borrows from the video shown during the Apple Event last week -- O'Brien points out just how "stunning" the Retina display is on the new device. Everything looks better - enjoy!
Super High Aperture: it's why the new iPad's Retina display is so dense
Super High Aperture. Heard of it? Probably not, but thanks to Apple, you'll probably long for days when you didn't in just a few months. According to an in-depth look from the folks at DisplaySearch, the aforesaid technique is the primary reason that Apple was able to shove 2,048 x 1,536 pixels into the 9.7-inch panel on the new iPad. Not surprisingly, it wasn't Apple that conjured up the magic; instead, it was crafted by engineers at Sharp and JSR (a display materials maker from Japan), but it'll be the iPad that makes an otherwise geeky achievement something that the mainstream covets. According to the science behind it, SHA is "a method of increasing aperture ratio by applying approximately a 3 [micrometer] thick photo-definable acrylic resin layer to planarize the device and increase the vertical gap between the [indium tin oxide] pixel electrodes and signal lines." Reportedly, there are also "at least twice as many" LEDs in the panel compared to that on the iPad 2, further suggesting that there's way more battery within the new guy than the last. Technophiles need only dig into the links below to find plenty more where this came from.
Apple ups the resolution on iTunes U and iBooks 2 for new iPad
Apple certainly had a lot of bases to cover at yesterday's new iPad unveiling, so some minor details were bound to slip through the cracks. While app suites like iLife and iWork got to bask in the Yerba Buena spotlight touting enhanced resolutions for that Retina Display, the company's decidedly less high-profile education software was also treated a face-lift -- just without the fanfare. According to a report on CNET, prospective owners of Cupertino's latest tablet will get to download an upgraded version of iBooks 2 and iTunes U that take advantage of the new 2048 x 1536 9.7-inch screen. Aside from the visual tweaks, only iBooks 2 has been imbued with extra features, adding a touch-to-highlight function and a refined page search that unites both print and ebook layouts. You'll be able to check out the 264ppi panache for yourself when those slates ship out next week.
Apple's March 7th event roundup: the new iPad, Apple TV refresh and everything else
Weren't able to keep up with all the news from the unveiling of Apple's new iPad today? Don't worry, we've got you covered! Whether you're looking for more info about its Retina Display and LTE-connectivity, the refreshed Apple TV or related bits, we've listed links to our coverage of everything "new and noteworthy" after the break. Happy perusing! Oh, and be sure to check back to our the archive of our liveblog and pre- and post-event broadcasts for a few extra doses of "amazing."
Apple new iPad hands-on (update: video!)
Here she is -- the iPad HD! Er, new iPad. Breaking away from the numerical tracking system used before (and still used in the iPhone range), Apple has decided to highlight the most major change in its newest slate by simply dubbing it "new." By and large, the new guy is the same as the old guy (Home button included), but with a few nice amenities that could very well convince OG iPad owners to upgrade. Upon touching the HD variant, it's not the overall form factor that grabs us -- it's the screen. Given that we're unashamed Pixel Density Enthusiasts 'round these parts, seeing a 2,048 x 1,536 resolution display in the same area as the prior 'Pads is stunning. Nearly two months ago to the day, ASUS wowed our entire CES trailer with a reported 1,920 x 1,200 display on the TF700T; this, however, is something that really needs to be ogled to truly appreciate. In fact, the first viewing conjured up familiar feelings -- ones that came to light when placing the iPhone 4 beside the iPhone 3G for the first time. Unsurprisingly, Apple has managed to produce something that's truly beautiful to look at, and while we've yet to see the full potential of having this many pixels on a 9.7-inch slate, we're guessing a cadre of game developers are already hard at work in order to remedy that. Beyond being dazzling from a density standpoint, colors are sharp and accurate, and viewing angles are predictably ridiculous; even taking a peek from an extreme side angle gives way to a fairly solid image with next to no washout. %Gallery-150077% For more coverage of Apple's iPad event, visit our hub!
The new iPad vs. iPad 2: what's changed?
