Apple has reportedly begun development on a MacBook model integrating the company's high-resolution Retina display technology.

Taipei news site Digitimes cited sources within Apple's supply chain in reporting that the MacBook Pro systems will have resolutions of 2,880x1,800 pixels, and will ship sometime in the second quarter of 2012.

The laptops represent a similarly dramatic increase in screen resolution to the Retina display in the iPhone 4.

Digitimes reported that rival notebook vendors Asus and Acer are also planning to unveil ultrabooks with maximum resolutions of 1,920x1,080 in the second quarter.

Integrating such a technology could be costly in the short term, but analysts believe that high-resolution notebook displays could soon become affordable to produce and distribute in volume.

Full story: V3.co.uk