High-resolution display panels for MacBook Pro is twice as expensive

Extremely high-resolution display panels is something that among others Apple is said to think about for their upcoming upgrade of the mobile MacBook Pro family. If the more traditional 13,3 and 15,4 inch panels is replaced by displays with really high pixel density the expenses for the panels is expected to more than double.

Today Apple and several PC manufacturers use 13,3 and 15,4 inch display panels with resolutions at 1 440 x 990 pixels. If we should trust the most recent data this can increase drastically with the next generations MacBook Pro computers where the 13,3 inch models are claimed to have display resolutions of up to 2 560 x 1 600 pixels while the 15,4 inch model raises the bar even further to 2 880 x 1 800 pixels. This should more or less double the pixel density for Apple’s new MacBook and enable the manufacturer to add another product category under it’s “Retina” brand that highlights displays with extremely high pixel density.

Doubling the pixel density and price

The positive news is that the high-resolution display panels that Apple is said to be looking for is available and is manufactured by several partners. The bad news is that the prices on the new panels is – just like the pixel density – twice as high as the current display panels in the MacBook Pro series. This is now claimed by Analysts at NPD DisplaySearch. A 13,3 inch panel with a resolution at 1 440 x 900 pixels is estimated to cost Apple $69, while the same panel size with 2 560 x 1 600 pixels resolution will cost no less than $134. In percent it gets even worse for the 15,4 inch panel that with todays resolution costs only $68 but with a resolution at 2 880 x 1 800 pixels costs $160.

This hardly comes as a surprise that the migration to new display panels with significantly higher pixel density will lead to higher expenses. With the new iPad Apple chose to take the hit themselves and despite a price premium around $30 per plate the tablet is sold for the same starting price that they previously had for iPad 2.

Taking a look at the MacBook Pro family the material expenses should increase with somewhere between $65 – $92. A bigger expense for Apple to swallow but at the same time they sell their MacBook Pro family with a significantly higher total cost than iPad.

If Apple choose to upgrade it’s new MacBook Pro generation with Retina displays it remains to be seen if the increased expenses for material will affect us consumers. It’s obvious that it is a possibility, not least when PC manufacturers looks as to invest in this model where specific computers can be upgraded with a high-resolution panel for a higher total cost. Would you as consumers be prepared to pay let’s say 1000 SEK (~ $133) to get four times the pixel density?