Indeed, I refer to points rather than pixels because on Retina display they are not the same thing. However, a point on a Retina display does not equate a 1/72th of an inch typographical point. It is unfortunate Apple decided to use the word “point” for a combination of pixels which has no relationship with the typographical unit. Hence a deplorable confusion.
But I also want also to dispel the common illusion that one pixel equals one typographical point (1/72th an inch) in non Retina displays.
Unless terminology is precise, and actual measurement replaces a belief system, no 1:1 screen display is possible.
The very notion of typographical point has been quite independent from resolution in print for decades. The actual resolution of paper is of about 2400 dots per inch on newspapers. And that has nothing to do with the typographical point which remains an unit of measurement. Likewise, the advent of higher screen resolutions means there is no relationship between points and pixels, if there was ever any.
In common communication, there is this bizarre preconception that non-retina displays have 72 pixels per inch. And sometimes screen specs are expressed in dots per an inch (dpi). In practice, that is inaccurate. But hey, who am I to against decades of marketing twist ?