HiDPI Retina Images in Mountain Lion, Already Functional in OS X Lion

ArsTechnica reports on the discovery of Retina-sized artwork in OS X Mountain Lion's.

A source with access to the latest Mountain Lion preview alerted Ars that double-sized graphics have popped up in some unexpected places, once again suggesting that Apple may be close to releasing MacBooks with high pixel-density screens.

We'd previously spotted these same Retina-sized graphics in the Lion beta of Apple's new Messages application.

As well, we've found in our testing that Apple's HiDPI mode in Lion is already fully functional and will use the Retina assets appropriately. These screens show the Lion Messages app running in HiDPI mode.

hidpib
HiDPI mode on OS X 10.7. Left: Retina enabled, Right: Non-Retina

The left image shows that Lion with HiDPI mode enabled uses the full resolution Retina artwork from the Messages app to improve the pixel sharpness of the images. When the Retina assets are selectively removed from the app (right), you can see it fall back to the normal non-Retina images bundled.

Users will be able to test this themselves to full effect when Air Display is updated to support Mac HiDPI mode on the new iPad. Apple's Messages Beta for Lion is one of the few Mac applications that are already Retina-enabled to a large degree. Some elements, such as font rendering will automatically scale upwards as it does on the iPad.

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and AirPods 4

Thursday November 13, 2025 11:35 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3, the AirPods 4, and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 firmware is 8B21, all up from the prior 8A358 firmware released in October. There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods 4 with ANC, and AirPods Pro 3...
Tim Cook WWDC 2018

Report: Tim Cook to Step Down as Apple CEO 'as Soon as Next Year'

Saturday November 15, 2025 2:40 pm PST by
Apple is preparing for Tim Cook to step down as CEO of the company "as soon as next year," according to the Financial Times. The company's board of directors and senior executives "recently intensified preparations for Cook to hand over the reins," the report said. While the report said that Apple is unlikely to name a new CEO before its next earnings report in late January, it went on to ...
iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket Now Available to Order, But Already Selling Out

Friday November 14, 2025 6:20 am PST by
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. iPhone Pocket is available to order on Apple's online store starting today, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. However, it is already completely sold out in the United...
apple silicon mac lineup 2024 feature purple m5

Apple's 2026 Mac Plans

Friday November 14, 2025 3:23 pm PST by
Most of Apple's Macs are slated to get M5 chips across 2026, and there's a possibility we'll even see the first M6 chips toward the end of the year. Updates are planned for everything from the MacBook Air to the Mac Studio. MacBook Air (Early 2026) The MacBook Air will be one of the first Macs to get a 2026 refresh, with an update planned for the first few months of the year. The MacBook...
best early black friday deals

Best Black Friday Apple Deals Live Now - Save on AirPods, iPads, and Apple Watches

Saturday November 15, 2025 1:45 pm PST by
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...
tvOS 26 Profiles

tvOS 26.2 Adds a Useful New Feature to Your Apple TV

Friday November 14, 2025 10:02 am PST by
Starting with the upcoming tvOS 26.2 update, currently in beta, additional profiles created on the Apple TV no longer require their own Apple Account. In the Settings app on the Apple TV, under Profiles and Accounts, anyone can create a new profile by simply entering a name and indicating whether the profile is for a kid. The profile will be associated with the primary user's Apple Account,...
walmart new ornametns

Walmart Black Friday Deals Begin Today With Low Prices on Headphones, TVs, and More

Friday November 14, 2025 7:55 am PST by
Walmart's Black Friday sale has officially kicked off today, with an online shopping event that's also seeing some matching deals in retail locations. There are quite a few major discounts in this sale, including savings on headphones, TVs, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Walmart. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us...
CarPlay Pinned Messages

iOS 26.2 Adds New CarPlay Setting

Thursday November 13, 2025 6:48 am PST by
iOS 26 extended pinned conversations in the Messages app to CarPlay, for quick access to your most frequent chats. However, some drivers may prefer the classic view with a list of individual conversations only, and Apple now lets users choose. Apple released the second beta of iOS 26.2 this week, and it introduces a new CarPlay setting for turning off pinned conversations in the Messages...
homepod mini thumb feature

New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and AirTag Were Expected This Year — Where Are They?

Wednesday November 12, 2025 11:42 am PST by
While it was rumored that Apple planned to release new versions of the HomePod mini, Apple TV, and AirTag this year, it is no longer clear if that will still happen. Back in January, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple planned to release new HomePod mini and Apple TV models "toward the end of the year," while he at one point expected a new AirTag to launch "around the middle of 2025." Yet,...

Top Rated Comments

arn Avatar
178 months ago
How's that news? The Ars Lion review already had a section about Lions HiDPI mode.
all kinda old news, but you have a Mac retina app (Messages) to play with.

arn
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
QuarterSwede Avatar
178 months ago
This is like one of those spot the difference competitions. Is there supposed to be a visible difference between the two images? If there is I can't see it lol.

‘Bout time we had some lovin for the Mac. Roll on retina Macs - just as long as they’re not so glossy I have to squint to see the image like I do now in certain lighting.
It's the silhouette that's sharp on the left and pixelated on the right.

This one shows the difference much more clearly. From another MR article (https://www.macrumors.com/2012/03/21/air-display-to-let-you-use-the-new-ipad-as-a-hidpi-retina-display-for-your-mac/).

Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kludge420 Avatar
178 months ago
The good news is when Apple puts the beautiful hires displays in the iMac and MacBook Pros they will finally have to put a decent video card into them by default.

The bad news is Apple will once again put in just enough horse power to drive the new display but we won't see any real improvement for gaming. Just like the iPad 3rd gen.

Of course when you're looking at a 27 inch Retina display you'll be too busy drooling for much of that to matter.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
neilpryde23 Avatar
178 months ago
Retina display would be awesome but I really want IPS display!!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gugy Avatar
178 months ago
PLEASE!!!!:D
Larger than 30" ACD with matte screen. Come on Apple, 27" is too small. :eek:
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
slapple Avatar
178 months ago
But is the Mac OS X any closer to having resolution independence?

I want to stop running my 1680x1050 15" MBP in the slightly blurry non-native 1440x852 resolution. (I do that because all the text at 1680x1050 looks too small.)
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)