[rayiner]

I think it's actually pretty clever. Developers clearly have trouble writing apps to support arbitrary scale factors. Resolution independence was supposed to be a feature of Windows since Vista was codenamed "Longhorn" (before 2004), and Windows is still a mess on higher-DPI screens 10 years later. Making it so developers only have to think about 1x and 2x and 3x makes the task easier.

Also, look at it this way: with the diminishing returns of resolutions above 300 dpi, is it really a big deal that you won't get the absolute best use of the iPhone 6+'s 400 dpi? Seems like a pretty reasonable trade-off to use that extra resolution in a way that makes resolution-independence easier for developers.

[jarek]

I'm imagining the commentariat's reaction to such a "pretty reasonable trade-off" on a Nexus 5 or a Galaxy S4

[rayiner]

Aren't the commentariat always asking "what's the point of going to 1080p or 4k on a 5" display?"

[jarek]

We were until Android phones got higher DPI than retina iPhones ;)

[ianlevesque]

1x 2x 3x is great as developer, but downscaling the result to save a few bucks on the display panel? Not so much.

[rayiner]

Its not the cost, its the power usage. The 1080p LG G2 had incredible battery life, while the G3 (according to all the reviews) with 2K screen was a big step backward in battery life.