When Apple adopted the retina display on the iPhone 4 last June, they made arguably one of the best computing displays every created. Simply the amount of pixels they are able to pack into a small 3.5-inch display is remarkable. The term retina was used because the pixels are packed so tightly, most human eyes cannot see them. This makes reading text much more pleasurable and renders photos and webpages with amazing detail.
There is no doubt Apple wants to put a retina display on the iPad. It would make the iPad not only the best tablet display (by an enormous margin), it would also challenge the computing market to step-up their display densities. One of the reasons pixel density matters less on laptops and desktops is you tend to sit further away from the screen, making it very difficult to see individual pixels. With devices like phones and tablets, a higher pixel-per-inch measurement means a more pleasant user experience, because they are being used closer to your face.
I can only imagine how great a retina display iPad would look. Simply put an iPhone 3GS next to an iPhone 4 to see the stark difference. However, it would take quite an engineering feat to pull it off. Take a look at some of Apple’s newest products with the PPI equated based on screen size and resolution:
The iPhone 4 leads the pack by a long shot, but even if the iPad 2 has double the resolution (quadrupling pixels – 2048×1536) the PPI would equal 263.92, still just under the 300 threshold used to distinguish a retina display. This would still make for a gorgeous tablet computer and help in two other key areas as well.
The first is app upgrades; doubling the resolution (as done with the iPhone) makes it much easier for developers to upgrade their apps. The second is Apple’s interest in selling magazines and newspapers on the iPad. A high-res screen, coupled with the iPad’s unique user interface, would make magazines and newspapers really come to life.
In the end, I don’t believe Apple can achieve a retina display on the iPad by exceeding 300 PPI, at least not in 2011. They may be able to achieve a doubling from the current resolution, but even that would take quite the processor and graphics upgrade (considering its about half the pixels as the 27-inch iMac). Either way, Apple is sure to surprise us in some manner in the coming months, and remind us why they design the best computing products today.