Can't get full resolution from 14-inch Screen

[Alameda]

I was looking at the Displays Preference pane on my 14-inch MacBook Pro. Available resolutions for the built-in 14" screen are:

• 1024 x 665
• 1147 x 745
• 1352 x 878
• 1512 x 982 (default)
• 1800 x 1169

But... the resolution of the 14-inch screen is 3024 x 1964 pixels. There is no setting for that resolution! The "default" resolution isn't particularly high, and it's a 50% vertical and horizontal scale, which probably delivers the sharpest text. But... why have a 3024 x 1964 screen if you can't use it?

 

[Roadster Lewis]

It will be retina "looks like 1512 x 982" - so you will be using all the pixels, using the full resolution will just make everything tiny.

 

[Alameda]

It will be retina "looks like 1512 x 982" - so you will be using all the pixels, using the full resolution will just make everything tiny.

Thank you, but of course the screen always uses all of its pixels… at every resolution.

If I play 480p video on a 4K TV, the TV uses all of its pixels, but I’m not getting 4K video.

 

[wilberforce]

The resolution really IS 3024x1964. The size (not resolution) of text and other UI elements just "look like" the size of text and UI elements would look on a regular (non-retina) 1512x982 screen.
You really do have resolution of 3024x1964

On my iMac (screen resolution 5120x2880) I can select either 2560x1440 (retina), or 2560x1440 ("low resolution," i.e., non-retina).
Everything is displayed the exact same size, but the difference is:

2560x1440:

2560x1440 ("low resolution")

If I select 5120x2880 (so-called "full" resolution), and double the size of the text (because it is now so tiny), I get this:

Notice how it is just the same as the first one above!

Unfortunately it is confusing, because Apple uses the word "resolution" to mean two different things.

 

[leman]

But... the resolution of the 14-inch screen is 3024 x 1964 pixels. There is no setting for that resolution! The "default" resolution isn't particularly high, and it's a 50% vertical and horizontal scale, which probably delivers the sharpest text. But... why have a 3024 x 1964 screen if you can't use it?

There is a difference between logical resolution and physical resolution. Modern Macs render desktop with sub-pixel precision, using multiple "hardware" pixels to cover a single logical pixel (what Apple calls HiDPI mode). There is no option to set the logical resolution to 3024 x 1964 as Apple believes that the display would be unusable at that resolution (and of course, the software is not designed for it). If you absolutely want to disable HiDPI and sub-pixel rendering, there are some tools that can do it for you.

Frankly, I believe we should stop talking about resolutions altogether. Resolutions are a concept from the times when display technology was in its infancy and now that have displays that surpass the discriminatory ability of human vision, it is simply not very useful aside for certain class developers that have to think in individual pixels. We should talk about pixel densities and measurements instead. I think Apple has this dream where they would like to abandon the resolution concept altogether and specify the UI using physical measurements but our society is simply not there yet

 

[7355]

I was looking at the Displays Preference pane on my 14-inch MacBook Pro. Available resolutions for the built-in 14" screen are:

• 1024 x 665
• 1147 x 745
• 1352 x 878
• 1512 x 982 (default)
• 1800 x 1169

But... the resolution of the 14-inch screen is 3024 x 1964 pixels. There is no setting for that resolution! The "default" resolution isn't particularly high, and it's a 50% vertical and horizontal scale, which probably delivers the sharpest text. But... why have a 3024 x 1964 screen if you can't use it?

There is a free app on the Apple App Store called EasyRes. It allows you to select any resolution you wish. This is great for when you are working in applications which are menu intensive (like Blender, etc.) but as you approach the 3024X1964 full resolution (which it does support) text gets pretty tiny. I'm currently running my MacBook Pro 14 at 1920X1200 and it helps a lot.

 

[name99]

There is a free app on the Apple App Store called EasyRes. It allows you to select any resolution you wish. This is great for when you are working in applications which are menu intensive (like Blender, etc.) but as you approach the 3024X1964 full resolution (which it does support) text gets pretty tiny. I'm currently running my MacBook Pro 14 at 1920X1200 and it helps a lot.

Another app that may help is called BetterDisplay. It allows you to create a "fake" display with whatever properties you want, which seems useless except that you can then mirror that display to a real display and have many of the properties (like resolution) transfer over to the real display.

People use it for a bunch of different things, and I right now am using it to work around a particular, somewhat niche Apple bug (screen keeps changing resolution when Apple Silicon M2 mini is plugged into a TV, via HDMI, AND screen sharing is enabled; which, who knows, maybe will be fixed in the next macOS),

but I know that people HAVE used it for this sort of issue where someone wants access to higher resolution than Apple will offer in Displays, even though their screen supports that resolution.

 

[xraydoc]

I was looking at the Displays Preference pane on my 14-inch MacBook Pro. Available resolutions for the built-in 14" screen are:

• 1024 x 665
• 1147 x 745
• 1352 x 878
• 1512 x 982 (default)
• 1800 x 1169

But... the resolution of the 14-inch screen is 3024 x 1964 pixels. There is no setting for that resolution! The "default" resolution isn't particularly high, and it's a 50% vertical and horizontal scale, which probably delivers the sharpest text. But... why have a 3024 x 1964 screen if you can't use it?

In addition to the explanations given above, if you really want to use 3024x1964, it can be done. Be aware that text and user interface elements will be very small.

 

[TSE]

Download SwitchResX. Call it a day.