The Apple announcement must have passed you by, but Tim Cook has put an end to this cycle of rumors, speculation and dreams with an actual product, at least for today. We don't expect the user experience of iOS to be anything else but smooth, but for those of us who care about what lingers beneath that 3.1 million pixel display, head on past the break as we delve into how the newest arrival to the Apple family matches up. For more coverage of Apple's iPad event, visit our hub!
Apple introduces iPhoto for iPad, updates Garage Band, iMovie and iWork
Apple's busy introducing a whole bunch of new apps to go along with its shiny new iPad, and iPhoto is near the top of the list. The "reinvention" of the iconic photo software will be available today for $4.99, and offers a plethora of features, such as bezel gestures, effects, multi-touch editing and direct beaming. You can also easily tweak white balance, exposure and saturation, and you can add geotags, notes and captions. Another highlight of the new iPhoto is the Journal, which allows you to pick and choose certain images to push to iCloud for web viewing. Interestingly, the announcement comes right on the heels of Adobe's competitive offering. To complete the circle of iLife at today's event, Apple announced significant updates to iWork, iMovie and Garage Band. iWork's refresh utilizes the new iPad's Retina display and offers 3D charts, and each individual app -- Keynote 1.6, Numbers 1.6 and Pages 1.6 -- will be ready for purchase today for $9.99 (or free, if you already have the apps). Next up is iMovie, available for $4.99, which now offers the ability to turn your HD movies into trailers and adds a few more advanced editing tools. Finally, Garage Band introduces a new feature called Jam Session, which lets you and three of your friends connect iOS devices together wirelessly and play together in real-time. Just as before, newbies can get the updated app for $4.99. For more coverage of Apple's iPad event, visit our hub!
The new iPad is official, with Retina display, LTE and A5X CPU. Available March 16th
So, what'd you have in the office pool? iPad 3, iPad 2S, iPad HD? Doesn't matter, really. All that matters is that it's here! This is the next generation of Apple's iOS slate and, as usual, she's a beaut -- and yes, she's still rockin' a physical button. As was rumored this thing is packing a Retina display, potentially making this the most pixel-packed slate on the market. The 9.7-inch screen plays host to 3.1 million pixels in a 2048 x 1536 arrangement -- that's 264ppi. It's not just a higher resolution though, the screen also boasts improved color saturation. Of course, what would a new iPad be without some updated guts. The new model has an A5X processor and quad-core graphics chip. Apple even claims its newest sliver of silicon can deliver four times the performance of a Tegra 3 -- we'd say dems fightin' words.There's also a new iSight camera on board that's quite similar to the version inside the iPhone 4S. It's only five-megapixels, but it does have a backside illuminated sensor with a five element lens. It's also capable of capturing 1080p video, which should come as no surprise. We're also excited to see the keyboard sporting a brand new dictation key that lets you speak instead of type -- yes, just like on Android. The new software inside will also let you use the slate as a portable WiFi hotspot... so long as the carriers are game. It even has the ability to recognize at least some bezel gestures, as revealed during its iPhoto demo.Perhaps most exciting though, is the new connectivity options -- you guessed, LTE! The new iPad is sporting 21Mbps HSPA+, but it's also rocking an LTE radio capable of pulling down 73Mbps on both Verizon and AT&T here in the US. Outside of the states Rogers, Bell and Telus will also be scoring 4G flavors of the iOS tablet. Amazingly enough, even with an LTE antenna on board, Apple is still claiming to get 10 hours of battery life. That's probably partially do to the slightly increased weight of 1.4lbs, though the 9.4mm thickness is nothing to sniff at.The new iPad will be available March 16th, starting at $499 for the 16GB WiFi model and scaling up to $829 for the 64GB version with 4G. So, on the price front, nothing has changed. Pre-orders start today in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia, with much of the rest of the globe to follow on March 23rd. For more details hit up the PR after the break.For more coverage of Apple's iPad event, visit our hub!
