Earlier today, Adobe officially launched Lightroom 4.3 and Camera Raw 7.3, an update that brings support for Apple Retina Displays (and other HiDPI high-res screens) to Lightroom. The news comes just a couple of days after Photoshop received its own HiDPI compatibility update.
Back in August, Adobe announced that HiDPI display support -- including for Apple's Retina displays -- would be coming to Photoshop CS6 sometime this fall. If the rumors floating around are true, we may only be about two weeks away from the official announcement date.
Photographers who have been patiently waiting for Adobe to bring Retina-compatibility to Lightroom will be glad to know that support is indeed part of the next update to the popular photo-editing program. In fact, you can download the compatible version already: Adobe has released a Lightroom 4.3 Release Candidate so photographers can help test the app and help squash bug before it becomes an official release.
New uber-high-resolution HiDPI displays like Apple's Retina display are amazing to look at, but aren't very useful unless 3rd party software makers optimize their programs to support the technology. If you're a photographer that has already shelled out a few G's on a Retina-equipped Macbook Pro, you're probably disappointed with the fact that Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom aren't optimized for the display. In fact, some photographers are finding the display unusable for professional photo editing due to the difference in detail between apps optimized for Retina and those that aren't.
If that's you, Adobe's announcement today will be music to your ears: Photoshop CS6 will support HiDPI displays in the next few months, and Lightroom 4 support is on the way as well.