Posted in Mac , Apple , MacBook Pro
This will likely be the last small update before my full review of the next-gen MacBook Pro with Retina Display. Many of you have asked for information about the behavior of Windows running on the next-gen Pro. After getting both Windows 7 and Windows 8 running on the machine, here are some quick thoughts.
Windows 7 by default starts up at 800 x 600 on the Retina MBP, Windows 8 defaults to 1024 x 768. This behavior isn't specific to this system, the GeForce GT 650M doesn't have native driver support in either OS at this point and these are the defaults for the standard VGA driver in both cases. Windows 7 won't expose any resolutions higher than 1600 x 1200 without an actual NVIDIA driver, while Windows 8 will let you select the full 2880 x 1800 panel resolution:
The problem is Apple doesn't provide a Boot Camp driver set for the Retina MacBook Pro yet. I had to use the Broadcom wireless driver from my SNB MacBook Pro to get WiFi working under Windows. Unfortunately, NVIDIA doesn't offer a downloadable GeForce GT 650M driver for either Windows 7 or Windows 8 just yet. The R302 Verde drivers are supposed to be due out in the not too distant future with support for the 650M, but until then you're mostly out of luck. I tried modified drivers to get 650M support and even tried modifying some myself, but I haven't been successful thus far. Just as before, switchable graphics isn't functional under Windows - the discrete GPU (650M) is the only one exposed.
Even without a working NVIDIA driver, I was able to get a feel for what a 2880 x 1800 setting would look like on a traditional desktop under Windows 8. If you remember back to our scaling and display analysis articles, Apple doesn't offer a desktop resolution equivalent higher than 1920 x 1200 under OS X. The thinking being that unscaled 2880 x 1800 would just be too small for the desktop, icon text and default UI elements. The screenshot below shows the Windows 8 desktop at default (no DPI scaling) settings at 2880 x 1800:
Note that the Skyfall trailer is actually a full 1920 x 1080 window. Text is indeed very small, but I suspect those with very good eyesight could actually be ok with this. I would love to see Apple actually expose a native resolution option under OS X.
Here's a look at the unscaled Metro start screen at 2880 x 1800:
Text does get a bit more legible if you turn up DPI scaling. The gallery below has three shots of the same desktop comparing default (unscaled), 125% and 150% scaling options. There's also a shot in the gallery comparing the Retina MBP to Apple's previous highest DPI Mac display: the 11-inch 2011 MacBook Air to give you some perspective.
Quick conclusions? Windows users will have to wait a bit for official driver support, and NVIDIA needs to hurry up with a GT 650M Verde driver.
This is just an insane panel. I'm typing this on my 27-inch 2560 x 1440 display, and to think that the 15.4-inch panel next to it has 40% more pixels is mind blowing.
Gallery: 
JMS3072 Reply RE: Thanks for the article by ImSpartacus on Thursday, June 14, 2012 It's funny, I was about to make a comment saying just about the same thing.We're such fanboys, lol.
ImSpartacus Reply RE: Thanks for the article by Zak on Thursday, June 14, 2012 Yup. That is pretty cool indeed. I also enjoy bits like this. 
Zak Reply drvelocity by drvelocity on Thursday, June 14, 2012 Agreed - Anand, you are truly the best technology writer in the world as far as I'm concerned, at least in any language I can read. Even Ars Technica writers reference your articles, that tells you something.On another note: This article/gallery should be taken in while listening to "Carnival of the Animals VII - Aquarium" by Camille Saint-Saens for full effect. This thing truly is magical. I love that I have to have mine shipped from Shanghai to Illinois only to have it shipped back to Taiwan. :(
drvelocity Reply RE: drvelocity by BPB on Thursday, June 14, 2012 OK, I believe I've been coming to this site since '99, otherwise 2000 at the latest. It truly is one of my favorite tech sites. But I gotta say, stuff like this annoys me:"This is just an insane panel. I'm typing this on my 27-inch 2560 x 1440 display, and to think that the 15.4-inch panel next to it has 40% more pixels is mind blowing."
If this is true then your mind is too easily blown. It's cool, it's nice, but mind blowing? You've already seen the newest iPad approach those numbers in a smaller, wimpier form factor, yet you find it in a larger and much more powerful form factor mind blowing? I think that would be ok from the teenage Anand back in the day, but this one has grown up. Hasn't he?
BPB Reply RE: drvelocity by klagermkii on Thursday, June 14, 2012 It is mind blowing. We've spent somewhere near a decade with 2560x1600 being the highest "mainstream" resolution we can get, and finally we're breaking through that and on a laptop display no less.This kind of thing is exciting because once Apple pushes it, we'll probably see other manufacturers doing it as well (even if just in a me too way), and they'll start pushing ahead of 2880x1800 to at least beat them on specs.
Should be a good few years for monitors coming up.
klagermkii Reply RE: drvelocity by BPB on Thursday, June 14, 2012 "It is mind blowing. We've spent somewhere near a decade with 2560x1600 being the highest "mainstream" resolution we can get, and finally we're breaking through that and on a laptop display no less."Without intending to, you made my point. This would have been mind blowing several years ago, but not no. Yes, it's been 10 years or so of 2560x1600 max resolution, so why would anybody be surprised it's now been bested, even if it is by a notebook. Making a screen with this resolution has been possible for a while, but making is usable has not. We now have all the parts (hardware and software) necessary to make them usable, all Apple did was do it first. Good for them, but they haven't exactly re-invented anything here, just taken it to the next logical level. It is not mind blowing, it is completely expected, and if anything overdue. See my comments about superlatives below. They should be used very sparingly.
BPB Reply RE: drvelocity by Moizy on Thursday, June 14, 2012 So you're calling Anand not grown up? Please have some respect. You have to love the bravery, audacity, and/or lack of respect that internet anonymity provides, right?In Anand's opinion, it's cool that a panel that takes up roughly 1/3 the space of another actually has 40% more pixels. He even, how dare he, used the words "mind blowing."
In my opinion, I appreciate that Anand, after so many years of dealing with tech advancements, and, even more fatiguing, tech marketing, hasn't become jaded and disconnected. When new, cool, inspiring technology comes his way, he still appreciates it.
I'm sure there's a hobby or interest you enjoy or appreciate that really gets you excited, but that same hobby or interest might not do the same for others. That's perfectly acceptable; your excitement wouldn't warrant me curbing your enthusiasm, or calling you immature.
Moizy Reply RE: drvelocity by BPB on Thursday, June 14, 2012 Smaller CPU chips push out more power with less power needs. Smaller engines generate more BHP and torque than larger ones. Smaller data connectors pass much more information than others several times larger. This has been the norm for a long time now in engineering, and we all saw the Retina Display notebook coming this year. I think the iPad's resolution and power is actually more impressive than this notebook's. I simply can't call this mind blowing. Like I said, nice, cool, whatever. But please, keep the use of superlatives to a minimum. The words are used so much they no longer mean anything. Every difficult shot made in the NBA is miraculous. Every catch while in coverage in the NFL is incredible. Every star in a movie is absolutely gorgeous and every rock star just an incredible human being. It's like Dash said in "The Incredibles", "If everybody is special, then nobody is special." BPB Reply RE: drvelocity by seapeople on Thursday, June 14, 2012 I bet you're very encouraging to those around you."Hey dad, I just hit a grand slam to win the Little League World Series! It was amazing!"
"Eh, grand slams have been hit before to win baseball games. Stop using superlatives so freely. Go clean your room."
"I already did that, mowed the lawn, and aced my chemistry test."
"Stop making it sound like that's important. Wake me when you do something that matters. Until then can't you just leave me alone?"
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