Retina display Macs, iPads, and HiDPI: Doing the Math (updated)
Love Apple gear? Like math? TUAW's Doing the Math series examines the numbers and the science behind the hardware and software. The rumourmill has been busy lately with claims that we might get "Retina display" Macs soon -- and of course, a Retina display iPad 3 on March 7, probably, maybe, definitely. For an example of the sort of speculation, consider Bjango developer Marc Edwards, who tweeted: "Retina 27" Thunderbolt display: 5120×2880 = 14,745,600 pixels. 4K film: 4096×2160 = 8,847,360 pixels. Retina iPad 3: 2048×1536 = 3,145,728 pixels". This prompted me to dust off my Retina display iPad post from a year ago and revisit the mathematics I applied there to dig a little deeper into what a Retina display Mac might entail. Is Edwards right -- would a Retina display Thunderbolt display really need almost 15 megapixels? Isn't this all just marketing? Before I launch into a long-winded diatribe ("surely not!" -- everyone who's ever read any of my other TUAW posts), I need to address a surpisingly common point of view. Some people say that as "Retina display" was a term Apple made up, it can mean whatever it wants it to mean. If Apple wanted to, the theory goes, it could just declare the current iPad to be a Retina display and be done with it. I think this argument is asinine. Firstly, although Apple invented the term out of whole cloth, it does offer a definition: "the Retina display's pixel density is so high, your eye is unable to distinguish individual pixels." That has meaning, and if Apple were to weaselly dilute the definition for the sake of marketing some future product I think we should absolutely hold its feet to the fire. Secondly, this isn't just about Apple. High DPI screens are starting to appear on other devices, like this Android tablet from Asus. The precise phrase "Retina display" might belong to Apple but the advantages of high resolution screens do not. As this is an emerging trend across the whole industry, it behooves us to strip away the marketing pixie dust and take an objective look at what this technology can offer. Defining "Retina display" So what does it mean to say that a screen's individual pixes are indistinguishable? The launch of the iPhone 4 and the first Retina display was, of course, accompanied by a jump in the screen resolution from 480×320 to 960×640 -- from 163 pixels-per-inch (ppi) to 326 ppi. This in turn lead many people to label some arbitrary resolution as "Retina display" -- typically 326 ppi itself, or 300 ppi. The latter number is a common rule-of-thumb baseline in the print industry for "photo resolution". It's not that simple, however. Hold a small-print book at arm's length. Notice how it's hard to read the text. Now bring the book up to a few inches from your nose. Notice how much easier it is to read now. Clearly, if Apple is defining a "Retina display" as "one where users can't see the pixels" then any discussion of whether a given display qualifies or not needs to take into account the distance between the screen and the user -- and that differs according to the device. An iMac on a desk, a MacBook in your lap, and a hand-held iPhone all have different viewing distances. So, how do we determine how small a pixel has to be to be bordering on invisible? To answer this we need to think about subtended angles. Consider the following scenario: The viewing angle in this diagram, a, is called the angle subtended by the inter-pixel spacing, s. Whether or not a given detail is too small to be discerned by the eye is down to the size of this angle. This is how the size of an object is related to the viewing distance -- as you move an object of a given size closer or further away from the eye, so the size of this angle changes. Conversely, at given distance, a larger object will also subtend a bigger angle. The size of the image on the retina is intrinsically derived from the object size and the viewing distance, linked by this formula: So what subtended angle is too small to see? The average person has 20/20 vision. This was historically defined as the ability to read letters on a standard eye chart that subtend 5 arcminutes of angle (an arcminute is 1/60th of a degree). What does that mean in pixel terms? Consider that just about the smallest legible fonts, Tinyfont by Ken Perlin and Tiny by Matthew Welch, uses five pixels of height (including descenders for Tiny) for each letter. This suggests the smallest resolvable detail for an average eye is around one arcminute. Indeed, one arcminute is an accepted value amongst academics for the resolution limit of a typical human retina. Retina-ness of Apple's current displays With the data above in mind, and applying the mathematics from my previous post, we can take some typical viewing distances for different Apple devices, combine it with the screen size and resolution, and calculate how close the screen comes to the definition of a Retina display we have arrived at above. You