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Apple has introduced a MacBook Pro with a similar resolution to this Chromebook Pixel. It has a Core i5 with 8GB of RAM. However, as AnandTech would point out

by mdasen 14y ago

Apple has introduced a MacBook Pro with a similar resolution to this Chromebook Pixel. It has a Core i5 with 8GB of RAM. However, as AnandTech would point out, such a resolution is certainly a strain on the processor (http://www.anandtech.com/show/6409/13inch-retina-macbook-pro-review/5 http://www.anandtech.com/show/6409/13inch-retina-macbook-pro...). Google's Chromebooks have been picking up the low-end. If this laptop is real, it will almost certainly need to match a Retina MacBook Pro in specs. It seems unreasonable to believe that this could be an ARM powered machine (as I'm sure some hope) since the resolution proves burdensome even to a Core i5. I think that's a compelling reason to believe this to be a fake. The amount of hardware needed to run such a resolution is substantial and I don't think people would want to pay that kind of money for a Chromebook right now. Personally, I would have to be assured that I could run a fuller operating system on it if I were going to spend that kind of money. However, even if it is real, it seems like it would be much closer to a Retina MacBook Pro than any current Chromebook. It seems unreasonable to think that Google would be able to put out such a device with such a display that is like the current Chromebooks in hardware or price. I know that a lot of us would love someone to unseat Intel, but we've seen how demanding Retina resolutions are and how even processors many times more powerful can struggle to meet the task.

xairon 14y ago
Actually, the Nexus 10 has the same resolution as the MBP 13 inch (2560x1600) - although the Nexus 10 does run Android 4.2. So it seems to me that to the ability to drive a 2560x1600 screen is also largely dependent on the operating system. Whether Chrome OS is capable of driving 2560x1600 with the same (or better) hardware than Nexus 10 remains to be seen.
steveridout 14y ago
The retina iPad manages to pull off a resolution close to that with only an ARM CPU. If applications deal with half the vertical and horizontal resolution in logical pixels and leave the X2 image and font rendering to a highly optimized engine using a good GPU it sounds do-able. Then again I agree it would bump up costs considerably, which negates one of the main reasons for buying a chromebook at the moment.

by mdasen 14y ago

xairon 14y ago

Actually, the Nexus 10 has the same resolution as the MBP 13 inch (2560x1600) - although the Nexus 10 does run Android 4.2. So it seems to me that to the ability to drive a 2560x1600 screen is also largely dependent on the operating system. Whether Chrome OS is capable of driving 2560x1600 with the same (or better) hardware than Nexus 10 remains to be seen.

steveridout 14y ago

The retina iPad manages to pull off a resolution close to that with only an ARM CPU. If applications deal with half the vertical and horizontal resolution in logical pixels and leave the X2 image and font rendering to a highly optimized engine using a good GPU it sounds do-able. Then again I agree it would bump up costs considerably, which negates one of the main reasons for buying a chromebook at the moment.