Higher Definition Powerbook?

[MacRumors]

A tipster has provided AppleInsider with information that Apple may have been planning a higher-density display for the 17" Powerbook, increasing the current resolution from 1440 x 900 up to 1920 x 1200. This change would effectively double the screen resolution, resulting in a perceived larger desktop area for the user without an increase in physical size.

There is not a Powerbook currently offered with this higher-density screen, either as a standard configuration or as a Build-To-Order model.

 

[LEgregius]

Any increase in resolution would be most welcome. All of the powerbooks except maybe the 12" could really use an increase.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

A tipster has provided AppleInsider with information that Apple may have been planning a higher-density display for the 17" Powerbook, increasing the current resolution from 1440 x 900 up to 1920 x 1200. This change would effectively double the screen resolution, resulting in a perceived larger desktop area for the user without an increase in physical size.

There is not a Powerbook currently offered with this higher-density screen, either as a standard configuration or as a Build-To-Order model.

I believe such a beast would debut with the first PowerBooks that have Tiger pre-installed, since it would take full advantage of the resolution-independent user interface Tiger offers.

 

[pascalpp]

tiger = resolution independent?

I believe such a beast would debut with the first PowerBooks that have Tiger pre-installed, since it would take full advantage of the resolution-independent user interface Tiger offers.

I had heard that apple was working on increasing the resolution-independence in OS X's UI, but i didn't think it would be coming as soon as tiger...

re: the previous post. I think the 12" definitely needs a resolution increase. 1024x768 is SO 2003. Gah!

 

[Mr. Anderson]

Curious...

Considering a native 1080i HDTV signal is 1920x1080, that fits in nicely

FCP HD editing and fullscreen play back, very nice.

D

 

[Lacero]

12" PB resolution bump to 1280x960 would be very much needed! 1024x768 doesn't cut it for their PowerBook line.

 

[displaced]

I had heard that apple was working on increasing the resolution-independence in OS X's UI, but i didn't think it would be coming as soon as tiger...

re: the previous post. I think the 12" definitely needs a resolution increase. 1024x768 is SO 2003. Gah!

Check out the 2004 Graphics State of the Union keynote (it's on quicktime.com -- a quick search there should dig it up). It demonstrates Tiger's dpi-independent GUI. So development on it is apparently quite advanced.

 

[09872738]

I agree, a high-resolution PB 17" is is what i´m waiting for.

The PB of my desires: 1920x1200 resolution, 2 GHz Freescale 7448, GeForce 6600 Go. Design unchanged.

Would be hard not to buy

 

[ChrisBrightwell]

Check out the 2004 Graphics State of the Union keynote (it's on quicktime.com -- a quick search there should dig it up). It demonstrates Tiger's dpi-independent GUI. So development on it is apparently quite advanced.

I did a quick search for this and turned up emtpy-handed. Care to post a link?

Thanks.

 

[Diatribe]

I did a quick search for this and turned up emtpy-handed. Care to post a link?

Thanks.

Here ya go.

 

[displaced]

Here ya go.

That's the one. About 26 minutes in is the resolution-independence stuff. But the whole presentation's pretty cool. There's going to be some very neat stuff available to users and developers in Tiger.

EDIT: More like 25:20.

The mention of res-independence gets a clap from the audience

 

[Chimera]

A 12" powerbook with increased resolution would definately be welcome here! Maybe even a 13incher like some Sony Vaios: 13->15->17 sounds much cooler too

If anyone mentions G5 powerbooks i'll torch you

 

[DavidCar]

So how do I move exactly 25 minutes into a quicktime stream?

 

[wrldwzrd89]

So how do I move exactly 25 minutes into a quicktime stream?

Uhh...you can't. The QuickTime Player inside the web browser doesn't show the elapsed time either...making that task MUCH harder. The best you can do is move close before the time you want, wait for it to re-synchronize, and start watching

 

[manu chao]

So how do I move exactly 25 minutes into a quicktime stream?

Set a kitchen alarm clock to ring after 25 minutes, press play in QT and come back to your computer when the alarm clock rings.

 

[blackfox]

So how do I move exactly 25 minutes into a quicktime stream?