can view a Google spreadsheet that shows the details of how this data is calculated. Update, 2012-03-02: I've had quite a bit of feedback that many people sit closer to their devices than I do. I'm not sure if it's personal preference, or because I've used multi-monitor for many years (my 27" iMac is flanked by a 26" Samsung monitor, so I have to sit a little way back to fit it all in my vision). Either way, I've added a few rows to that spreadsheet that aren't shown on the table above to reflect these scenarios. Update 2, 2012-03-04: The original version of the above table contained an error; I had forgotten that the screen sizes of the MacBook Air 11", 13" and MacBook Pro 15" are actually 11.6", 13.3", and 15.4", respectively. I used the wrong version in the calculation. This has now been fixed. This changes some of the pixel-per-inch figures slightly. Just for fun, I threw in a couple of non-Apple devices for comparison -- a 50" TV at a distance of six feet, playing back a Blu-Ray and a DVD; and the announced Asus Transformer Prime Android tablet, which has a 1920×1200 display. This table shows some things that surprised me. Firstly, it shows that Apple's definition of Retina display aligns quite closely with my mathematic derivation. The iPhone 4 screen at a typical distance of 11" is just barely above the threshold for a Retina display. I believe this justifies my methodology. Secondly, it repeats my previous conclusion that a pixel-doubled iPad running at 2048x1536 is easily enough definition to count as a Retina display -- even at a 16" viewing distance, which is on the close side from my experimentation with an iPad and a tape measure. Similarly, that Asus tablet is a Retina display too. It also shows that many current Mac displays are a lot closer to Retina display levels than you might have thought. The 27" iMac at a distance of 28", a 17" MacBook Pro at 26", an 11" MacBook Air at 22" -- these screens all have pixels small enough to border on invisible. Furthermore, the 480×320 iPhone screen is notably worse than everything else Apple makes today, at 53% of a Retina display. Even the second-worst 1024×768 iPad screen has finer detail at 61%. The worst Mac display is the 24" iMac at a distance of 28", at which distance its pixels are one-third too large to be individually indistinguishable. Finally, this also shows why BluRay looks so good. On a largish TV at a shortish distance (50" at 6'), a 1080p image is at 92% of Retina level, whereas a DVD is a downright poor 36%. There are two very important points here. The first is that in order to achieve, or even handily exceed, the threshold for a Retina display, Apple does not need to double resolutions on most of its displays. Far from it. It would suffice to boost a 27" Thunderbolt Display from 2560×1440 to something around 2912×1638. (But note that there could be image quality issues from this -- see "The pixel doubling argument" below.) The second point is that people shouldn't get their hopes up for how much better a Retina display Mac would be compared to the current offerings. The iPhone 4 was a huge step forward from the iPhone 3GS mostly because the 3GS's screen was comparatively poor. Existing Macs have much better screens to start with, so any improvement will be much more modest. Looking beyond one arcminute From the above, you might think that there is hardly any reason to Apple to change anything, because the benefits of higher resolution screens are so modest. But clearly HiDPI mode exists, and specialist medical imaging screens are between 508 and 750 ppi. What's the benefit to these high pixel densities? The answer is that our definition of the limits of human vision -- details that subtend an angle of one arcminute -- is rather simplistic. There's a lot more to think about when considering how real human vision interacts with computer display technology, including atypical viewing distances, different sorts of patterns, and so forth. Reading words, for example, is possible at smaller sizes than reading random letters, because your brain has more context to guess at the characters. Your brain is a sophisticated pattern matching tool and it will use information from the surroundings to try and interpret details your eyes can't quite make out clearly. Here's a number of test patterns for you to try this out on your own display. If you want to try this on an iOS device, you need to get the appropriate file for your device -- iPhone or iPad -- and save it to the Camera Roll. This is because iOS will helpfully try and zoom and pan images but we want to ensure that one pixel in the test image takes up one pixel on your display. Once you have them in the Camera Roll, view them full screen through the Photos app with your device in the portrait position. If you compare your Mac, iPad, and iPhone, you should see quite a difference in how well each screen performs. The pixel doubling argument Rene Ritchie for iMore makes a solid argument for why an iPad retina display