Apple Display Technology Explained

With display technology constantly evolving and adapting to modern uses, It can be very confusing to understand what the differences are across the wide selection of Apple displays. Apple uses terminology like Ultra Retina, True Tone and Nano-texture that all have features that are beneficial to users in different ways.

In this article we will take a deep dive into Apple display technology and help you understand the differences so that you can make an informed purchase.  

Apple Display Terminology

Retina

What is a Retina display? Apple “Retina” is a trademark term that refers to Apple’s series of high pixel density LCD and OLED displays. First introduced in 2010, this display type is now the standard across all of Apple’s product lines including the Macbook Pro, Macbook Air, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and iMac.

Retina refers to a LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) with a high pixel density, this means that individual pixels are impossible to see with the human eye from certain distances. The higher the pixel density in a display the harder it is to make out its individual pixels, resulting in a sharper and more crisp visual experience.

Liquid Retina

What is a Liquid Retina display? The Liquid Retina uses the same high density pixel technology used in the original Retina LCD displays. The difference and improvement comes from the use of pixel masking and anti-aliasing allowing for Apple to use thinner bezels on their devices. This means that more of the display can be taken up by the screen itself, while maintaining the visual experience of a Retina display.

Liquid Retina XDR

Liquid Retina XDR includes all of the features of a Liquid Retina but is further improved with the use of enhanced HDR (High Dynamic Range) technology. Apple refers to this as XDR (Extreme Dynamic Range) and its purpose is to improve both the contrast ratios and brightness of a display.

To achieve this Apple uses mini-LED backlighting zones that have the ability to dim specfic areas of the LCD as oppose to the only being able to dim the whole LCD in previous generations of displays. This finer control over backlighting the LCD allows for a better contrast ratio and brightness.

Super Retina xdr

The Super Retina XDR was introduced by Apple to replace the mini-LED backlighting method used in the Liquid Retina XDR, with new OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) technology.

OLED technology allows for each individual pixel to emit it's own light which means that contrast can be controllled at a pixel level, rather than in zones of pixels like in mini-LED backlit LCDs. This more precise control of the backlighting alows for ever more impressive contrast ratios and brightness.

Ultra Retina XDR

Apple debuted the Ultra Retina XDR display with the launch of the iPad Pro (M4) in May 2024, using a new technology called Tandem OLED.

A Tandem OLED has two light-emitting layers stacked ontop of each other, which means there is one pixel ontop of another. The increased density of pixels means that each individual pixels needs less power and prodcues less heat, which in turn means that there is less heat generated by the display and it’s performance is increased even at brightness levels that would cause burn-in on a normal OLED display.

This display is referred to by Apple themselves as the best the industry has to offer at reducing the impact of OLED burn-in, which is experienced in any OLED or LED device you can buy. They use algorithms to observe and automatically adjust the brightness levels of individual pixels to help reduce the issue of screen burn-in and image persistence.

Resolution

When you purchase any device with a screen, the specifications will always state what the screen resolution is. This is referring to the number of pixels that your screen can display both horizontal and vertical. The resolution of your screen will affect how clear the images and text will appear on the display as well as how much you can view on the screen. The Macbook Air 13-inch M2 for example, has a resolution of 2560x1664, this means it displays 2560 pixels horizontally and 1664 vertically.

If you take two displays that are the same size, one with a resolution of 1920x1080 and one with 2560x1664, the LCD with a higher resolution would display more of what you are working on, which results in less scrolling, the image will also appear sharper but more zoomed out than the lower resolution. This is great for someone who uses spreadsheets, or working on music and video with multiple tracks as you can fit more on the screen.

Liquid Retina XDR display under microscope.

Non-retina display under microscope.

REFRESH RATE

Refresh rate refers to how many times per second a display updates its image, measured in hertz (Hz). In simple terms, the higher the refresh rate the smoother the visual experience will be.

Promotion technology

Apple introduced ProMotion technology in 2017 with the iPad Pro. Since then it's been added to the iPhone and Macbook Pro 14-inch and 16-inch models. ProMotion technology allows for a maximum of 120hz refresh rate, this means that the display refreshes 120 times per second resulting in smooth scrolling and lightning fast responsiveness.

Unlike other displays, ProMotion has the ability to dynamically adjust the refresh rate depending on the task you are performing on a screen. If you are using your screen to read a block of text on a blank page for example, the refresh rate can drop as low as 10hz which will help to conserve your battery life. The same is true for tasks that require a higher refresh rate, the device will increase its refresh rate to maximise its performance.

Colour

Wide Colour (P3)

Wide Colour (P3) refers to the spectrum of colours in the RGB model a screen is able to produce. Compared to its predecessor sRGB, Wide Colour (P3) it is able to produce 25% more colours. This has become the standard colour gamut for both photographers and videographers.

1 billion colours

1 billion colours put simply is how many colours you can see. Older displays traditionally feature 8-bit colour depth, which means they can produce 16.8 million colours. On XDR displays the 1 billion colours is made possible by a 10-bit colour depth, which can produce 1,024 shades of the primary colours resulting in 1.07 billion combinations.

