Retina
Latest
Apple announces next-gen MacBook Pro with Retina display
Apple has just announced a brand new MacBook Pro model at the WWDC Keynote in San Francisco. The new notebook is still extremely small, though it's not quite as tiny as a MacBook Air -- about two times the height of a USB port, according to our friends at Engadget. The device weighs 4.46 pounds and obviously it's very powerful, but here's the kicker: It's a laptop with a Retina Display. Yes, Apple's big innovation on touchscreens has finally made its way back to a traditional computer. The screen runs at 2880x1800, which means there will be over 5 million pixels in the display. All of OS X's native apps, including Mail and Aperture, have been updated to work with the new display, and from all the reports so far, it's going to look gorgeous. The computer also runs USB 3.0 across two ports, as well as a Thunderbolt connection, a new thinner MagSafe power plug, and a place for an SD card. The new MacBook Pro with retina displays start at $2199. That'll get you 2.3GHz quad-core chip, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of flash storage. We'll have more information and full specs later on today. Retina has been a huge innovation on iOS, and Apple has now brought it back to the new MacBook Pro. We can't wait to see it. Update: Here's the official Apple page on the new unit. Can't wait to see that new display!
Apple announces first Retina display in a MacBook, 220ppi with 2880 x 1800 resolution
Apple just announced its next-generation MacBook Pro, and it comes equipped with a gorgeous 220 pixel-per-inch 2880 x 1800 display. That's quite a bit shy of the 326 ppi LCD on the iPhone 4S and the 264 ppi density of the new iPad's display, but it's still a massive improvement over the 1680 x 1050 pixels found on Apple's previous-generation clamshell. The new Retina is, as Apple marketing head Phil Shiller not-so-modestly pointed out during this morning's WWDC keynote, the "world's highest-resolution notebook display." It's also soon to be the highest-res LCD in any household, offering three million more pixels than your 1080p HDTV. It's a bit hard to determine just how impressive this next-gen tech is from where we're seated at the keynote, but we'll be back with more impressions just as soon as the presentation wraps. Or, if you have $2,199 to spare for a 2.3GHz model with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, you can pick up your very own today. For more coverage of WWDC 2012, please visit our event hub.%Gallery-157896%
Apple announces next-generation MacBook Pro: Retina display, 0.71-inches thin, shipping today for $2,199
Apple announced some new MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros early in its WWDC keynote today, but it had another surprise in store for its big hardware announcement: the next-generation MacBook Pro. It packs a Retina display with a 2880 x 1800 resolution (or 220ppi), and a casing that measures just 0.71-inch thin and weighs 4.46 pounds. In addition to that high resolution, Apple is also promising higher contrast ratios, better viewing angles and reduced glare compared to other laptop displays, and it's updated all of its stock apps to take advantage of those extra pixels, not to mention Aperture and Final Cut Pro -- "reading your mail is like reading fine print," according to Apple's Phil Schiller. As for the other specs, you'll get up to 16GB of RAM, NVIDIA Kepler GT 650M graphics, up to a quad-core 2.7GHz Core i7 processor, a maximum 768GB of storage (SSD, naturally), and a promised seven hours of battery life with 30 days standby. One spec nowhere to be seen: an optical drive. Also on the outs are Ethernet and FireWire 800 ports, which you'll now need an optional Thunderbolt adapter to use, but you do now get two USB 3.0 ports in addition to a pair of Thunderbolt inputs (plus one HDMI). Making its debut on the laptop is a new, thinner MagSafe 2 connector, as well as a new fan that's said to be "nearly imperceptible" to the user. Pricing starts at $2,199 for a 2.3GHz unit with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, and it's shipping today. Just how big a deal is it for Apple? "It's without doubt the very best computer that we've ever built," says Schiller. Update: Check out our hands-on look at the laptop right here. For more coverage of WWDC 2012, please visit our event hub.%Gallery-157896%%Gallery-157957%
Apple WWDC 2012 liveblog!
Back in March, at the tail end of the new iPad's launch, Apple CEO Tim Cook did something atypical. He encouraged us to expect even more from his company in 2012. From an outfit that rarely sets lofty expectations, that's saying something. Here at WWDC 2012, we're on hand to find out what exactly Apple has in the hopper. A deep dive into iOS 6 is guaranteed, but beyond that, all we have are rumors, smoke signals and few underground whispers. New MacBook Air / Pro laptops with Retina graphics? New iMacs with more pixels that are calculable by mere mortals? A new iPhone? Join us here at 10AM PT (that's 1PM on the right coast; pre-breakfast over in Kauai) for the blow-by-blow coverage you've come to expect! June 11, 2012 1:00 PM EDT
Approved Mac OS app boasts 'Retina graphics'
As if there wasn't enough speculation already, what with WWDC just around the corner, bets are already being placed on the possibility of "Retina Display" Macs. So, when an app turns up in Mac App store mentioning "Retina graphics" under the new features list, eyebrows are understandably going to rise. Of course, this isn't the first such tease we've seen, but it's not the least convincing either. So, we're still not ready to put our money down on a retina-reveal next week just yet, but those odds do seem to be getting ever shorter.
