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OS X app updates to support the MacBook Pro with Retina display

Apple updated OS X and its suite of core apps to take advantage of the MacBook Pro with Retina display's 2880 x 1800 resolution, but the surprise announcement at WWDC 2012 left many third-party apps out in the cold. Major programs like Adobe's Creative Suite and others like Twitter don't display text or images that support the high-resolution screen, and that's not to mention the fact browsers like Firefox and Opera don't render text properly, either. We're expecting updates to roll in throughout the year, so keep checking back here to catch them as they come in.

  • Dante D'Orazio

    Mar 26, 2013

    Dante D'Orazio

    OS X launcher app Quicksilver reaches version 1.0.0 after ten-year beta

    Quicksilver Version 1
    Quicksilver Version 1

    OS X launcher utility Quicksilver has finally graduated from beta status, almost ten full years since it first made its debut. Version 1.0.0 of the application was released for Mac OS X 10.6, 10.7, and 10.8 today for free. While the past ten years has seen development move on from Nicholas Jitkoff (who's since been hired by Google) and the program has been open sourced, the launcher app still retains its proponents.

    The new version includes preliminary Retina display support, a new Add to Catalog action, support for alternative search "synonyms" (to distinguish between similar sounding items), and a huge list of other minor changes, but the core functionality is the same as it always was. Like other launcher apps like Alfred (a favorite around these parts), Launchbar, and Butler, it extends OS X's built-in Spotlight search functionality in powerful ways. Users can open files and applications, and perform multiple actions on them using keyboard shortcuts called "triggers." Even if you've never used the utility, we think the program deserves a good cheer for finally leaving the beta moniker behind.

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  • Nathan Ingraham

    Dec 13, 2012

    Nathan Ingraham

    Adobe Lightroom 4.3 adds support for Retina display Macbooks, new iPhone lens profiles

    lightroom 4 1020
    lightroom 4 1020

    If you're a Lightroom user who has a MacBook Pro with Retina display, you won't have to suffer with low-res graphics any longer. Adobe's photo management and correction app has been updated to version 4.3, which contains support for high-DPI screens like those found in Apple's newest MacBook Pro laptops. There's also new support for a number of high-end cameras that have been released in recent months, including new, more affordable full-frame cameras like the Nikon D600 and the Canon 6D.

    At the same time, Adobe has also added greater support for some lesser but still extremely popular cameras — those found in the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5. Apple's two latest smartphones now have lens profiles supported by Lightroom 4.3, which means it can automatically correct for aberrations and lens distortions. While it may seem odd to use $150 software to edit smartphone photos, it'll certainly be helpful to the avid iPhone shooters out there as well as advanced enthusiasts or pros who use their iPhone as a secondary camera. The 419MB download is now available on Adobe's site.

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  • Chris Welch

    Aug 30, 2012

    Chris Welch

    Adobe adds Retina display support to Photoshop and Illustrator, more apps to follow

    adobe cs6 1020
    adobe cs6 1020

    When Phil Schiller unveiled Apple's latest MacBook Pro and its Retina display back in June, he also revealed that Adobe had committed to optimizing Photoshop for the ultra high-res panel. The company today reaffirmed that plan, saying updates to "key products" will be delivered to all customers running the latest release in the coming months. Thankfully those products extend beyond Photoshop, with Adobe naming nine total applications (including Lightroom 4) that will be updated with support for HiDPI displays. As of now, that list includes:

    Photoshop users can expect an update sometime this fall, though Adobe isn't offering release specific timeframes for the other software, saying only new versions will arrive "as soon as work is complete."

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  • Dante D'Orazio

    Aug 30, 2012

    Dante D'Orazio

    Parallels Desktop 8 released with full Windows 8 integration, true Retina display support, and more as a $49.99 upgrade

    Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac
    Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac

    The major change in Parallels Desktop 8 is right in the name: the software handles Windows 8 completely differently than the previous version of the virtualization program. In Parallel's default "Coherence" view mode (which displays Windows applications in their own windows on your Mac desktop), Modern UI Style (read: Metro) apps will open in their own separate fullscreen windows and occupy their own spaces. It can be a bit jarring: in Coherence mode you open the Start menu from the OS X menu bar, and then once you open a Metro app it disappears as you're pushed into a separate space. Still, we can't think of a better way for this to be handled — Windows 8 wasn't designed for such interactions and some design choice had to be made. Parallels has also seen fit to intercept Windows 8 notifications and display them using Mountain Lion's built-in notifications bar, and the cursor will now "stick" to the edge of the window when moving at slow speeds, allowing you to easily open the charms bar and the start menu from the corners of the screen.

