Rumor: Apple Working on iPad 'HD' With Retina

I'd get a new source if I were you. Final Cut was released last month.

I'd be pissed if I just bought an iPad2 and then they release this a few months later. if it were any other company you might expect there to be constant changes, but Apple usually waits at least a year before coming up with such big improvements.

That screen would be completely wasted on an iPad, or almost any tablet for that matter. I have an old 15" notebook with 1600x1200 resolution and I'd kill for a screen of that resolution in the same package, it's great for getting multi-tasking oriented work done.

Not as an iOS app

only issue is with many mobile devices, apple tends to increase the size of everything along with the resolution, so things look smoother but the extra resolution will do nothing for adding screen space.

I hope they get rid of that awful home button and replace it with gesture-based actions.

Higher resolution is one thing I'm really wishing for as webpages with ie. ads become almost unreadable unless I stretch the screen. It becomes really annoying to do that for every other page.

I'm betting there will be enough of a price difference to keep these two on separate playing fields. This looks like the model you want if images and/or video is important to your career.



As long as the GPU can feed it properly, it won't be wasted on photographers who are already using the iPad as a proofing screen, editor, and digital portfolio.

But, will the mail app work?

Doubtful. Even if it were a hundred dollars more, a lot of people who buy iPads have money to burn. A friend of mine got the cheapest iPad, not because of the money, but because he didn't think he needed all of the space, but if he thought the screen were much better, he might still have paid and the extra space would have been a nice added feature.

Also, people love watching movies and view photography or playing games on the iPad and all of those would benefit from a high resolution right? If so, its not just for professionals.

I'd buy 3 for the for the conference room in a set up like Star Trek TOS

Not worth it if the screen is still formatted to 4:3.

I understand your point that there are two types of buyers: one will want the HD and one the regular screen, but I think tomrippity02 logic was that of an enthusiast with a budget. If someone saved up and bought an iPad 2 and the HD version was released, that person was a tangible $100 way from buying that product (And would of spent it). Now if they want that HD iPad they're set back the price of the iPad plus the $100 extra to get the iPad 2 HD.

I personally would of been PO'd if Apple releases an iPad 2 HD so close to the Pad 2 release.

That's why I love it when product road maps are leaked or released. I can logically plan what device i'm going to buy.

That high of a resolution on a small screen is idiotic.

I agree and disagree, from the stand point we don't have higher resolution desktop screens that are in the common dimensions, but we do hold smartphones much closer to our eyes than we do with desktop screens and even farther with HD TVs.

No its true. This ridiculous resolution is just fantasy, as what on earth would the point of it? What possibly real life practical applications would need such a high resolution? It will be merely a stupid number for idiots to gloat about how superior there pad is over other peoples.

anyone else thing that its sick that a 10 inch screen, and what is basically a full computer, will get a resolution close to 2560x1600 for about 500$ (possibly a bit more), when i have a 24 inch computer monitor, and the best you can get for under 1000$ is 1920x1200?

NO? Its not sick at all? Its like saying your BMW has the ability to go 300mph, but the wheels will only go up to 150mph before falling apart. Its just bragging rights. This resolution is completely useless, as you won't even the see the extra resolution in effect, as the screen size is too small!

i don't really care what the apple haters and fanboys say, or that the "resolution is insignificant on a device that small"

if that mentally was true, we'd all be stuck on 320x240 screens. bigger resolutions for the win!!! sharper clearer, more detail! even if it's too small to notice, GIVE ME MOREEEE.

but bring it to my desktop computer for cheap first? kk thanks.

well i'm glad you like purchasing inferior products! or you just have really bad buyers remorse. get over it.


ok don't get it. simple enough for you? people said the same thing about the iphone 4, but you know what? it still manages to look great. i say keep pushing those pixels higher and higher, until you can't even see they are there when your an inch away from the screen

I wonder how that will affect graphics performance and battery life

I still have a few old CRT monitors sitting around that run at 2048x1536. I always found it funny that people thought HD monitors at 1920x1080 were so amazing since the old CRTs had higher resolution years before. Why didn't everybody go crazy for high rez CRT screens? Partly because running at a resolution 4x that of 1024x768 requires a lot more graphical power. The current gen iPads struggle already if you run the more intensive games. If the resolution goes up and there isn't a vast improvement in the GPU, everyone will be oohing and ahhing over games with high resoultion, low polygon count, low res textured graphics. But then again I remember hearing people gush about how amazing it was to have stereo sound for games on the iPad, so it's clear you can astound people with old technology in a shiny new form factor.

