macOS 4K Scaling Explained: The TRUTH About Quality And Performance!

[@mafi8000]

I was literally looking for a new monitor for my Macbook right now, and the 4k scaling issue was still a big question mark. And then your video came online, what a fortunate coincidence!

[@ErikGT]

Yeah me too

[@ValdemarDeMatos]

Coincidence would be that none of the thousands of viewers of this video were looking for a new monitor 😅

[@himashakurera]

@@BozBundalo what's about the scaling? is that sharp?

[@chidorirasenganz]

@@himashakurera not unless you’re running it at a 1080p equivalent vs 1440p equivalent for a 5k display

[@ngamsomset]

@@chidorirasenganz that's correct. I scale mine on 1080p as well.

[@smajdovamanka]

A thing to note - the text rendering quality on non-retina displays degraded when Apple removed sub-pixel antialiasing. It was hidden from the settings in Mojave and removed entirely in Big Sur. The scaling wasn't an issue beforehand, you could use a 1366x768 display and it would have nice, sharp text. It was my favourite MacOS feature and they didn't bother to support it because with Retina displays it's not needed. But if you have a 3rd party monitor with less DPI than ~220, it doesn't look as good anymore. This is of course a separate issue than the performance. I never noticed a difference running scaled resolutions. But the font rendering thing bothers me a lot as a webdev. Such a dickmove from Apple. Kyle says the difference is not noticeable, which may be true if you're on 4k 27", but on 32" it's not. The text looks like garbage, it's blurry, the whole thing is embarrassing considering Jobs was about nice typography. More info: www.howtogeek.com/358596/how-to-fix-blurry-fonts-on-macos-mojave-with-subpixel-antialiasing/ news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17477526

[@lukestrat93]

True story!!

[@emilemouannes2236]

32 4K here. Text was blurry. I returned the MacBook Air m2 and went back to my windows machine. Night and day difference.

[@mrjellow]

I've been using Macs since '06. This will be my last Apple computer. Apple was always a nuisance when it came to removing features but lately it really feels like you are trapped in a very very expensive cage. 'Oh you want an external monitor for your 2000 dollar MPB?'' Buy our 1500 dollar display..without a stand'. Think different, think Windows.

[@smeyichou3514]

I was considering buying a Mac Mini with a 4k ultrawide, around 32 or 34 inch. So you're telling me either I should go with a 27 inch 4k monitor, or a 5k monitor?

[@hydrolifetech7911]

I was viewing some code on 32 inch monitor and I was flabbergasted. The code didn't make sense. Only after hours of trying and failing did I view it on Macbook's screen and noticed all the - signs I was seeing on the 32 inch were all =signs! Ridiculous!

[@csimet]

Nice overview. Being a photographer, I picked my iMac 5K to give me as much room to work at 1::1 density and added a 4K LG to my MacBook for the same reasons. I needed the ability to zoom to 100% 1::1 resolution to edit and apply sharpening correctly. Having said that, I wish Apple would allow independent text scaling (2x, 4x, etc.) along with the display scaling... it can be a pain on those monitors to see menus, fly-outs and panels since they can be very small on those high density displays. It usually means working closer to the monitors than most would typically do so.

[@eoinkirwan3147]

Exactly, just give us text scaling please!!

[@AaronFigFront]

maybe third party apps like better display can help? it can create dummy display with or with HiDPI at different resolution.

[@Ed_Mann]

One thing is for sure, OS functionality that helps their customers isn’t going to come from Apple. The recently announced new Apple credo is “DEAL WITH IT. Suckers”

[@maekloev]

Very thorough explanation on how scaling works on macOS. Certainly the best I’ve encountered so far. Very well presented - thanks a bunch! 👏

[@otherother8664]

It is im looking for a good not great moniter without paying $1599 but the only down side for that is 60 hz for me so much money should have everything i need in it

[@trungdaivlog]

With scale factor of 1.5 -> blurry at border of texts. I would rather take a 27" 2K monitor

[@chrisleedesignstudio]

Thanks Kyle! I appreciate your well-researched content and the high production value of this video. I’m a graphic designer working on a mac mini m1 and am so happy I found your channel. I’m thrilled about buying the 27” 4k monitor and scaling to enlarge the interface so I can actually see the menu. I also appreciate the many helpful viewer comments. Generating great engagement like this portends much success for your channel! Way to go!

