Apple Retina display

[Cognizant]

*****NO APPLE BASHING! There's absolutely no point in bashing apple here, so please don't comment unless you have something meaningful to and on topic say.*****

I'm looking at Apple's new MacBook Pros, and I've noticed they're starting to phase out the old displayed models for the newer retina display technology (with a steep price increase).
What's different about the Retina display compared to the regular display? As a visual artist who has a mid 2010 gen macbook pro, would it be beneficial to me to start saving for a retina display model?

[StoppingTime]

I suppose it'd depend exactly what your needs are. I have a mid 2013 13" Retina MBP, and am constantly in Lightroom, Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator, and other programs like this. Of course it looks better, and these programs (along with many others) are optimized for Retina displays, so they look incredibly crisp compared to a 'regular' display.

The difference between Retina displays and non-Retina is simply their resolution. For example the 13" MBPs have a resolution of 2560x1600, which is extremely high resolution for a display so small. It's the same reason text looks so crisp on an iPhone (and on these displays too) -- more pixels in the same place will generally give you a better quality image.
In the case of post processing for photography I've found it quite nice, as the images look much clearer and closer to their native resolutions (though Apple has yet to develop 24K displays :P) than just viewing on another 13" display, for your case, probably somewhere around 1280x800.

TL;DR: If you're in the market for a new MBP, I'd definitely say you should go Retina. They're slowly phasing out the older ones and will continue to until they're no longer sold as they do with everything else, and I'd have to guess this will happen within two years maximum.

[CharlieHorse]

The "Retina Display" is Apple's term for their newest screens in their devices.
They are ips lcd displays with smaller pixels and higher resolutions.
Apple's current supplier for these displays is Samsung.
Basically they look sharper, and pixels can't be seen by the naked eye.
If you are working with images, it might be nice to have it. Might as well go for it.
I do photo editing on a 23 inch ips 1920x1080 monitor, and i love it. I think that 1080 is fine

[Greg1994]

It's just a higher resolution screen, and the text looks AMAZING! You could make use of the pixels by getting a bigger desktop, but I prefer the retina option. I'm one of the hipsters that bought the first gen 15" retina on the day it was released back in June 2012 and I've been content every day since. I can't use my old macbook without instantly noticing the pixelated screen. To anyone on here that says you can't notice a difference, um, yes you can. Plus it's super thin, which I also enjoy.

[Joseph69]

I bought one of the 15" models today (the ones which were released on Tuesday) and it's really amazing. There's a really obvious quality difference between a retina display and a standard display even with simple things like reading emails or browsing the internet.

I don't know much about editing images, but apparently when editing on a retina display it makes it much easier because you get better detail and you can see what you're working on better.