    Beyond Windows 8, the new software also takes Mountain Lion's dictation and allows it to function within guest operating systems, and OS X's keyboard language settings will now apply to Windows as well. Additionally, the fullscreen mode now uses Lion's and Mountain Lion's fullscreen controls, opening in a new space and minimizing the dock. You'll also be able to drag and drop files to Windows applications in the dock and automatically have the file added as an attachment, à la Mail in OS X, and a new "open in Internet Explorer" button has been added to Safari.

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  • Dante D'Orazio

    Aug 14, 2012

    Dante D'Orazio

    Despite earlier announcement, Parallels support for Retina display Macs still a work in progress

    Parallels Desktop 7 Windows Blurry Retina
    Parallels Desktop 7 Windows Blurry Retina

    Last month, Parallels announced that its popular virtualization software Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac was updated to support the Retina display on the new MacBook Pro, but all wasn't nearly as it seemed. Inadvertently or not, Parallels had incorrectly led its customers (and the media) to believing that Windows, Ubuntu, and any other OS you could throw at the program would be able to use the 2880 x 1880 display on Apple's latest machine.

    What owners of the application soon realized, however, is that virtualized operating systems like Windows 7 are completely unable to handle the Retina display in the app. It's not Windows 7's fault — it can handle the screen just fine in when running natively in Boot Camp — the problem is that Parallels wasn't written to exempt itself from OS X's built-in display scaling. With Windows running in fullscreen at 2880 x 1880, OS X currently scales down the image to 1440 x 900 (if you keep the Mac's settings at defaults) and then scales it back up to full resolution, resulting in a horribly pixelated experience.

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  • Nathan Ingraham

    Aug 9, 2012

    Nathan Ingraham

    Pixelmator 2.1 adds iCloud and Retina graphics: as close as you'll get to Photoshop for $14.99

    Pixelmator 2.1
    Pixelmator 2.1

    Over the last few years, Pixelmator has emerged as a strong and highly affordable alternative to Adobe Photoshop for Mac users — and the latest update to version 2.1 brings a host of new features, including new effects, alignment guides, and support for Apple's latest software. The image-editing software is now fully compatible with both Mountain Lion and iCloud, so users can now save their creations directly to iCloud and have them sync across multiple Mountain Lion computers. Other Mountain Lion features include the ability to share compositions from Pixelmator directly to a number of apps and services, including Flickr, Facebook, iPhoto, and Aperture. Owners of Apple's MacBook Pro with Retina display will be happy to know that the app now supports the full 2880 x 1800 resolution, as well.

    As for new photo-editing features, Pixelmator 2.1 includes a handful of new effects that we can't help but say look Instagram-inspired — though they're certainly a bit more subtle and higher quality than what you see in your typical iPhone app. There's also a new effects browser, which lets users view all 160 of Pixelmator's effects and do an instant preview; it also lets users tag and group their favorite options for easy access. Lastly, the app now supports "smart" alignment guides, which help lay out compositions and show when aspects of an image are placed evenly on the canvas.

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  • Aug 9, 2012

    Vlad Savov

    Things 2.0 takes Cloud syncing out of protracted beta, showers you with new features

    things 2
    things 2

    Things, one of the leading task manager apps on Apple's OS X, has seen a long-awaited update to version 2.0 today. It brings to a close some five months of public beta testing of a new Cloud syncing feature — which distributes your to-do list across the full range of Apple devices, courtesy of updated iPhone and iPad apps as well. Also on the new features list are Retina display support for the new MacBook Pro, an entirely re-engineered core for "blazing fast Things Cloud performance," visual refinements that include a reduction in window chrome, and an all-new Daily Review section. You'll need to be running OS X 10.6.6 (Snow Leopard) or later to be able to apply this update, which is free for anyone who's already purchased the app.

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  • Dante D'Orazio

    Jul 31, 2012

    Dante D'Orazio

    Google Chrome now optimized for Retina display, gains built-in webcam support, too

    Chrome Retina
    Chrome Retina

    Chrome 21 also includes built-in webcam and microphone support. By using the HTML5 getUserMedia API, the browser can use the devices without the need for plug-ins like Flash and Silverlight. For those concerned about security, the browser does ask for permission before gaining access. Lastly, Google Cloud Print devices now show up in the print dialog, and gamepad support has been extended. You can download the latest version of Chrome now, but if you already have the browser installed it should automatically update in the background.

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  • Aaron Souppouris

    Jul 28, 2012

    Aaron Souppouris

    LaunchBar update adds Mountain Lion compatibility, Retina display graphics

    LaunchBar
    LaunchBar

    Objective Development has updated its popular LaunchBar app, improving compatibility with Apple's new OS, Mountain Lion, and adding "preliminary" support for the MacBook Pro with Retina display. The update, version 5.3, also offers extended support for third-party mail clients such as Sparrow, Outlook, and PostBox, and is Gatekeeper-ready.

