Who’d have thought the number one reason for buying a new Macbook Pro would be the display? Retina displays have quickly become a cat and mouse game of pixel density that will run for some time. And while this is great for consuming media, a little planning is required when it comes to managing design elements.

Every client wants a beautiful mobile experience that works seamlessly on every device. However, the effort required to execute this sometimes raises a few eyebrows. So we thought it’d be useful to go behind the scenes and explain why.

Remember the dim and distant past of 2009? Back then, everyone just had a regular old laptop and a smartphone. Designing for these devices was simple. It was one or the other. Or both if your CMO was feeling generous.

Enter the iPhone 4 - and high density displays went mainstream. Once you’d seen one, you couldn’t go back. Then Android joined in with XHDPI, which means that today, with a wide range of devices out in the wild, we have to accommodate a wide range of pixel densities.

The industry standard is to use Non-Retina or MDPI as the baseline (100%) This means that to ensure beautiful graphics on every device, we need to design assets at the maximum size (currently XDHPI - which is equivalent to 225%) and then reduce them in development to fit each device.

The introduction of MacBook Pro with Retina display means it’s just a matter of time before we have to start preparing for a range of different desktop design elements as well - but just imagine how great your digital brand is going to look!