iTunes LP requirements pretty hefty, perhaps include tablet clues?

Seth Weintraub
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September 30, 2009
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Apple's got a new support doc out today and it sheds some light on what's going on behind the scenes of iTunes LP.  Firstly, to play an iTunes LP, you'll need a 2GHz Dore 2 Duo or faster processor, so earlier model Minis and MacBooks need not apply.  PowerPC?  Pshaw (No).  On PCs, the same requirements apply.

Perhaps most interesting however, is the minimum screen requirements.  Apple states that the screen resolution has to be at least 1280x800 on both Mac or PC.  There are a lot of people out there running media centers on 720P screens that might not meet these requirements.

If the tablets are going to be able to access this type of content (and what are they good for if they can't?), they'll need to meet these video requirements as well.  Although we've said it before, let it be known that we're saying it again:  We believe that the tablet will have at least 720P resolution, probably more like 1280x800.

A more common screen size for netbooks like the Dell Mini 10 is 1,366 x 768.  This is also a very distinct possibility.

Comments (12)

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | September 30, 2009 - 6:07pm

2 GHz min.??

I just hope this isn't a complete resource hog

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | September 30, 2009 - 6:11pm

2GHz Dore 2 Duo

Blobfish (not verified) | September 30, 2009 - 7:14pm

I wonder what he could have possibly meant. It's a mystery.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | September 30, 2009 - 6:12pm

2GHz Dore 2 Duo...?

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | September 30, 2009 - 7:11pm

It better have some super resolution if they expect people to read magazines and books on this this thing.
E-ink looks like a printed page and is alot easier on the eyes.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | September 30, 2009 - 8:25pm

What are you talking about?

Resolution has nothing to do with it. Displays that have a high pixel density allow for sharper images on the screen regardless of the type. That pixel density and sharpness come into play when you start dealing with screens that have a large area. The resolution of the original Kindle was only 600 × 800 pixels.

The only reason e-ink is compared to print is because you don't have to backlight it to see the images on the screen the way you do with an LCD screen. E-ink displays can be read/watched using the ambient light reflecting off the surface of the screen the way you read a printed page.

mackmgg (not verified) | September 30, 2009 - 7:37pm

I posted this from my iPhone, but don't know if it went through:

I have ran an iTunes LP on my iPhone that was uploaded to my web server. It ran well, smooth, and looks like it COULD be implemented by apple. I can't test sound, as that only works from iTunes on the computer. The iPhone's screen resolution is way under 1280*800. It only worked landscape, but 2GHz was not needed to run the CSS smoothly.

Warwick Brown (not verified) | September 30, 2009 - 8:11pm

GENIUS!!

Most PC laptops are moving to 1366x768 displays (for god only knows what reason - 16:9 is horrid to use as a computer display).

Let's hope a lot of the new owners of these sub-standard displays are soon trying to use iTunes LP and complaining about how their computer can't handle it.

Sweet. That said, who buys albums? Last I bought was Hot August Night NYC but only because it's a live recording.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | September 30, 2009 - 11:38pm

who buys albums?!..
erm, grown ups? people who like music?!!.

jeeze, kids of today!

currymac (not verified) | October 01, 2009 - 4:39am

Just wondering if this is just another "profit centre" for Apple or if they will simply come with an album purchase. What about albums you've already purchased? Will you be able to get the LP stuff for them?

Justin (not verified) | October 01, 2009 - 9:44am

Just wanted to say that I'm running a Core Duo, not 2 Duo, and I just got an iTunes LP and it works no problem. No lagging or anything.

Dizzy D (not verified) | October 01, 2009 - 1:45pm

The tablet is _not_ going to run a Core 2 Duo or equivalent. Perhaps they'll make it OS dependent?

Also, what happened to the big push for resolution independence?