    LaunchBar replaces and extends OS X's Spotlight search function, in a similar fashion to apps like Alfred and Quicksilver. It offers powerful, adaptive universal search; calculator, dictionary and clipboard functions; and deep integration with Calendar and iTunes. Version 5.3 is available as a free upgrade for existing LaunchBar 5 users — users of LaunchBar 3 and 4 can upgrade their license for €9 (around $11).

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  • Adi Robertson

    Jul 25, 2012

    Adi Robertson

    Apple updates iWork and iPhoto for Mountain Lion, fixes bugs in iMovie

    iWork Mountain Lion
    iWork Mountain Lion

    Mac owners will be busy with updates this morning as Apple releases software that works better with the newly-released Mountain Lion. The latest version of iWork now supports Mountain Lion and the new MacBook Pro Retina display. Mountain Lion features like iCloud document storage and dictation also show up in the release notes. iPhoto has been given a similar update, with added compatibility and support for sharing through Messages and Twitter. The latest version of iMovie already supported Retina and doesn't seem to offer any Mountain Lion-specific features, but you'll get stability fixes for MPEG-2 previewing and some third-party QuickTime components. Between the new Retina display and Mountain Lion, most of Apple's flagship apps have gotten a recent facelift.

    Check out the full Mountain Lion review.

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  • Jeff Blagdon

    Jul 25, 2012

    Jeff Blagdon

    Mac calendaring app Fantastical adds Retina support

    fantastical (1020)
    fantastical (1020)

    An update to one of our favorite OS X apps, Fantastical, is the latest to add support for Apple’s new Retina display Macs. High resolution support isn’t all, there are a few other important improvements to the calendaring app as well: repeating reminders are now simpler to enter, and tapping the space bar can now toggle the completed state for reminders. Developer Flexibits is getting the update (version 1.3.2) out just ahead of today’s Mountain Lion release, which is good since it's the first version to add support for the new OS.

    If you haven’t used Fantastical before, the small app sits in your menu bar, and a click or shortcut key press lets you add events and reminders quickly using natural language processing. The update is free for owners, otherwise a 50 percent off promotion both on the Mac App Store and Flexibits’s own site brings the price down to $9.99. If you’re still on the fence, you can always check out our interview with the app’s creator, Michael Simmons, or download the free demo to check it out for yourself.

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  • Andrew Webster

    Jul 18, 2012

    Andrew Webster

    Evernote for Mac updated with Retina display support and Activity Stream

    Evernote Mac 3.2
    Evernote Mac 3.2

    The Mac version of note-taking app Evernote has been updated, adding the Activity Stream feature and a visual upgrade to support the MacBook Pro with Retina display. Just like in the Windows version, the new Activity Stream section lets you view the most recent changes for shared notebooks — you can see things like if someone new has joined the notebook, or what notes have been added or deleted. Meanwhile, the team says that "every button, texture, shadow, and image" has been upgraded to support Apple's newest laptop, though at the moment version 3.2 of Evernote is only available from the company's website — if you downloaded it from the Mac App Store you'll need to wait until Apple approves the update to get the changes.

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  • Dieter Bohn

    Jul 17, 2012

    Dieter Bohn

    1Password for Mac updated with Retina display support

    1password retina
    1password retina

    The popular password management app 1Password has been updated to support Retina displays on the Mac. In addition to the Retina display support, the app now works better with Chrome. AgileBits tells us that it needed to update 130 images for the new version — so if you're keeping track of just how much bigger Retina-compatible apps are, plan on counting 3.5 million more pixels once you download the latest version. The update is free for current users, though the app itself is a hefty $49.95 for new users. However, there are apps for Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android, plugins for all the major browsers, and sync options via Dropbox — which should mean that you can get access to your passwords no matter what your platform of choice is.

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  • Nathan Ingraham

    Jul 11, 2012

    Nathan Ingraham

    Parallels Desktop 7 for OS X upgraded to support the MacBook Pro with Retina display

    MacBook Pro with Retina display angle (1024px)
    MacBook Pro with Retina display angle (1024px)

    If you're a MacBook Pro with Retina display owner and run Windows through the Parallels virtualization program, we have some good news — Parallels Desktop 7 now supports the higher resolution of Apple's new flagship laptop. We're not surprised to see this update come through, as the company updated its Parallels Mobile for iOS software to support the new iPad's Retina display back in May.That's the only major change, but it will certainly be welcome news to those using the newest MacBook Pro. As before, Parallels Desktop 7 supports not only Windows 7 but also the Windows 8 Release Preview, Chrome OS, and Ubuntu. Parallels also says that its software will be updated to support the final versions of Windows 8 and OS X Mountain Lion when they're available for customers. In the meantime, the update is available now for those who want full Retina-display goodness.

