Macs and dpi issues

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silvagti said:
@233

THIS+1 based on my experience.

You can connect a 1440p display but even at native resolution it’ll look noticeably worse than windows.

Get a 4k monitor if you want to use both windows and MacOS. Smaller (32” or 27”) ones are generally better as they’ll look sharper due to the greater pixel density.
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Do you suppose that's true of the 3440x1440 40 inch screens? they'd technically be 1440p, right?
 
This is what my Studio displays show.

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Looking in system settings/displays, I run them at 2560x1440 which is the default recommended setting. They look fantastic!
 
eldergeek said:
Do you suppose that's true of the 3440x1440 40 inch screens? they'd technically be 1440p, right?
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It will be pretty much the same as any traditional 32inch 2560x1440 display since the horizontal size and no of pixels are the same.
Personally I wouldn’t much care for macOS on a screen of that nature as it’s an even lower PPI than a 27inch 2560x1440 offering which is pretty ghastly for macOS.
 
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silvagti said:
I’m not looking for a MacOS vs Windows debate but it’s disappointing how poor my 1440p display looks in MacOS compared to windows?

I literally never had any complaints with it until I plugged my MacBook into it! I just assumed at native resolution it would appear the same as windows but it really doesn’t look anywhere near as clear in terms of how fonts /text look :(

It seems you really need to be mindful what kind of display you use on MacOS.
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Sorry, I was referring to monitor specs I.e. panel type/refresh rate etc. The 1440p resolution just does not play nice with macOS - the type/make of monitor is irrelevant.

As has been mentioned a few times, you ideally want to be going 4k at a minimum with macOS as the sheer resolution is enough to hide much of the aliasing (jaggies) on text items.

A 27 inch 4k display is pretty much the sweet spot (for me) outside of the Studio Display. Anything larger than 27 inches and the PPI starts to decrease - of course some can tolerate this more than others. I would confidently say that around 10 years ago I couldn’t even have used a 4k display without noticing the scaling issues. But alas my eyes are 10 years older now and it was perfectly acceptable. I just happened to luck out on a good deal for the ASD and I’ve never looked back since.
 
Mesai said:
It's crazy how many tools you need to install to get basic things right on MacOS.
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It's always been the way if you stray outside the 'walled garden'.

I would grab an ASD but single input makes it's absolutely pointless for me; i still believe Apple would sell more XDR's and ASD's if they gave them an DP input or two.
 
Feek said:
Looking in system settings/displays, I run them at 2560x1440 which is the default recommended setting. They look fantastic!
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Yeah I believe that is what they call 5K 2560 x 1440 times two, 6K is 3008 x 1692 times two and 8K is 3840 x 2160 times two.
 
silvagti said:
Get a 4k monitor if you want to use both windows and MacOS. Smaller (32” or 27”) ones are generally better as they’ll look sharper due to the greater pixel density.
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+1 I run my 4K monitor at 3K, 3008 x 1692, as I find at 4K everything is to small although I have that option if I want it.
 
Jimbeam3678 said:
I’d have an Apple Studio display but they don’t place nice with a PS5 and I’m not hacking around when spending £2.5k on 2 monitors. Settled on a pair of 27” Dell 4k Monitors which cost £500 all in.
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Yeah that’s another factor that I overlooked. The Studio Display makes the most sense if it’s being used for Mac only. If there’s any sort of mixed use be it windows pc’s or consoles then absolutely a 4k monitor makes more sense. This is partly why, despite being a Mac user for the better part of 10 years, I’ve only just this year got an Apple external display - I had a gaming PC running alongside.
 
GMac11 said:
Yeah that’s another factor that I overlooked. The Studio Display makes the most sense if it’s being used for Mac only. If there’s any sort of mixed use be it windows pc’s or consoles then absolutely a 4k monitor makes more sense. This is partly why, despite being a Mac user for the better part of 10 years, I’ve only just this year got an Apple external display - I had a gaming PC running alongside.
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If I were just planning on using a mac it'd be clear cut but I still have a few games in 2025 I'm planning on playing, so rather than have multiple monitors it just makes sense to get a 32" ish display that has a decent ppi
 
This is strange, took a screenshot of my desktop then looked at the info of the file that was created, it says dimensions 6016 x 3384. However my display is set to 3008 x 1692 not double that.



I know that in system report it says my resolution is 6016 x 3384 but it also says UI looks like 3008 x 1692. My monitor isn't capable of anything above 3840 x 2160 anyway.
 
nlel1975 said:
This is strange, took a screenshot of my desktop then looked at the info of the file that was created, it says dimensions 6016 x 3384. However my display is set to 3008 x 1692 not double that.



I know that in system report it says my resolution is 6016 x 3384 but it also says UI looks like 3008 x 1692. My monitor isn't capable of anything above 3840 x 2160 anyway.
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This is just how HiDPI scaling mode works on Mac OS. Presumably you're using BetterDisplay to enable HiDPI on more resolutions?

You're picking 3008x1692, HiDPI mode is doubling that resolution which means it is internally rendering your desktop at 6016x3384 and then BetterDisplay is scaling that back down to your monitors 3840x2160. If you're not using BetterDisplay then it may be something specific to your monitor which is making that resolution available as HiDPI.
 
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