How and when the iMac and Mac Pro can go Retina
Three major factors have probably prevented a proper 2×-in-each-dimension “Retina” version of today's 27″ iMac and standalone Thunderbolt Display, which would need to be 5120×2880 pixels: — Nobody makes general-purpose LCD panels with that resolution today.
Context & Ripple Effects
Retina has been spreading through Apple's lineup from the small screen up: the 2880×1800 panel rumored for the MacBook Pro arrived as suppliers scaled high-density laptop displays, and by 2012 a Retina MacBook Pro could already drive three external displays, showing the portables were ahead of the desk. The 27″ iMac and Thunderbolt Display are the holdouts, still at standard pixel density.
Marco.org's argument is that the blocker is upstream, not design taste: per the reporting, nobody currently manufactures general-purpose LCD panels at the 5120×2880 resolution that a true 2× version of either product requires. That makes the desktop Retina question a panel-supply-chain question — who pays to bring such a part into existence, and what GPUs and interfaces can drive it.
First-order effects
- Buyers of the 27″ iMac and Thunderbolt Display are choosing between today's standard-density desktops and Retina portables, so Apple's highest-resolution screens remain its laptops.
- Panel makers face no off-the-shelf market for 5120×2880 parts, meaning any Retina desktop depends on a committed buyer underwriting a custom panel rather than picking from a catalog.
Second-order effects
- If Apple wants the resolution without waiting on the industry, the MacBook Pro precedent points to commissioning bespoke panels and solving the bandwidth/GPU problem itself, pulling suppliers along rather than waiting for them.
- Monitor rivals face no immediate pressure, since the same missing panel supply constrains everyone — the competitive gap opens only when one company funds the part into existence.
Third-order effects
- The established pattern — Apple seeding a custom high-DPI panel, then the rest of the market inheriting it once volumes exist — suggests desktop display density will advance in steps set by whoever pays first, with interface and graphics bandwidth as the gating constraints.
The trend: Desktop display resolution advances are being paced less by demand than by panel-supply economics, with Apple positioned to move first wherever it will fund a custom part.