[@wahyuichsanfauzi7092]

hi @chrisleedesignstudio, do u successfully scale the app interface size, macOS text, and icon size? if u did it, may you share it to me, cause i've just bought 27" 4k and i've a problem with the small text in all apps. Thank youu

[@cvdavis]

@@wahyuichsanfauzi7092 I just bought a 27" Dell U2723QE monitor and I use the scale that he says in the video that most people (himself included) use. That's 2560x1440. Using the native 4k resolution made everything with the GUI (graphic user interface) way too small. I assume you have that figured out by now.

[@Ben77769]

I’ve been researching this topic for the last couple of weeks and found so many different answers. Thank you so much for clearing this messy topic up once and for all, excellent video! 🙏👏👌

[@inv3st_eth839]

How it would show on external display if i buy 32 inch 4k display and downgrade it to 1080p ?

[@TripleIProductions]

​@@inv3st_eth839did your figure this out?

[@jasras5003]

@@inv3st_eth839 I think the larger the screen gets at the same resolution, the worse it will look. E.g. Text and stuff in theory should look way sharper on a 27" 4k monitor downscaled at 1080p than it would on a 32" 4k monitor downscaled at 1080p.

[@WasabiNoise]

Amazing explanation! I'm an iOS software developer and I used scaled 4K monitors for years with no issues although I have to say that I want to go to a the Apple 5K display because I never find a scaling that I like when it comes to text/UI rendering size. The issues I'm running into are more about software, for instance DaVinci Resolve, sometimes it does something strange where the fullscreen mode doesn't fill the entire screen (looking like a 1080p native overlay). DaVinci also loses the ability to use two screens mode, and if you move the window, you cannot get passed a certain point vertically. All this lead me to believe there's an issue that is triggered when using scaling. And yep, I can resize the screen to 4K native or 1080p retina, and it fixes the problem. So there could be that people is running into bugs that are triggered at some point (I still don't know how to properly replicate on DaVinci to report it).

[@pricejs87]

I wish I would have seen this video earlier. I wasted way too much time and mental energy stressing about this issue. Thank you for making this plain and clear!

[@zr0dfx]

Great video on a topic I am very interested in since I just bought 2 27" 4k panels for my m1 pro. I have to say I have used the scaling option and everything is working just fine. No slow downs or anything.

[@Tonellacam]

You scaled down to 1440 from your 4k computers , im about to buy a 4k 27 maybe I should just buy a 1440 asus pro art instead of the 4k , im gonna plug my M1 Max for video editing

[@ElayneOkaya]

@@Tonellacamwhat did you eventually decide on?

[@georgemalczynski]

I'm also using a M1 Pro Macbook, I was given a fairly high quality 4k display and it has been fine so far.

[@Ed_Mann]

@@Tonellacamthat’s what I’d do.

[@Ed_Mann]

@@georgemalczynskiI think success or struggle in that configuration is largely dependent on how GPU intensive your work is. Video you’ll perceive lag, photo editing lag will be there but it may not be noticable to you. Pedestrian tasks, whatever your system yiekds, you’ll think of as normal.

[@raghavbhalla177]