must be pixel-doubled -- i.e. 2048×1536 -- and not some intermediate resolution (just as was the case for the iPhone 4 before it). Anything else means every single existing app either has to re-scale art assets -- resulting in a fuzzy display -- or let them appear at a different size on-screen -- resulting in usability problems as the tap targets are resized. This is because every single existing iPad app is hard-coded to run full screen in 1024×768. The situation is fuzzier on desktop, however. Apple's current displays already vary between 92 and 135 pixels-per-inch. Users are more tolerant of UI element resizing, within reason. Consider the 109 ppi 2560×1440 27" Thunderbolt display, and let's suppose Apple wanted to Retina it up. It could up the resolution to 4192×2358 -- which works out to 178 ppi -- and achieve a display with finer details than the iPhone 4. This is one-third less pixels than the native pixel-doubled resolution (which would be 5120×2880). UI elements would look proportionally larger -- but no more than they do on the 24" iMac display today, so it wouldn't look clumsy or odd. Update, 2012-03-02: David Barnard of App Cubby wrote a great followup post with some mockups comparing a 27" 168 ppi screen in HiDPI mode (at a resolution of 3840×2400) and the current 109 ppi one. He also makes an interesting point that he find Apple's more dense modern displays harder to use: What you should notice is that the text and UI elements are physically smaller on the current 109ppi iMac than they'd be on the hypothetical 84/168ppi 27″ iMac. This may be frustrating to some users, but I actually prefer my old 94ppi 24″ Cinema Display to any of Apple's higher PPI displays. I like that the system default 12pt text is larger. The sacrifice is in the usable workspace, and that's a matter of taste. I've been hearing from more and more people on Twitter that the 11″ Macbook Air is surprisingly usable with OS X Lion, even though the workspace is a scant 1366x768 pixels. Wrapping up Hopefully, I have convinced you of several things in this post. "Retina display" carries more meaning than pure marketing. The definition of what is, and what isn't, a Retina display must consider viewing distance. The improvement you'd see from a Retina display Mac is significant, but less than the improvement the iPhone 4 offered over the 3GS. A 2048×1536 iPad would be a Retina display and would look quite a bit better than the current model (but, again, be less of an improvement than the iPhone 4). Still not convinced? Sound off in our comments! I'd like to thank fellow TUAWers Brett Terpstra and Erica Sadun for helping me with the Retina Tester graphic.
Potential screenshots from an iPad Retina Display look gorgeous
While we're sure that Apple is going to show off a new iPad at the announcement next week, it's not quite guaranteed yet that the iPad will have its own version of the Retina Display. Certainly there have been rumors to that effect, and it certainly would be cool, but we can't be sure just yet. Nevertheless, game developer Pixels on Toast has gone ahead and done the work anyway: They have screenshots over on this blog post that show what the company's next game, Food Run, would look like if it ran on a display with four times as many pixels as the current iPad's screen, or a resolution of 2048 x 1536. As you can see above (especially when compared with the images in the post of the current iPad's screen), it looks pretty amazing. I remember when I first was buying my iPad, I had used the iPhone 4's display for quite a while, and I went back to the iPad and was disappointed that I could still see pixelation and artifacts after getting so used to the iPhone's screen. But if the Retina Display really did come across, the iPad's big screen would be brighter and clearer than most computer displays, making for some really incredible interfaces. There are drawbacks, of course. In addition to the extra power required for such a display (both in terms of processing power and battery power), developers would have to deal with higher resolution graphics, in both 2D and 3D games. Devs have already gone through this process once, however, so most developers who already put iOS games together will have some idea of how to deal with the issue. Keep in mind, however, that bigger graphics means bigger files, so Apple may have to raise the limits on various app size requirements. At any rate, the display pictures for Food Run certainly look, well, delicious. This is all speculative, but if Apple has indeed upgraded the display on the new iPad, there could be more exciting times ahead. [via TechCrunch]
Our top ten wishes for the next-generation iPad
