Chosen Solution
I wonder if it might be possible to mount the retina display on the new 2012 mbp or possibly even the 2011 one. As the new retina mbp lacks a lot of features the other ones got i would find that laptop a better option. Are the way its secured to the case and connected to the logicboard same as the older ones? Atleast the 2012 non retina should be able to support the resolution. the 2011 would probably only be able to be able to utilize 2560x1600.
Just in reviewing the iFixIt guides for the current MacBook Pro’s Retina & Non-Retina theres enough differences mechanically that you can’t just swap the display assembles as the Non-Retina MBP has it’s the antenna connections at the hinge while the Retina version has the camera & antenna connections across the fan to the logic board. The video connectors are not the same type so you have some issues there. Given the fact the connector is the same size on the logic board the number of execution units needs to be able to support the display which the two GPU’s don’t have (12 Vs 16). 3000 4000 Even if you were able to make things fit the MBP GPU limitations can’t drive the Retina display properly (As MacHead & Marcel describe above). The lack of VRAM also means you can’t drive all of the displays pixels discretely. Instead you’ll get a quad of pixel cells if the video driver is able to scale, I doubt it will so you’ll get a 1/4 image as the driver thinks it can light each discreet pixel so 3/4 of the display will be dark. It’s similar to what happens when you select a smaller setting in the Display Pref. But, unlike the pref setting which will center the image it will take the top left part of the display area. I encountered a similar type of issue when higher res VGA displays came out.
I disagree that the GPU can not drive the Retina Display LCD, less Vram would prevent it from only displaying the higher resolutions, assuming that the LVDS display connectors use the same pin out’s, what needs to be checked is if the WLED driver chipset is the same, and the 0402 backlight fuse is of a higher amperage rating then a non Retina display model. If your logic made sense, then I would need a special video card to drive a 4k external display, yet they still use a standard HDMI or Dual Link DVI connector as a standard external LCD display. http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=11…
