Believe the rumors that we’ll be seeing a Retina Display iPad 2 HD in October of this year? Don’t believe those rumors, but still think Apple’s bound to put a Retina Display in the iPad 3?
It might be time to think again: it’s looking unlikely that Retina Display panels suitable for the iPad will be produced in sufficient quantities until the iPad 4.
According to an analysis by Digitimes, it’s unlikely that 10.1 tablet display panels will reach HD resolutions until the second half of 2012… and even then, there won’t be enough of them to have enough for a major tablet launch.
The iPad, of course, uses a 9.7-inch display, which is a different beast, but still presents many of the same challenges.
Of course, resolution isn’t everything, and there’s a lot of other ways that Apple can improve the iPad’s display without doubling the resolution. Right now, display makers are working on decreasing thickness and power consumption, while also maxing out multitouch support to allow for more than 10 fingers simultaneously.
Either way, unless Apple’s got a surprise up their sleeves, it doesn’t look likely that we’ll see an iPad 2 HD this year… and I’d say it’s equally questionable whether they’ll get a Retina Display together in time for the iPad 3.
[via 9to5Mac]
John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.
20 responses to “Apple Might Not Be Able To Ship A Retina Display iPad Until The iPad 4”
I’ve read the explanations for why the iPad has to “double or nothing” it’s resolution, but I still don’t get it.
1080P video looks great on 720P screens. 720P video looks great on 1080P screens. Desktop software renders in many resolutions just fine on several resolutions and aspect ratios. Same for full screen desktop games. Several phone OS platforms have devices in all manner of resolution, Android, Windows, Symbian, etc.
Don’t get me wrong, I understand that simply doubling the resolution in both directions is the easy way out, but everyone else seems to get away with whatever resolution they want. Only with Apple does everyone say it absolutely positively has to be double the resolution or it won’t work.
Heck, even iPhone/iPod Touch apps are used on the iPad.
Apple could update the resolution in a smaller increment. Developers will update their apps. Some will do it quickly, some will take longer. Whatever. Nobody will die.
I don’t think Retina display is important as faster , multitasking ipad
the screen is already beautiful, maybe they can go to 1080p
but no need for Retina unless technology is ready
You know that big pile of cash that Apple is sitting on?
Well investing / lending billions to display manufacturers to be able to ramp up retina display production and invovation – and of course, committing to give 100% of their output to Apple for the next few years – sounds like a good use for at least a few billion of those dollars doesn’t it?
Imagine being the only tablet and laptop manufacturer who is offering retina displays…
Quite an advantage, don’t you think?
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Translation: these so called sources have found out that Apple isn’t planning to do such a screen prior to the 4 and they are covering their butts
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If apple cannot offer smooth experience on Retina display iPad, then they should not release it with Retina display. These tablets are designed to be fast and quick.Â
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I don’t think we will see a Retina Display until the ipad 4 debuts with quad-cores since the Retina’s resolution would slow down a dual-core ipad.
Yeah, I’m remembering an article from only a month ago about how Apple gets its products from “the future,” and this sure would be a good example of their ability to do just that.
I think idiot bloggers need to stop posting about OMG RETINA DISPLAY FOR IPAD 3!!1 etc.
It’s very simple:
A) The iPad doesn’t need a “retina display” right now, it is not a small device and its resolution is quite sufficient as it is.
B) One day, maybe in the fourth generation, the iPad might get a “retina display” but to do so it will need a quad core CPU/GPU to make sure there is no major performance drop. If you put a retina display on an A5 iPad compared to an A5 iPhone, the iPad will perform poorly in comparison.
So to sum up. The iPad has no dire need for more resolution. When it does get upgraded though, it will require a quad core system to help run everything smoothly, likely the A6.