So I recently switched to the M2 Mac Mini Pro from a Windows System and this blurry text was making me go nuts on my LG 27UK650 (4K 27" Monitor).. After few hours of searching found two possible solutions. 1st being "defaults write -g CGFontRenderingFontSmoothingDisabled -bool NO" command (in terminal) that aims to ENABLE subpixel antialiasing in MacOS universally. 2nd being "defaults -currentHost write -g AppleFontSmoothing -int 0" that aims to DISABLE font smoothing entirely. I tried the 2nd option first and OMG. The difference is of night and day.. In fact to afraid to give the 1st option a try now as the text looks EXACTLY how it does on my Windows PC with the same monitor while in 4k. Hope this helps someone as this issue was truly sucking the joy of getting a new system :( Another thing, I was using the 2560x1440 scaling (2nd box on the latest MacOS). The cable I am using is a thunderbolt to Display Port one, on HDMI the issue was much worse although I haven't tried it on HDMI post the terminal trick that worked. EDIT: So I asked GPT why 2nd command worked for me. Here is the summary.. I stated M1 Mac Mini just for reference as M2 just came out lol: ["The effect of font smoothing can greatly vary based on the type of display, its resolution, and even specific models of computers and monitors. The AppleFontSmoothing feature is primarily designed to improve text legibility on low-resolution displays, such as non-Retina screens, by adding extra pixels to the edges of characters to make them appear smoother. However, on high-resolution displays, such as your 4K monitor, font smoothing can sometimes have the opposite effect, making text look blurry or shadowed. This is because high-resolution displays already have a high enough pixel density that the individual pixels are not distinguishable to the naked eye, so adding extra pixels to the edges of characters can just muddy the image. When you set AppleFontSmoothing to 0, you effectively disabled font smoothing. This allows the text to be rendered more crisply on your high-resolution display, which in your case, resulted in a better visual outcome. It's also worth noting that the M1 chip uses Apple's own graphics architecture, which might handle text rendering differently than the Intel chips used in older Macs. This might be another factor in why disabling AppleFontSmoothing worked well for your M1 Mac Mini."] ^^ Pretty much sums it up as I was wondering why something that is designed to improve the visibility of fonts is having an adverse effect for me!

[@josefrogoschewsky6458]

Excellent video - really enjoy your explanation of scaling vs performance and your overall video style, great job.

[@Vincent_Roy]

Thanks for the video. I have been using a Viewsonic VP-2768 4K for a year now on my M1 Mac Mini connected in DP on a thunderbolt hub, and noticed no issues.

[@awwwtomotive]

Wow I just found your comment and I will buy the same monitor as yours today 😂

[@jasras5003]

@@awwwtomotive How's it going with your Viewsonic?

[@IsaacFromHK]

From my experience, the scaled performance thing doesn't really affect M1 chipset much, but if you use an intel mac, and try to watch some video at scaled resolution, you will see the GPU usage jumps up pretty high and the fan starts to kick in. that is true when I compared this on my 2017 macbook pro 15 inch vs the Mac mini m1

[@gamervmid]

Yeah! The same story with my MBP 15 2018 😢

[@UTJK.]

I have a 16" Intel... it got really slow if used at scaled resolution. No problem with the M1.

[@ricarmig]

Well on my M1 Mac Mini if I move a lot windows, 3D ... I notice some slowdown. On native nothing at all.

[@frostgodx]

every computer no matter the chipset will start heating up playing 1440 or higher video its just the nature of rendering video to the monitor even with any M1 (my m1 max 32 core even gets to 65c from 40c resting temp when watching a 4k video.

[@RNFedit]

@@UTJK. so what’s the best resolution for mac intel?

[@artscopemedia]

Finally someone made a concise, well researched video to address such a serious Apple Mac screen display issue. There are a few other videos related to this issue and they certainly contain a lot of scare-mongering misinformation. This video hits the nail on the head. As a video editor, plus grading footage means I am using a 5K Mac Display plus a 4K Display as dual monitors with my Mac Studio. Thank you. 🙂

[@visualstudiosproductions]

How? 5k imacs can't be used as external displays. There is no other "5k mac display". Do you mean the apple studio display?

[@tgilbert4319]

@@visualstudiosproductions Yes, that would be what Dion meant. They are running a Mac Studio that has no built in display. The only 5K external displays available now are the Apple Studio Display and (maybe still available) LG Ultrafine.

[@lenguyenphi]

Yeap, I work on both Windows and Mac and I've been hesitating to buy a 32 inches 4k monitor or save for the 32 inches XDR whichs is ridiculously expensive until I have to buy it for my wfh office. Man I can say that I was being happy from day 1 until now. Windows and MacOS both displayed great on my LG 32UN650 which is 1/3 the price of the XDR's 1000$ stand!!! I can confirm that all Kyle say is correct!!!

[@tomhollett]

@@lenguyenphi What display settings do you use on your LG in terms of scaling size and HDR? I'm trying to decide the sweet spot for my LG 32UN650 on a Mac Studio M2 for photo and astrophotography editing.