    Update: Despite what Parallels announced, the desktop virtualization software does not yet fully support the Retina display.

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  • Amar Toor

    Jul 8, 2012

    Amar Toor

    Pulp news reader app updated to support MacBook Pro with Retina display

    pulp update
    pulp update

    Acrylic Software has updated its Pulp desktop app to support the MacBook Pro with Retina display. Available for both the iPad and Mac, Pulp is a news reader app that aggregates stories from RSS feeds and displays them in a magazine-like layout. Announced today via Twitter, version 2.5.2 not only optimizes the app for retina displays, but renders it compatible with Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, as well. The update is available now from the Mac App Store, where Pulp is currently selling for $9.99.

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  • Justin Rubio

    Jul 2, 2012

    Justin Rubio

    Reeder updated to support MacBook Pro's Retina display

    reeder retina display
    reeder retina display

    Reeder, a popular RSS app that syncs to Google Reader, has been updated to support the MacBook Pro with Retina display. Aside from the improved graphics, there were no other changes with version 1.1.7 except for a fix to the app's tweet feature, which previously gave the incorrect character count when sharing links. Available now for $4.99 through iTunes, Reeder joins Chrome, VLC, and Sparrow as prominent third-party apps that make use of the new MacBook Pro's high-definition display.

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  • Dante D'Orazio

    Jul 2, 2012

    Dante D'Orazio

    Sparrow updated to support Retina display and Mountain Lion

    Sparrow Retina comparison
    Sparrow Retina comparison

    Update: Sparrow for Mac 1.6.2 is now live in the Mac App Store, ten days after its debut for users who purchased the app from the Sparrow store.

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  • Chris Ziegler

    Jun 13, 2012

    Chris Ziegler

    Chrome update for MacBook Pro's Retina display coming soon, developer version available now

    Chrome Retina
    Chrome Retina

    One of the (few) disadvantages to the new MacBook Pro's stunning Retina display is that apps need to be updated to take advantage of it, otherwise they can look fuzzy, out of focus, and generally bad. Fortunately, Google has been quick to update Chrome, already releasing a refresh in the "Canary" developer channel that has some early Retina-compatible work in it. Google says it still has more work to do in the coming weeks before rolling it into a final shipping release, but it's a start — and in the meantime, Safari is your Retina-ready browsing option.

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  • Andrew Webster

    Jun 12, 2012

    Andrew Webster

    Apple updates iMovie to support new MacBook Pro with Retina display

    iMovie
    iMovie

    Now that Apple has launched its MacBook Pro with Retina display, a number of apps are being updated to support the new machine. The latest is iMovie, which has been bumped up to version 9.0.6 in order to take advantage of the new Retina screens. There's not much else to the update, though — the only other addition is support for a host of new languages, including Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Greek, Hungarian, Romanian, Slovak, Thai, Turkish, and Ukrainian. You can grab the updated version from the Mac App Store at the source link below, though if you haven't picked up the new MacBook just yet, you'll likely have to wait at least a few weeks to get your hands on one.

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  • Adi Robertson

    Jun 11, 2012

    Adi Robertson

    Aperture updated with Retina optimization and more, now shares library with iPhoto

    Apple's done with today's WWDC announcements, but we're still going through the raft of updates that have just officially come through. The company has announced an update to Aperture that optimizes it for the just-announced MacBook Pro with Retina display. Besides this, it also incorporates a shared photo library for Aperture and iPhoto and automatically ports updates between them, so you can make an album or edit an image in Aperture and see the changes in iPhoto or vice versa. Some new photography tools have been added: you'll see white balance adjustments, better editing for shadows and highlights, and a new Professional Auto Enhance option. Browsing should be faster, with Aperture loading embedded photo previews in RAW images to show pictures before they've been fully loaded. We don't see it yet in the Mac App Store, but we don't doubt it'll be here soon.

    Update: It's now available here for $79.99, the same price as before.

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  • Nilay Patel

    Jun 11, 2012

    Nilay Patel

    OS X, pro apps, and games updated for new MacBook Pro Retina Display

    os x retina
    os x retina

    Apple's also touting a number of key third-party apps that have been updated for the new display, like Adobe Photoshop and AutoCAD. There's also a new version of Diablo III, whichis a bit more fun.

    Developing. Check out our Apple WWDC live blog for the latest updates!

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