Although Apple’s 15’’ MacBook Pro was the first consumer notebook that gained a Retina-level display (nearly a year ago), it isn’t the only such offering anymore. Google’s Chromebook Pixel with its 12.85’’ 2560x1700 display and Toshiba’s Kirabook with 2560x1440 220 PPI display have joined the market in recent months. Seeking to raise the ante on Retina displays, Samsung and Sharp have both introduced new high-resolution displays in the past week, targeting notebooks and ultrabooks with the latest technology. The new displays from both companies sport 16:9 ratios, making them unfit for Apple’s line of notebooks, which currently all use 16:10 ratio displays, but they do make Retina displays a mainstream feature in the relatively near future.
Sharp recently announced new 11.6”, 14”, and 15.6” displays with pixel densities of 235-262 PPI, joining the company’s existing 13.3” display at 221 PPI. Samsung’s recent announcement included a new 13.3” display with a 3200x1800 LCD panel at an even higher 276 PPI. For comparison, Apple’s 13” MacBook Pro with Retina Display has a 2560x1600 13.3” display at 227 PPI.
Although the high resolution is the most obvious benefit of the new displays for consumers, some of the screens bring other benefits as well. Samsung says its new 13.3” display offers 30% power savings over existing displays, which is something that would be important for a potential MacBook Air with Retina display. The machine is constrained by needs for a super-thin display and battery. Even for Apple’s existing Retina MacBook Pro, advances being brought about by Samsung and Sharp are likely to make their way into Apple’s notebook displays in the future.
Apple has been rumored to be looking at Retina displays for desktop applications as well but a future Retina iMac would face a different set of issues, including the cost of the panel itself at such large sizes, as well as the immense graphics and connectivity needs to drive such a display.
We’ll have to wait and see when and how Sharp and Samsung displays affect Apple’s products, whether they are incorporated or whether see’s the competition as a need to improve on their own.
Source: BusinessWire, Sharp via MacRumors
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