The iPhone 4 has 326 PPI. It's said that the human eye can only view up to 300 PPI unassisted. So the iPhone maybe higher than what is needed. Frames per second/Hertz has had trivial statements made as well, like the fact that 30fps was great, 60fps was better and now with 3D we need even higher fps. Who knows the future of increasing PPI above 300. I remember the light kits for the old Gameboy that blew size of the screen, that would count as an eye assistant. Maybe Steve Jobs will have iBifocals that he's planning on using to zoom into hidden features in the iPhone 15.

Just a side note: The $ goes before the number. $500. $1000.

Agreed. Having a better (higher) resolution is a much better thing, up until you can't see the pixels individually at about 4-6 inches from the face. But even more so than that, I would prefer for the pixel density of TV's and desktops to take a step up for once.. For how long has 1920x1200 been, basically, the standard?(I refuse to acknowledge the existance 1920x1080 for computers) and 2560x1600( same for 1440)

But beyond that, while I do feel bad for those that bought the iPad 2, if they release this so soon, I can't really feel too bad.. It's the way of the world.. The latest and greatest is always around the corner.

@eklipz330
Theres a difference when you compare a small portable device like the iPhone to a large screen device. All phones at the time were either qVGA of hVGA and not anything near HD.
This new resoultion for the iPad HD will be beyond 1080P on a mere 10" screen. Have you ever tried watching a regular DVD movies on a 1080p screen? The down-scaling makes the image awful. Only apps completely redesigned for the resolution will be optimized for that resolution and the rest will look stretched thin.

I too would love to see 326 dpi on a 30" LCD...

iTech is great but what about what iWant to do on myPad?

Your choice of monitor vendor is just as crap as your english.

@SJB, 300DPI is nowhere near a fantasy, and @ dcompart where did you hear that it is the limit of human perception? on photos that people are likely to view real close printers often go up to 1600DPI or 1200DPI, and personally I like to print at 600DPI because you can really tell the difference at about 6" (comfortable viewing distance for many people) and at least 300DPI is the standard for printing pretty much anywhere. 326DPI is great for giving everything a sharp feel when it is about a foot away from your face. Not a Crapple fan boy here but they calculated the pixel density based on hard math for viewing from 1 foot away. Personally I congratulate them for doing something so sensible pixel wise at least.

on a PC monitor I would like to see them pushing 200DPI at least for about a foot and a half away so I wouldn't have to deal with these jagged square boxes in my vision all the time. the money might be better spent on higher contrast and more color accuracy but more pixels is not a bad thing.

First of all, I doubt if Apple intends to sell an iPad with four times the pixel count for a mere $100 more. If that was the case, they could have simply built it into the iPad 2 knowing that Apple consumers would most likely accept a $100 price hike for all the improvements the 2 offers over the 1. I think this thing is going to be a lot more, like at least $300 more (probably higher). It's not only the screen that will have to be improved but the GPU and probably the battery.

Secondly, I'm not saying some casual users won't have the money to buy it, but I think the $300+ difference will create two distinct classes of iPads, pretty much like Apple's long history of having a consumer oriented line and a pro line, as the author pointed out.

Thirdly, unless they've revamped their entire library, iTunes movies top out at 720p. Even if they upscale it on the fly (seems unlikely on an iPad) I don't think at that screen size anybody would notice any improvement, so it seems unlikely that this is what's driving the 2048 x 1536 iPad. Games would be improved IF the game designers update their apps to incude the new resolution...when and if they do would probably be dictated by how many of their customers use the 2048 x 1536 iPad. Photography and artwork would obviously look great at 300+ dpi. Also, it would make it easier to edit imagery at those resolutions. But, one thing the current iPads lack that all serious photographers and artists need is color management. Datacolor has a workaround, but it only works on its gallery viewer. So, if this beast does exist, I think it will come with pro features like screen calibration.