The minute the announcement about the third-generation iPad rollout next Wednesday hit the TUAW newsroom, just about everyone was throwing out ideas about what they'd like to see in the new model. Here are our top ten wishes for what we want to see in whatever is announced on March 7: 1. Retina Display There's not enough detail in the picture on the invitation (above) to really discern whether or not the new device will have a Retina display, but it's one of the most likely new features to appear. There have been leaked photos of an alleged display part for the next-generation iPad that show a doubling in pixel density, so we expect to see a new and much enhanced display. 2. Improved Processor To power those extra pixels, iPad: TNG is going to need more horsepower under the hood. So far we have two possibilities: a faster version of the dual-core Apple A5 (rumored to be the A5X -- see below) and a quad-core processor called the A6. Since these systems-on-a-chip also contain the system RAM, we may finally see a doubling of RAM to a full 1 GB ... or at least that's what we're hoping. 3. One Unit, Mulitple Carriers Right now, Apple has to sell two different versions of the iPad 2 -- one for GSM carriers and the other for CDMA carriers like Verizon. As with the iPhone 4S, we'd expect to see the next-generation iPad come with the capability of running on all networks. I think this is a no-brainer for the new iPad, as it reduces Apple's iPad SKUs by three. 4. 4G LTE There's a lot of debate here at TUAW about whether or not iPad: TNG will come with 4G LTE built in. On the plus side, Apple could compete with the plethora of Android tablets that are equipped with 4G LTE. On the other hand, 4G LTE still isn't widespread in most countries and battery life for LTE devices is still an issue, so would Apple be willing to sacrifice battery life in order to notch a competitive edge on the proverbial belt? We don't think so. 5. Better Cameras This is one wish that I personally don't care about, since I don't take photos with my iPad or use it all that much for video calls. But once again, the technology is available and Apple already has the 8 MP rear-facing camera in the iPhone 4S. My personal opinion is that this is a no-brainer, and that the next-generation iPad will have an 8 MP rear-facing camera as well as a front-facing HD (1280 x 720 pixel, AKA 720p) camera for FaceTime. After all, the new Macs are using 720p FaceTime HD, and we all know that Apple doesn't care how much bandwidth we're using... A front-facing HD camera would be a nice boost form the current VGA model in the existing iPads. 6. Siri Another point of contention amongst the TUAW bloggers is whether or not Siri will make it to the new iPad. Those of us who use Siri a lot think it's a natural for the new device, while others don't think it has a place on a larger device. I'd personally love to use Siri's excellent voice dictation capabilities for writing texts, notes, and reminders on the iPad. Should Siri find a place to live on the new iPad, the device will most likely get the dual noise-cancelling microphone setup that is used to feed the brains of Siri with high-quality voice input. 7. Stereo Speakers While the existing monaural speaker of the first and second generation iPads is "pretty good," especially when compared to (according to Dave Caolo) the Nook Color, a set of good stereo speakers on the bottom of the device would be a welcome addition. Since a lot more people may be using their iPads to watch movies on that Retina display, why not add better sound quality? 8. "Button-free" Design Another debate that has been raging through the newsroom is whether Apple will discard the current physical home button for a "virtual" button that's just an extension of the touch-sensitive display. My personal opinion is that they wouldn't do this -- people have become accustomed to feeling for the home button with their fingers, and unless Apple can provide a haptic display of some sort, they won't tamper with success. Then again, maybe that's what Apple is hinting with that "And touch" comment on the invitation. 9. More Storage The current iPad comes in 16, 32, and 64 GB flavors. While this might just be a requirement for some of our bloggers, there seems to be a difference of opinion on whether or not a 128 GB edition should be added. For those who like to watch a lot of video on their iPads, 128 GB would be a welcome addition. Some of the bloggers think that Apple won't expand storage since they want price points to remain fairly static and the Retina display will cost more than the existing display; others think that Apple will add a 128 GB model and just charge more for the luxury of more storage. 10. "Smarter" Covers The Smart Cover was introduced with the iPad 2 and provides a way to turn the display on and off without reaching for the power or home button. Several of our bloggers want to see a newer version of the Smart Cover. How could it be improved? How about getting rid of the sharp edges? Another idea was to build a solar clock and calculator "with big buttons" into the cover so one could check the time and do taxes without having to fire up the ol' iPad. That's our list of the most wished-for items for the next-generation iPad. What would you like to see? Leave your comments below.
