Those of us hoping to see a Retina display Mac may have to wait until next year, at least for a desktop version — unless Apple is ahead of the curve, which is always a possibility.
According to the “Liliputing” site (http://macte.ch/g0p2Z), by 2013 Intel sees handheld and tablet devices targeting resolutions in the range of 300 pixels per inch (ppi), while notebook computers target roughly 250 ppi and all-in-one desktop computers register around 220 ppi ini 2013. The company, per “Liliputing,” sees this happening in the computer space over the next few years: ° Tablets with 10 inch, 2560 x 1440 pixel displays ° Ultrabooks with 11 inch, 2560 x 1440 pixel displays ° Ultrabooks with 13 inch, 2800 x 1800 pixel displays ° Laptops with 15 inch, 3840 x 2160 pixel displays ° All-in-one desktops with 3840 x 2160 pixel displays
Retina display MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros would be great. But I’d also like to see a Retina display iMac. Imagine a 27-inch iMac (my Mac model of choice) with 3840 x 2160 resolution. The current high-end model “only” has 2560 x 1440 resolution. Such a display requires quite a bit of processing power. But a top-of-the-line iMac with Ivy Bridge processors could certainly handle it.
Of course, there are issues to overcome. a Retina display on a Mac would put your HDTV to shame, and would also allow Macs to better support full 1080p HD video. My guess is that Apple will probably put a Retina display on the Macbook Air first with other models to follow — and this after Mountain Lion is available.
Support for higher resolution Macs will come with Intel’s next-generation Ivy Bridge processors, which are purportedly due to roll out this month. The processors will support up to the 4K resolution, which allows up to 4,096 x 4,096 pixels per monitor.
— Dennis Sellers
