13-Inch Retina MacBook Pro Displays in Production ⇥ news.cnet.com

Brooke Crothers reports for CNET:

Production is under way for a Retina display targeted at a more mainstream MacBook Pro, CNET has learned.

Production has begun of a 2,560-by-1,600 pixel density display that will land on a 13.3-inch MacBook Pro, NPD DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim told CNET.

“The supply chain indications are that it’s for a MacBook Pro 13.3—not a MacBook Air,” said Shim.

I am linking to this even though it’s a reporter quoting an analyst citing a supply chain¹, as it presents an interesting question: will Apple use the same Retina panel in the 13″ Pro and Air? The 13″ Pro ships with a 1,280 x 800 panel today, whereas the 13″ Air uses a 1,440 x 900 panel. A logical pixel doubling would see the 13″ Retina Air shipping with a 2,880 x 1,800 pixel display, like today’s 15″ Retina Pro.

I would assume that Apple would want to use the same panel between the two 13″ models as it’s logistically easier to produce a shared panel for a product that will presumably be in high demand. It would also make the lineup more consistent.