iFixit examines alleged iPad 3 display, confirms doubled resolution
Mac Rumors recently got its hands on a component that's allegedly the display from the forthcoming iPad 3. After putting it under a microscope, the site was able to confirm that the display has a 2048 x 1536 resolution, double the horizontal resolution and quadruple the number of pixels on the iPad 2's current 1024 x 768 LCD. iFixit has been able to confirm Mac Rumors' findings; Mac Rumors actually mailed iFixit the same display and let them have a look at it. iFixit confirmed that the display has the same overall dimensions as the iPad 2's display (though the "iPad 3" display is 0.6 ounces lighter), and microscopic examination of the display confirmed a 2048 x 1536 resolution at 260 pixels per inch, far higher than the current iPad's 132 ppi. In its examination iFixit confirmed that this display features a different display connector from the iPad 2 display, so even if you could secure one of these displays on the aftermarket, there doesn't appear to be any means of successfully hooking it up to an iPad 2 or original iPad. No surprises there. iFixit suggests the new display's ppi might be too low to qualify it as a "Retina Display," while others have quite erroneously suggested that the iPad 2's current display is already Retina quality (in spite of Apple never classifying it that way and despite the current iPad's pixels being easily discernible even with my less than stellar vision). However, we did the math on this last year, when the iPad 2 was rumored to be getting a Retina upgrade, and the numbers tell a different story. The only consistent definition Apple has ever given about the Retina Display is that individual pixels are indistinguishable from one another. This statement comes with several implied asterisks: pixels are indistinguishable for people with 20/20 vision when held at a reasonable distance. An Air Force bombardier holding an iPhone 4S four inches from his face is going to see those pixels easily, but his 87-year-old grandma isn't going to see them no matter how hard she looks. Running the numbers shows that this display would meet the "Retina Display" requirements of indistinguishable individual pixels for someone with 20/20 vision if held at a distance from the eye of 13 inches or greater. I don't see too many people holding their iPads closer than that, so despite having a lower ppi density than the iPhone 4S display, the "iPad 3" display easily meets Apple's somewhat fuzzy Retina Display qualifications. Standard caveats apply: the iPad 3 hasn't even launched yet, so this is all speculative. However, it's worth noting that the iPhone 4's display leaked through the same channel -- aftermarket component resellers -- months before its debut in summer 2010.
MacRumors all but confirms iPad 3 will have Retina Display
We have no idea how they got hold of one, but MacRumors has apparently sourced the display component for the next-gen iPad and put it under the microscope -- literally. In a deja vu moment from roughly two years ago when the iPhone 4 was confirmed to have a Retina Display, Mac Rumors put the alleged iPad 3 display under a microscope, counted up the pixels, and compared it to the existing display on the iPad 2. Although the display was unpowered, microscopic examination still revealed the physical components of the pixels. When considering the same areal cross section of the display, the current iPad's LCD contains a grid of 2 x 2 pixels, 4 pixels total; this new display features a 4 x 4 grid for a total of 16 pixels. This much higher pixel density on the LCD, which is the same 9.7-inch diagonal size as the one on the iPad 2, is consistent with a display featuring exactly double the linear resolution of the existing iPad display. In early 2011, various rumors pointed to the iPad 2 featuring a Retina Display upgrade; however, no actual parts featuring a 2048 x 1536 resolution ever surfaced, and the iPad 2 launched with the same 1024 x 768 resolution as its predecessor. The iPad 3 Retina Display rumors resurfaced this year, but this is the first time anyone has provided physical evidence of such a display. The usual caveats apply: this display may be nothing more than a leaked prototype or even an extremely elaborate fake, and the iPad 3 may yet launch without a double-resolution Retina Display. However, at this point that scenario is looking unlikely indeed, and with MacRumors' new evidence, we consider the iPad 3's Retina Display all but confirmed now.
Alleged iPad 3 Retina Display examined under a microscope
There are no shortage of iPad 3 rumors out there. Quad-core A6, LTE radio, Retina Display -- we've heard it all, but haven't actually seen much in the way of evidence. Now MacRumors claims to have gotten its paws on part of the mythical beast. The site has a 9.7-inch LCD, in the same aspect ratio as the iPad and iPad 2 that certainly appears to be rocking a full 2048 x 1536 resolution. Without a way to power the screen its a little tough to be certain, but the same area of the alleged iPad 3 panel does seem to house twice as many pixels as its predecessor when viewed under the same magnification. Could this in fact be the Retina Display destined to put iOS 5.1 in the hands of millions of tablet fans? We'll just have to wait for Tim Cook to reveal of its secrets to us, which should be happening sooner, rather than later.
