Why is 1440 x 900 "Best" for the Retina Screen per Apple?

There are actually five choice now.

Four (SwitchResX, SetResX, scrutil, ChangeResolution) are listed at http://osxdaily.com/2012/06/18/3-ways-to-run-a-retina-macbook-pro-at-2880x1800-n ative-resolution/

QuickSilver also has a DIsplays Plugin that will you change resolutions.

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It's easy!

The resolution is 2880 x 1800, sure enough, but imagine if that resolution was used in a 15" screen with no adjustment to the software. Everything would be tiny - not only text, but all the icons, window borders, the mouse cursor, everything.

So Apple have made some modifications to the operating system for high density screens.

What they've done, basically, is double the size of every element on the screen, in terms of the number of pixels used. So on a retina screen, in "Best" mode, the system is using 2x2 pixels to display something that on a standard density screen would be displayed with a single pixel.

When they say "1440 x 900 (best)", they're being a little bit disingenuous - what they actually mean is "2800 x 1800 but looks the same size as an old 1440 x 900 screen". The reason that this is "best" is that the other sizes do not map exactly and are cleverly scaled to the screen.

In all the scaled resolutions, what's actually sent to the screen is a scaled version of double the resolution that they say in the text. So when they say "1680x1050", they're actually showing you 3360x2100 scaled down to fit the screen at 2880x1800.

Although the computer resolution is set to 1440x900, the extra pixels provide "HIDPI mode" where text, icons and graphics are actually rendered at 2800x1800 in programs that support HIDPI mode. So, it provides for a much sharper image.

alanchrishughes wrote:

What is the point of spending all that money on a fancy 2880x1800 resolution screen, but not setting your resolution to 2880x1800?

If your eyes are up to it, why not set your resolution there? See Eye-Friendly in the App Store. The resulting screen real-estate is remarkable. But, of course, your eyes have to be really good.

Some 3D games will present you with 2880x1800 as an option, some will only give you the current screen size as the max (if you set 1920x1200 for your desktop, that will be the max for the game).

Regards, Patrick

alanchrishughes wrote:

So it uses two sets of resolution at the same time?

Sort of... Applications that don't know about HiDPI mode will see the screen resolution as whatever you set in the Monitors control panel. Applications that know about HiDPI mode can access the full resolution of the display. Much of the UI will take advantage of it even if the application doesn't know about HiDPI.... menu text, dialog buttons, etc that are actually drawn by the OS are drawn at the higher DPI.

For example, the Finder on a traditional display might display a 32x32 pixel icon for a file. On a retina display, it draws it using 64x64 pixels, but it occupies the same size on the screen.

alanchrishughes wrote:

What about ipads and iphones? How would one go about desiging a website for them if they claim to have these enormous resolutions that aren't their actual resolutions?

Google for HiDPI Web Design. You'll find out how to code a site to take advantage of the hi resolution. Basically you'll need two images. One is standard resolution for standard displays, another is double the size, X and Y. The hi resolution image will take the same amount of the page, but it will be much sharper and criper for those devices that support it

Thanks TM Advertising

I'm more concerned though with the design of the site itself. I'm new to thist stuff and thought I had a handle of it just assuming any browswer/screen wider than 1000 pixels would mean desktop/laptop and could use a regular website design. But if iPads really do have these enormous resolutions you can't make that assumption and will need to have the mobile version displayed even on 1000px and larger screens.

That is the screen's "native" resolution. All other resolutions involve the use of software to generate.

Sure.....Estimated shippent for mine is by the end of July.

Will let you play with it for a day and see if it is worth the $4K i paid.

Bought it 2 hours ago.

Won't be using it on Thursday to Monday. I don't think it's sailboat friendly (might get wet).

Oh my. It's going to be a "work" computer. 😁

BTW, it seems the early answer to native 2880x1800 is SwitchResX. 😀

Awesome! Thanks for pointing to that link!

Best solution:

QuickRes

Free, simple, mac GUI, little footprint, 2880 & 2560 resolutions