A proper design resolution for universal app nowadays?

Question

Now, that we have new iPhone 5 and iPad 3, what resolution of design should we make for universal apps?

Can we make one Photoshop design in the largest resolution and then downscale these images to fit on iPhones screens?

Please advise...

Answer 1

That's the best approach.

Since the aspect ratios are different, just design background images separately for each device and use resized versions of highest resolution design for other objects.

For iPads, design for 2048x1536, use it directly on iPad3 and use resized 1024x768 on iPad2 and iPad1.

For iPhones, design for 640x1136 and use it on iPhone5, then crop central content and use it as 640x960 on retina iPhones, and as resized 320x480 on non-retina iPhones.

By the way, you can use same images for non-retina iPad and retina iPhone.