Daily Update for February 17, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen.
Apple's Messages beta includes high-resolution artwork
The new Messages beta gives us a peek at one iOS-like feature that'll land in OS X Mountain Lion when it arrives later this year. It also hints that Apple may be planning to refresh its Mac line with high-resolution, retina-like displays. MacRumors dug through the Messages app resources and discovered that some graphics within the app are available in both regular and double resolutions. These images are found in multi-part TIFF files and the double resolution files have a "@2x" designator in their name. MacRumors uses this as evidence that Apple is "already building in support for Retina displays on the Mac." This isn't the first time we've heard about a retina-like Mac display. The first mention of such a monitor came from Digitimes, which misses on its rumors more than it hits. We also had a rumor last week from AppleInsider that suggests Apple may overhaul its MacBook lineup. Though AppleInsider didn't specifically mention screen hardware, you have to admit that a high-resolution display would make for an excellent update. I'm not saying Apple will definitely bump up the specs on its Mac displays, but the evidence is beginning to point in that direction.
WSJ: Apple testing 8-inch iPad
The invites haven't even been sent out and yet the frenzied speculation about what Tim Cook will whip out on stage at next month's purported announcement has begun. The Wall Street Journal believes Cupertino's planning to produce a smaller, 8-inch slate to partner its 9.7-inch flagship. Unnamed sources at the company's suppliers say it'll pack a screen with a resolution close to the 1024 x 768 display on the current model. This jibes with what we've heard about the iPad 3 toting a Retina Display -- unless the smaller unit is aimed at budget buyers. The report claims test panels are being produced by AU Optronics and LG Display and that this model might also run on LTE. It's probably fair to point out that Apple is famous for producing prototypes in a wide variety of sizes that will never see the light of day, so don't get your hopes up too soon.
HTC Rezound review
The Motorola RAZR and Samsung Galaxy Nexus seem to be the two Verizon LTE juggernauts enjoying the lion's share of the spotlight, with the HTC Rezound sandwiched smack dab between the two of them. But that doesn't mean the device has any less to offer -- you might even say it's entitled to some bragging rights. It's not the thinnest phone, nor does it have Ice Cream Sandwich (yet), but being the first carrier-branded handset in the US boasting a 720p HD display should carry a lot of weight. The Rezound -- as you might have gathered from the name -- is also the first HTC gizmo in the States to integrate Beats Audio. So does it fare well against its LTE competition? Is it enough to take your mind off of the Nexus? Read on below to find out. %Gallery-139234%
Camera showdown: iPhone 4S vs. iPhone 4, Galaxy S II, Nokia N8 and Amaze 4G (video)
Siri's sweet and all, but for many of us that new eight megapixel sensor and f/2.4 aperture lens are what really makes Apple's iPhone 4S an appealing upgrade. We spent the weekend shooting around New York City with the iPhone 4S, along with some other top smartphones -- the iPhone 4, Samsung Galaxy S II, Nokia N8 and HTC's Amaze 4G -- in order to determine just which phone's camera reigns supreme. And in order to capture video and stills with consistent framing among all five devices, we secured each smartphone to that homemade quintuple cameraphone mount that you see above -- it may be an early prototype, but it got the job done. Jump past the break to see the results, and check out our comprehensive iPhone 4S sample gallery below.%Gallery-136711%
iPhone 4S review
This isn't the iPhone 5. No matter how badly you wanted something slim, sleek and wedge-shaped, this isn't it. If you went ahead and got your hopes up ahead of Apple's "Let's Talk iPhone" event, hopefully you've gotten over the pangs of discontent by now, because this device pictured front and center is the iPhone 4S. It's a new spin on an old phone that will shock none, but give it half a chance, and it will still impress.The iPhone 4S comes with a faster processor, a better camera, a smarter virtual assistant and twice the storage of its predecessor -- if you don't mind paying for it. Like the iPhone 3GS did before to the 3G, the 4S bumps the iPhone 4 down to second-class status, leaving those Apple fans who must have the best aspiring to own its decidedly familiar exterior. Apple says this is the most amazing iPhone ever. Is it? Yes, of course it is, but read on to see whether it's really worth an upgrade.%Gallery-136542%