LG Display's new five-inch 1080p smartphone display: it's real, and we've got video
We stopped by The Society for Information Display's (SID) 2012 convention in not-so-sunny Boston, Massachusetts to feast our eyes upon LG Display's latest creation: a five-inch display panel with Retina-smashing specs. We're talking about a screen that sports a 1920 x 1080 full HD (FHD) resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio and 440ppi density -- not to mention the Advanced High Performance In-Plane Switching (AH-IPS) technology. The Life's Good arm states that the window, which has not yet been paired with a smartphone, will provide "Full HDTV quality" on a phone for the first time. Seeing is believing, though, so have a look at our gallery then saunter past the break to read what the company's VP of IT and Mobile Development had to say about the future of screens. %Gallery-157218%
Some developers undeterred by a larger iPhone screen
Recent rumors suggest the next iPhone will rock a bigger screen, moving from its current 3.5-inches up to 4-inches. Though users may be clamoring for a larger display, this new hardware could cause problems for developers who will have to design for several screen sizes. GigaOM talked to several iOS developers about the potential for fragmentation and discovered most are cautiously optimistic about this change. The overall consensus is that Apple will provide tools to make the transition from a smaller to a larger display as easy as possible for developers. Many point to the original iPad and the retina iPad as examples of how Apple has handled this transition in this past. If you're interested in the developer's individual responses, you can read them on GigaOM's website.
Subretinal implant uses light instead of batteries, shows promise in initial testing
There's been significant progress in bringing sight to the blind in recent years, and this looks set to continue that miraculous trend. Scientists at Stanford University have invented a subretinal photodiode implant for people who have lost their vision due to degenerative retinal diseases. Existing tech involves batteries and wires, but the new implant works without such crude appendages. Instead, it's activated by near-infrared beams projected by a camera that's mounted on glasses worn by the patient and can record what the patient sees. The beams then stimulate the optic nerve to allow light perception, motion detection and even basic shape awareness. It hasn't actually been tested with humans just yet, but the first few rodents volunteers have yet to lodge a single complaint.
Best Buy cuts price on Macs
According to Cult of Mac, Best Buy has cut the online and in-store prices on most of its Mac lineup. The price reductions range from $31 on the Core i5 Mac Mini to almost $300 on the high-end Mac Pro. We spoke to a Best Buy sales associate, who confirmed these price drops went into effect last month. It's possible that Best Buy is trying to move current inventory in advance of an upcoming hardware refresh. Apple is rumored to be announcing new Mac hardware with Intel's Ivy Bridge processors soon.
Angry Birds Space, Jetpack Joyride, Anomaly Warzone Earth all updated
Angry Birds Space has gotten a free update that adds ten new levels to the extremely popular bird-tossing game. There are ten new icy planets to orbit around, and the update (on iOS, at least) also provides twenty free Space Eagles to play with, and the option to earn one more free per day. Jetpack Joyride finally got its big 1.3 update, adding new gadgets that tweak the gameplay in helpful, hurtful, or wacky ways. And finally, the great Anomaly Warzone Earth HD was also updated, to be compatible with the Retina display on the new iPad. It's on sale right now as a result, available for just US$1.99.
An in-depth look at the iPad as a gaming device
Writing for GamesIndustry International, Richard Leadbetter discusses the iPad as a gaming device and goes into great details about Apple's choice of internal components. Apple's strategy with the new iPad seems to be to accommodate the Retina screen whatever the cost: CPU, batteries and RAM have all required costly upgrades to power the 2048 x 1536 display. He concludes that "It's no longer a case of whether Apple will bring its own brand of gaming to the home, it's a matter of when and how."
How apps might work on an iPhone with a bigger screen
The Verge has an interesting article on the iPhone and how Apple could boost the screen size from 3.5-inches to a luxurious 4.0-inches without disrupting apps in the iOS App Store. The Verge argues that all it would take to design an iOS-compatible, 4-inch retina display is to change the aspect ratio of the iPhone display from its current 3:2 to a larger 9:5. This would result in a screen that was 640 x 1152 and, as they show in screenshots, would scale current iOS apps nicely. Judging by the results from our recent "You're The Pundit" post about display sizes, a majority of our readers (44.8 percent) would appreciate a bump in display size, while a respectable 36.2 percent would like the iPhone to stay the same.
