News: retina display Macs, AirParrot for Mac, Thunderbolt one year on, and more!

It's almost impossible to be involved in the Apple scene these days without hearing the term "retina display", and we've got the iPhone to blame for that. The iPad is just about to be launched with its retina display as well, and argue as much as you like over the fact that "retina display" is a marketing term or not, but there's no denying it significantly improves image quality. But on the Mac, does a retina display really mean pixel doubling? Richard Gaywood from TUAW does the math. Mountain Lion will bring AirPlay Mirroring to the Mac in order to stream your Mac's display to an Apple TV wirelessly, but until Mountain Lion arrives third party developers have already filled that hole. AirParrot streams your Mac's display onto your Apple TV wirelessly, and it's a great stand in — at least until Mountain Lion arrives.

The new high-speed connection interface that many see as the successor to FireWire, Thunderbolt, was introduced roughly one year ago. One year later, where does Thunderbolt stand as a viable connection standard? Is it still out of reach of most consumers who shop purely based on price? Macworld has the report.

Ken Segall worked under Steve Jobs for a number of years, and now runs Scoopertino. He's more than versed in the various Apple ins-and-outs, which means his new book, Insanely Simple, will be a great read if you've finished the Steve Jobs biography.