Ultra-high Resolution Screens Coming in 2012 on Acer, Apple and ASUS Notebooks

According to DigiTimes, the suppliers have reasons to expect a significant resolution bump in new notebooks coming from Apple, Asus and Acer next year. New MacBook Pro models might be using a 2880x1800 resolution, which is quadruple the resolution (double the density) of the screens used in current generations of MBP notebooks. This is likely to happen in second quarter of 2012.

Current 15" MacBook Pro models use 1440x900 (110PPI) resolution with the optional 1600x1050 (128PPI) screen, and this increase to 2880x1800 (220 PPI) practically brings MacBook Pros into iPhone's Retina display territory in terms of picture clarity. Although Retina display on iPhone is 326 PPI, it is a handheld device and a notebook screen is most commonly viewed at a larger distance, so perceived clarity should be very similar.

This news is not surprising, with Apple's priority in visual impact of their products. Hopefully this means full resolution independence in apps. With 22nm Ivy Bridge processors, new MacBook Air's should be able to posses the required GPU power to run those screens. Plans from Acer and ASUSTeK both include increasing the resolutions in notebooks, timed for the first half of 2012.

One of approaches for both companies are next-generation tablet and Ultrabook models, with at least 1080p screens arriving to the market segment currently utilizing 1280x800 and 1366x768 resolutions. Regardless of types of individual usage, high resolution devices like these will make any notebook user happy, as their eyes will undoubtedly appreciate the clearer, more natural-looking imagery.