Does the higher resolution of the retina display mean smaller text

jjay91 wrote:

Hi,

I have trouble seeing smaller text, and I am wondering if the higher resolution on the 13 inch macbook pro with retinal display will make Safari's menu and fonts or any other applications fonts smaller and therfore harder to read.

I figured a higher resolution means more can fit on a page and therefore everything is smaller. Not sure though?

In the Displays Preferences, you can choose the actual resolution you want displayed on the monitor. You're correct that a higher resolution will provide more screen real-estate at the expense of everything, including text, being smaller. You can also choose to make everything larger but less will fit on the screen. You just can't have it both ways unless you get a 27" LED display and plug it into the MacBook Pro. Just don't try to carry it around.

jjay91 wrote:

I appreciate it.

Glad to help and thanks for the credit.

To put the 13" rMBP's resolution in perspective, its native resolution is 2560 x 1600 pixels. The 27" LED display (which is what I have attached to a Mac Pro) has a native resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels, so the little rMBP has a higher resolution than the big monitor, you just couldn't use it without a magnifying glass, which is why Apple doesn't make it available in the Display Preferences. Instead, Apple combines multiple pixels into one visual pixel, e.g., a square of four real pixels becomes one imaging pixel that you actually see, making the image larger and the real-estate smaller.