Other Technology

TRUE TONE

True Tone introduced in 2016 is an Apple display technology which adjusts the screen to look more natural on low and high light settings. They do this by using multichannel sensors that adjust the intensity and colour of the display. This can improve colour accuracy when editing video and photos.

NIGHT SHIFT

Night shift automatically adjusts the colours of your display to the warmer end of the colour spectrum when in lower light conditions. This reduces eye strain and helps you to get better sleep.

Left Night Shift disabled. Right Night Shift enabled.

Finish

Nano vs Standard

A further factor to consider when buying an Apple device is whether to go for a standard glass or Nano-texture glass display. All devices with standard glass offer an anti-reflective coating to help reduce glare but the Nano-texture glass display takes this further by having a matte coating to further reduce glare for users that work in challenging ambient lighting conditions.

Please note, not all Apple products with a display have the option for Nano-texture glass displays. They are available with the iMac 27-inch (2020), iMac 24-inch M4 (2024), iPad Pro M4 (2024), MacBook Pro M4 (2024), Studio Display and Pro Display XDR.

Left standard glass, right the matte finish of the Nano-textured glass

Oleophobic coating

An Oleophobic coating on a display helps prevent the oils from your hands, fingerprints, dust and dirt from sticking to the display.

Anti reflective

Anti reflective coatings on displays help to reduce light reflecting and improves the visibility of what is on the screen, reducing the experience of glare.

CoNtrast

CoNtrast Ratio

Contrast ratio measures the extent of a display's maximum and minimum brightness level of a display. The higher the contrast ratio the better and deeper the colour black will appear, and the more saturated levels of colour you will be able to see. For example the 14-inch Apple Macbooks with the M3 chip have a Liquid Reina XDR display with 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio. This means that the brightest white image produced by this Macbook is 1,000,000 times brighter than the darkest black.

Brightness

Nits are a unit of measurement used to calculate how bright a screen is. Nits are measured against the light of a physical candle (one Nit = one Candela per square metre (cd/m²). When you are looking to buy a display, it is important to look at the amount of nits the display outputs. The higher the nits, the brighter the display will be. Picking the right number of Nits depends on the environment you are working in. If for example, you are working in a dimly lit area, a lower level of nits will be a lot easier on the eye. On the other hand, if you are using a display outside or in an office with bright industrial lighting, you would benefit from a display with higher nits.

Dynamic Range

SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) is the standard for the range of contrast and brightness in a display. A display with Standard Dynamic range will have a 8-bit colour depth with a limited brightness and contrast range. If you were to use an SDR display in a brightly lit or dark area the colours and details on the screen may be difficult to see, either washed out or completely lost due to its limitations. As a rule of thumb SDR will have a brightness range of 100-300 nits.

HDR (High Dynamic Range) refers to a display with a higher brightness and contrast. HDR would give more of a contrast of blacks and whites visible on a display generating a clearer image. Typically HDR will have a much wider brightness range exceeding 1000 nits.

XDR (Extreme Dynamic Range) is Apple's own term used to describe the technology on their top of the range displays. It builds on the features of HDR by having up to 1600 nits of peak brightness, 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, P3 wide colour and 10-bit colour depth.

LCD Technology

Led-backlit

LCD (Liquid-crystal) displays use LED’s as a source of backlighting that illuminate the pixels and create the image you see on the screen.

MINI Led-backlit

A Mini LED-backlit displays use smaller LEDs compared to traditional LED-backlit displays. Mini LEDs typically measure around 100 microns, while standard LEDs are over 200 microns. Mini LED enhances contrast, colour accuracy and brightness.

OLED

OLED (Organic light-emitting diode) is a display technology with self-emissive pixels that can produce their own light, without the need for an LED panel backlight. This display type has the ability to completely turn off pixels in order to produce no light or true black.

Tandem OLED

A Tandem OLED refers to a display that has multiple OLED panels stacked together to create much brighter visuals. Apple uses this technology in their iPad Pro M4 to reach an impressive 1,000 nits of full-screen brightness and a peak HDR brightness of 1,600 nits.

IPS

IPS (in-plane switching) refers to a type of LED display panel technology, it provides a wider viewing angle, better image quality and colours from the traditional TN (Twisted Nematic) displays. This ensures that you have a clear view from any perspective when using the display compared to other display types, where the image quality decreases when using different viewing angles.

IPS with led backlight

IPS (in-plane switching) refers to a type of LED display panel technology, it provides a wider viewing angle, better image quality and colours from the traditional TN (Twisted Nematic) displays. This ensures that you have a clear view from any perspective when using the display compared to other display types, where the image quality decreases when using different viewing angles.

IPS with oxide tft

TFT (Thin-Film Transistor) is a switch that controls each pixel that is displayed on a screen. It communicates with a pixel, telling it when it should turn on and off.

Oxide TFT uses a material called oxide, instead of Silicon which helps to make a screen brighter, more responsive and a lot more energy efficient. As a result, a display with Oxide TFT technology has faster pixels which results in smoother images and videos. It also allows for more light to pass through so you will experience a brighter screen and sharper image without expending more energy, conserving your battery life.