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VictorTango777

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 28, 2017
893
1,634
The new Displays preferences in MacOS Monterey are such a clusterf**k. It looks and feels completely different from all other System Preferences items.

1. The top of the window wastes space by showing the text “Displays Preferences lets you control settings for monitors…” No Sh*t Sherlock! Why is that text there at al?

2. The preferences further wastes space by showing a picture of a keyboard and mouse under the monitor(s). Do we really need this?

3. When using multiple monitors, settings are no longer displayed in a separate window on each monitor. Now settings for all monitors are combined into a single window that resembles something from a Windows PC. So you have to first click on the monitor in the list in order to see the settings. And hope that you click on the correct monitor.

4. To make matters worse: In previous MacOS versions when using multiple monitors, you could easily identify each monitor by clicking on one of the monitors in the preferences, and a red border will appear on the screen. But now in Monterey, you can’t identify a monitor without dragging it and disturbing the arrangement. And identifying monitors doesn’t work at all in settings list. You can only do it in the monitor arrangement view.

5. Did the engineer who worked on the new Displays preferences consider what happens when you have multiple monitors of the same model and how you are supposed to identify one of multiple identical monitors in order to change its settings?

6. The bottom of the Displays preferences shows the text “To mirror displays, hold the Option key while dragging one display on top of another”. Why do I need to hold the stupid Option key when in previous MacOS versions, you could simply drag one display over another?

7. In yet another instance of Apple’s obsession with hiding things behind the stupid Option key and providing no instructions, the Detect Displays button requires holding down the stupid Option key so it magically appears. Yet this is not mentioned at all in the text at the bottom!! See #6 above.

What was Apple's reasoning for making these backward changes to Displays preferences? And why does it seem that when Apple wants to redesign things in MacOS, they assign the work to engineers who have never used a Mac before?
 
Last edited:

usagora

macrumors 601
Nov 17, 2017
4,869
4,456
LOL - I just tried to open Display Preferences to see, and got this. Guess it's time to reboot. Standby...

Screen Shot 2021-12-09 at 12.25.52 PM.png
 

usagora

macrumors 601
Nov 17, 2017
4,869
4,456
Ok, after playing around with it myself, honestly most of your complaints seem petty except for #4. But even that is not a huge deal unless you're constantly rearranging your monitors, which I doubt most people do - they simply get a set up they like and stick with it.
 
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gffounder

macrumors newbie
Jan 26, 2022
4
0
I would normally NEVER speak of MS Windows in the same sentence as MAC's, but ... Windows bundled Intel's "Combined Desktop" graphics command center allowing you open one window across multiple monitors (MS Windows calls it "Collage Display" or "Combined Desktop" mode). Anyone seen this on MAC (I'm on Monterey OpenCore??)
 
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