Laptops & Desktops

John Morris & Sean Portnoy

Intel Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks Will Feature "Retina Quality" Displays in 2012

By Sean Portnoy | October 11, 2011, 4:24am PDT

Summary: The first Ultrabooks are just hitting the market, but the next generation of the super-svelte laptops are being developed. Intel plans on next year’s models coming with its new Ivy Bridge processors, as well as a significant upgrade to their displays. While new Ultrabooks like the Acer Aspire S3 feature 13.3-inch screens with 1,366×768 resolution, Ivy [...]

The first Ultrabooks are just hitting the market, but the next generation of the super-svelte laptops are being developed. Intel plans on next year’s models coming with its new Ivy Bridge processors, as well as a significant upgrade to their displays.

While new Ultrabooks like the Acer Aspire S3 feature 13.3-inch screens with 1,366×768 resolution, Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks are making a huge jump to 2,560×1,400, which would be “retina quality” and blow away the current MacBook Air resolutions (1,366×768 or 1,440×900). The 1080p-plus HD resolution, and 16:9 aspect ratio would be perfect for watching movies, if not as ideal for productivity apps. As VR-Zone points out, some of those the 3.5-million-plus pixels will go wasted for software that would make better use of a 16:10 aspect ratio.

Nonetheless, the significantly higher resolution will put pressure on Apple to finally bring a retina display to the MacBook Air. Couple that with the Ivy Bridge chips, and Ultrabooks may start turning the heads of skeptical laptop buyers just yet.

[Image: VR-Zone]

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Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist.

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apple

baconman84 1st Mar

Since Apple uses Intel's processors and gets the displays from the same manufacturers as the competition, how can this development be seen as blowing away Apple?

houston roofer

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RE: Intel Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks Will Feature

dsf3g 11th Oct

Interesting, I hadn't realized that the "retina display" definition/specification takes into account viewing distance. Suddenly "retina displays" on laptops and tablets make a lot more sense to me.

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Yes, this is why iPad 3 will have 'Retina display' with 'only' 266 dpi, ...

DeRSSS 11th Oct

@dsf3g: ... comparing to iPhone 4/4S' 326 dpi. The viewing distance is bigger, so optically for human perception the picture will be as smooth ever, even though physically the dots are going to be bigger.

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RE: Intel Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks Will Feature

Skippy99 11th Oct

I want one with Windows 8. Dell better get their pre-order system up and running soon.

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RE: Intel Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks Will Feature

karivalkama@... 11th Oct

"Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks are making a huge jump to 2,560??1,400, which would be ???retina quality??? and blow away the current MacBook Air resolutions (1,366??768 or 1,440??900)."
Since Apple uses Intel's processors and gets the displays from the same manufacturers as the competition, how can this development be seen as blowing away Apple?

Yours,
Kari Valkama

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re:

iwdy23 7th Nov

Compared difference between ugg nightfall and ugg delaine,you can found some interesting pleasure.

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RE: Intel Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks Will Feature

Neverhood 11th Oct

Don't be so sensitive. The article clearly states the following.
"....and blow away the current MacBook Air resolutions.." The keyword is current!

Best Regards

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RE: Intel Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks Will Feature

karivalkama@... 11th Oct

@Neverhood
It is just that I am expecting news. The fact that something that will be introduced next year will blow away something introduced this year, is not noteworthy or newsworthy. It is the name of the game in IT. It is as if the article said that 1 + 1 = 2, as if that is news.

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We will see

pjpinella@... 11th Oct

Nice if these things ever actually ship. I've been reading about ultrabooks for over a year. But try to find one on Amazon for sale? Good luck. This new screen is even further out. I'm not holding my breath.

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RE: Intel Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks Will Feature

Kiers 11th Oct

and they'll SPOIL it by putting the display in a super glossy mirror finish screen which reflects everything i bet.....typical laptop industry idiots.

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RE: Intel Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks Will Feature

warboat 11th Oct

@Kiers a retina display without a mirror finish screen would be kinda pointless? the matt finish would ruin the sharpness of the display. It would be akin to matt finish on prescription glasses.
BTW Apple doesn't have the highest DPI display in a phone, nor was it the first with a "retina" display. "Retina" displays in phones came out in 2006 with the first VGA phones with 330dpi+ screens. Iphone 4 was 4 years later.
But hey, don't let facts get in the way of a good story. Let's stick with the story that Apple invented the retina display and that the Macbook Air will catch up couple of years later and claim to be the most badass display.

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RE: Intel Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks Will Feature

jorjitop 11th Oct

@warboat
Who, but you, remembers that first phone. The iPhone is the one that made a difference. Just like the iPod was the MP3 player that made a difference.

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RE: Intel Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks Will Feature

zeth06 11th Oct

@warboat

Cheap appeals to popularity. The iPhone is just another trend-setter phone in the history of many that will be forgotten over time. Quit being such a fanboy.

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apple

baconman84 1st Mar

Since Apple uses Intel's processors and gets the displays from the same manufacturers as the competition, how can this development be seen as blowing away Apple?

houston roofer

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great for road warriors, but...

paul613 11th Oct

As a pixelmaniac, I used to make a high pixel count, 24-bit color depth, and a wide field of view top priorities in a laptop. No longer. It's not that pixels have ceased to matter; rather, it's that my laptop spends 98 percent of its active time docked to a trio of 1920x1200 displays. If I were a road warrior, I'd lust for a laptop retina display...especially a ThinkPad.

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RE: Intel Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks Will Feature

zeth06 11th Oct

Normal joe here who's been reading about the Ultrabook movement for some time. Just have a question. Just how far can Intel control what goes into an Ultrabook? I understand they're the main leader behind the marketing moniker, but don't the companies making them like Acer and Asus ultimately control what gets smacked into an Ultrabook? Or does Intel have huge say in choosing components?

Just thought I'd toss that out there because this headline surprises me!

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Such hi-res with current OSs = small text

Patanjali 11th Oct

I have a Sony Vaio P Series with a 1600x768 8" screen = 210 dpi, and the text is small. Making it bigger just makes it harder to read because of the fuzziness the scaling introduces. I put up with the small text of the native size because of the small form factor convenience of the laptop, but I wouldn't want to work for hours on it.

On my desktop, I have several 2560x1600 displays, but they are 30", so the text is not small.

Only OSs that make changing sizes on the fly with gestures are really going to work with such high resolutions.

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RE: Intel Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks Will Feature

danbi 16th Oct

Ah, high resolution displays?

Then how about performance and the "all important" benchmarks?

Those high resolution displays sure require MUCH more processing power and GPU performance (read: more power draw from batteries). How will this be magically handled by the "new Intel Ivy Bridge"? Laws of physics still apply. Even to Intel chips.