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If it's so easy, why had no one else put them in their phones or built their laptops out of them?

ergo98 16y ago
Probably because they couldn't convince people that it was magical. Why did the iPhone run at such a low resolution while Windows Mobile and Android phones were coming out with 3x more pixels? Yet when they increase the DPI game slightly, brand it as a Retina Display, you think they're innovative?
- BigZaphod 16y ago
  It was a just bit more than a "slight" increase. I think Apple had been planning on being able to double it all along - hence the initially lower dpi. But of course they'll never say for sure.
  - ergo98 16y ago
    I meant they accomplished a slight increase in DPI across the genre (not relative to the iPhone 3GS) -- a large number of phones that came out months earlier are within spitting distance of the iPhone 4's DPI, but it just was never a big deal.
ZeroGravitas 16y ago
Several manufacturers had high dpi screens about 300dpi in phones before Apple. None that I'm aware of matched Apples exact dpi but then again, they had no need to exactly quadrupel the pixel count in the original iPhone while still being roughly the same size. As far as the aluminium goes Apple has fetishised their materials choices for a long time and had as many hits as misses e.g. "Titanium" paint that flakes off, White iBooks that discolored, white iPhone 4s that they can't manufacture. Others generally don't bother as their customers don't want or need it. I'm not sure Apple users do before they are trained to by Apple.
elai 16y ago
The toshiba portege g900 has a ppi of 310, yet it was released 3 years ago. I remember some android phone released earlier than the iphone 4 with a similar high ppi. Many people don't like high dpi due to the pixels being too small and using software designed for 72-100dpi. Metallic laptops tend to have wireless reception issues, conduct heat a bit too well onto consumer laps, have warping issues and can add weight. All of these problems have been present in macbook pros.

Probably because they couldn't convince people that it was magical. Why did the iPhone run at such a low resolution while Windows Mobile and Android phones were coming out with 3x more pixels? Yet when they increase the DPI game slightly, brand it as a Retina Display, you think they're innovative?

BigZaphod 16y ago
It was a just bit more than a "slight" increase. I think Apple had been planning on being able to double it all along - hence the initially lower dpi. But of course they'll never say for sure.
- ergo98 16y ago
  I meant they accomplished a slight increase in DPI across the genre (not relative to the iPhone 3GS) -- a large number of phones that came out months earlier are within spitting distance of the iPhone 4's DPI, but it just was never a big deal.

ZeroGravitas 16y ago

Several manufacturers had high dpi screens about 300dpi in phones before Apple. None that I'm aware of matched Apples exact dpi but then again, they had no need to exactly quadrupel the pixel count in the original iPhone while still being roughly the same size. As far as the aluminium goes Apple has fetishised their materials choices for a long time and had as many hits as misses e.g. "Titanium" paint that flakes off, White iBooks that discolored, white iPhone 4s that they can't manufacture. Others generally don't bother as their customers don't want or need it. I'm not sure Apple users do before they are trained to by Apple.

elai 16y ago

The toshiba portege g900 has a ppi of 310, yet it was released 3 years ago. I remember some android phone released earlier than the iphone 4 with a similar high ppi. Many people don't like high dpi due to the pixels being too small and using software designed for 72-100dpi. Metallic laptops tend to have wireless reception issues, conduct heat a bit too well onto consumer laps, have warping issues and can add weight. All of these problems have been present in macbook pros.