As a slight variation of wrldwzrd's suggestion, you can open the safari activity monitor (under window), scroll to the streaming mov file (at the bottom), opt-click and download it. Then open in quicktime player, and approximate the time by trial-and-error moving along the timeline. You can also do this in Mplayer or VLC if you want.

 

[DavidCar]

Thanks for the suggestions. I ended up doing a control click on the link at the apple quicktime events page, which saved a streaming link document (?) to the desktop, which I could bring up in quicktime player. My player has a timer display, so I can just move directly to 25 mins 30 secs.

 

[0098386]

12" PB resolution bump to 1280x960 would be very much needed! 1024x768 doesn't cut it for their PowerBook line.

yey! i love to squint!... the 12" is fine as it is. maybe make it brighter? but please, any higher res's and ill need binoculars

 

[QCassidy352]

yey! i love to squint!... the 12" is fine as it is. maybe make it brighter? but please, any higher res's and ill need binoculars

I agree with that. And for those who say "you can always set it to 1024x768 if you want," well yes, that's true, but the price of the PB will still reflect the higher quality display. So unless most people are going to make use of a higher res on the 12", and I don't think they are, then Apple would have to charge more for a feature that few people would be using.

 

[displaced]

... but please, any higher res's and ill need binoculars

That's where the resolution-independence features of Tiger come in. You can have as high a resolution display as you like. But the entire user interface can scale up to keep itself readable. You may well ask 'what's the point, then?'. Well, even though the UI's being enlarged to give it the same physical size as at the lower resolutions, that display is still being drawn with the precision and smoothness that the higher resolution provides.

It's all in that Graphics State of the Union quicktime stream

 

[pubwvj]

It's an unnecessary waste of money, hardware, processing power and more chance pixels to go dead. 1024x768 is great. Maybe HD aspect ratio at most for DVD viewing. Too many pixels just makes it harder to read. You can set the screen to a lower res, there by wasting money, or use bigger icons and fonts, there by wasting processing power and slowing down the whole system.

I would rather see them stick with reasonable resolutions and improve the speed and price point. Doubling the pixel count will just jack up the price and throw away speed.

 

[mleok]

13" Widescreen Powerbook

I think it would be nice to have a 13" widescreen (maybe 1152x768) Powerbook to replace the current 12" 4:3 Powerbook. For what I do, the ability to display two pages of text side by side is a huge productivity boost.

This would be a useful increase in pixels, going to a 3:2 aspect ratio, which is the same as the 15" Powerbook, while keeping the same pixel density as the current 12" screen.

Interestingly, although my 17" 1280x1024 external LCD has more pixels than my 15" Powerbooks 1280x854 screen, I feel more productive on the widescreen format.

I just ordered a Dell 2005FPW, which is a 20" 1680x1050 LCD since I couldn't justify the additional $400 which Apple charges for the 20" cinema display.

 

[ibilly]

Ireally would love higher resolutions. Someone who wants low resolutions CAN set it down (i could operate at 640x480 if i wished, mr i need binoculars), however, they could fit much less on screen. If you go for maximum portability, you want to make as few performance compromises as possible. Being able to fit less on the screen is a major detracting factor for the 12"PB and iBooks.



P.s. For all you binoculartoting fools: buy a 14" iBook. Also, with a higher-rez display, I could stop using glasses for nearsightedness (about a -23 power, I think) to make the display sharper. Just kidding (esp about the power).

 

[zimtheinvader]

When though WHEN?!!???

I agree though, higher resolutions are becoming increasingly neccessary for modern multitasking and graphics apps, even audio apps, all of which the PB is supposed to excel at, even the 12". As for the price, this is supposed to be premium, its the only high-end pro user mobile workstation option Apple makes, from the 12" to the 17", they should all sport the most professional options available, despite the cost. Anyone else can get an ibook, which is the notebook for the cost-conscious.

 

[sw1tcher]

I had heard that apple was working on increasing the resolution-independence in OS X's UI, but i didn't think it would be coming as soon as tiger...

re: the previous post. I think the 12" definitely needs a resolution increase. 1024x768 is SO 2003. Gah!

Agreed. The 12" definitely needs a res. boost. Even better would be if Apple put out a 13" widescreen to replace the 12" model. That way, there'd be widescreen models across the board.