Facebook updates iOS app with Retina iPad support, more languages
Shortly after making some high-res changes to the desktop site, Facebook's now doing the same to its application for Apple's freshest slab on the block. Aside from the crisper look and higher resolution UI on the new iPad, the universal app also adds support for Czech, Danish, Indonesian, Malaysian, Norwegian, Portuguese and Thai languages. Furthermore, v4.1.1 now allows you to hop offline from chat, while it also fixes bugs known to keep various pages from displaying correctly. Facebook's updated app is live in the App Store, so head on over with your iOS device or hit up the iTunes link below to get your social quest on.
NOOK for iPad now with Retina content, improved highlighting features
Better late than never, right? Only a couple of weeks after its rival Kindle, the NOOK app is finally ready to join the new iPad's pixel-packed party. While the main feature is obviously its Retina display compatibility, version 3.1.3 also brings an improved Highlight feature for books, the ability to read in one or two columns when in landscape mode and the enigmatic bug fixes. The refreshed app is up for grabs now, and you can snag it directly from your iPad or via the source link below.
Dot color explains why colors look so nice on the new iPad
Jeff Yurek of Dot Color spent some time exploring the color performance of the new iPad. He, like many others, noticed that the colors on the iPad were richer than the iPad 2 and hypothesized that Apple improved the color filters. After analyzing various spectrum charts, he concludes that Apple limits the light leakage of the display by improving the color filters. You can see the improvement in an example photo on his website. The side-by-side shot shows a greenish hue leaking through the blue on the iPad 2, and the rich blue of the iPad third generation. Though pleasing to the eye, he notes that these color filter improvements require 20 to 30 percent more power to maintain the display's brightness. This may partly explain why Apple opted to go with a large, 42.5-watt-hour battery in the new iPad.
Apple updates iTunes Movie Trailers app, lets your Retina watch high-res teasers
Following in the steps of apps like Kindle, Evernote, Vimeo and most recently Netflix, Apple's Movie Trailers app has been on the receiving end of a Retina-friendly refresh. Version 1.1 doesn't reveal any other changes besides the 2048 x 1536 compatibility, which should be more than enough reasons to make you a happy camper. Now you'll be able to drool over The Avengers teaser over and over in 1080p -- a well-deserved retreat after flicking through your stack of CMX-HD books. The resolutionary app is up for grabs now, and you can get it straight from your shiny new iPad or via the source link below.
High-res Mountain Lion art could point to Retina Macs in 2012
Apple developers test-driving the latest Mountain Lion (10.8) release may have noticed some higher-res graphics erroneously popping up in "unexpected places," such as the double-size phone icon that appears alongside an audio chat invitation in Messages. One such dev reported his findings to Ars Technica, as you can see evidenced in the graphic above. This mild slip-up could imply that Apple plans to release Macs with high-density displays later this year, or, at the very least, that Mountain Lion will be Retina-ready. High-res support dates back to OS X Lion, which is reportedly equipped to play nice with HiDPI displays, should they eventually become available. Compatible icons are but a second piece of the puzzle, which could be completed to the tune of deliciously dense 2880 x 1800 (or higher) resolution 15-inch LCDs. Wouldn't you love to see that.
NYT: New iPad screen could be too good for the web
The New York Times points out what we (and Gruber) first saw when we fired up our new iPad -- most web images look terrible its Retina display. Companies that do business on the web now have a difficult decision to make about their graphics. Do they spend the extra cost to create, store and serve up retina-compatible images on their website or do they spend that money on a retina iPad app instead? It's a decision that'll affect the company's finances as well as its website's performance as larger images will take longer to load. It will also impact iPad owners who browse over a cellular connection and must download these bigger files. If you're an iPad owner, what would you prefer?
Netflix updates iPad app for Retina display
Updated to clarify that the app changes affect UI elements only, not video quality. Netflix has rolled out the Retina-ready version of its video streaming app for the iPad. You can grab it for free from iTunes. The video service requires a minimum $7.99 monthly subscription. Of course, the iPad's display is actually much higher resolution than even an HD video stream -- there's no change to the streaming quality in this build (Netflix says HD streaming is coming soon) but at least the app's interface elements will look razor-sharp. New feature list: - Improved artwork for new iPad Retina Display - Fixed VoiceOver support - Improved playback on external displays - Numerous fixes and stability improvements
Comics iPad app gets Retina-friendly update, 'POW!' bubbles now much POWier
ComiXology is usually keeping up with the latest-and-greatest, and it's doing so yet again by rapidly updating its Comics app to meet the new iPad's Retina-sized needs. In addition to the CMX-HD comic books coming to the 2048 x 1536 screen, the updated application also includes novel social sharing features via Twitter, Zuck's network and email. Among other bits worth noting are a handful of nondescript bug fixes as well as stability improvements. Best of all, the refresh won't cost you a dime and it's available now in the App Store, linked just below for your convenience.
