The new iPhone 4’s screen may be the same size as its predecessor’s, but the resolution is much higher. 326 pixels per inch, versus the 160ppi of the previous models. (This works out to pixel dimensions of 960×640 for the new model and 320×480 for the old, but that’s not really relevant to this post.) 326ppi is roughly the same resolution as is used in printing images, as opposed to the 72-96 pixels per inch that most web designers design for.
Already, if you view an iPhone screenshot on a computer monitor, it will look strangely oversized due to the difference in resolution. The new “retina display” will make the effect further pronounced.
My question is: with phone displays increasing in resolution, can we assume that desktop and laptop monitors will follow? Will it become more common to see full-size screens with upwards of 300ppi? It might cause some problems for designers at first, but it will make for more richly detailed web designs eventually.