[@jayel27]

As someone who has been using dual 4K monitors since 2015 and recently went triple monitor setup I can confirm that the scaling is a huge problem on intel macs and less so on my M1 mini and even less in my M1 Max Studio Max… for now anyways. Webex, google meet and zoom kill the machine and force me to disconnect a display and switch to 1080p in order to stay on a call. Even more so if I’m trying to screen share. When I work on my 34” 1440p ultrawide I have zero issues with performance. Same scenarios run smooth. That’s in a 2019 15” MBP with 32gb of ram and two GPUs. Go 5k or 1440p. It will future proof your setup. Trust what apple is doing. They’ve optimized their machines well as well as scaling.

[@sagunmdr]

1440p 60hz or 1080p 120hz?

[@jayel27]

@@sagunmdr if you are on 27” monitors, 1440p. You can find some with higher refresh rates. I have one that is 75hz. But I don’t game so if you do, I’d imagine you want higher. But 1440p if you are using it for work and creative. If you are gaming, get the best your machine handle. I don’t use 1080p on 27” as the UI is too large. Not good for the work I do.

[@myrealusername2193]

@@sagunmdr if you’re at anything above 24”, then go 1440p. macOS is (despite apple’s attempts) not really used for gaming so a super high refresh rate is less important than resolution.

[@moshcorerider]

I had massive problems with my old 27 Intel iMac (i5 2015) when plugging in to a second 4K panel the GPU was struggling very hard and the fans spun very high

[@ВладимирКакТуз]

@@myrealusername2193 in makos at 144hz it is much more pleasant, and accordingly more productive to work, than on clumsy 60 or 75 Hz

[@jaimin.rathod]

Thank you for making this video, it shows consideration for other users. I just got a MBP M1 Max with 32GB RAM, and I'll be using it multiple Adobe apps displaying simultaneously. I'll use a scaled resolution and see how it goes. Your explanation of the scaling was so easy to understand!

[@tutubeos]

In the end I bought the LG 40” ultrawide for my Mac Studio. Yes, in native resolution, text is too small. I’m using it scaled, no issues, its awesome! Thank you! 🙏

[@SharkBoy87]

What scaling, the 1440p? Seems very large for 40”

[@markhjones100]

Very very reassuring as someone just about to venture into the world of 4k monitors but slightly scared regarding all the performance drop off ‘noise’ circulating. Brilliantly informative. Thank you.

[@jdelgadocr]

After researching on this issue and watching other videos on this specific topic I came to the conclusion MacOS takes the info from the monitor to determine if it is "Retina capable" based on the pixel density and the target number is 220 ppi. People with 27"4K have to juggle around and play with the scaling to get something that works for them. As I was using a 23" 1080p and my objective was better image quality for my sight (instead of screen real state) I opted for a budget 24" 4K from LG which, apart of manually adjusting the color calibration, it enabled the Retina scaling by default and I didn't need any hacks. I'm using an MBA M1 8Gb with Big Sur.

[@reinercraja]

" budget 24" 4K from LG" what is the model number

[@jdelgadocr]

@ortsaslanmy 24” 4k works great. Very nice. I would like to get a 27” 4k 144hz for smoothness but M1 won’t handle that. I’ll need to get an MBP M2 Pro/Max first to have high refresh rate.

[@jdelgadocr]

@ortsaslan The 24" 4K monitor has been working like a charm. No video issues of any kind. I'm planning on my next HW upgrade already: 4K with a high refresh rate (120-144Hz) instead of the standard 60Hz. For this, I've found 2 caveats: 1 - no 23-24" 4K monitor with a high refresh rate in the market so a 27" will have to do. It would mean around 10% less PPI but it's acceptable as overall eyesight strain will be lower. 2 - The M1 family doesn't support high refresh rate video. Only from M2 onwards. Well... I was already thinking of an M2 Max 32GB anyway! 😉

[@gregfromthevaley]

I just don’t understand why Apple won’t let us change size of system font. We could use monitors native resolutions and adjust interface

[@BurnAfter8]

You’d still have a problem with file and app sizes on the screen

[@SokoladoFabrikas]

because interface design system is not a piece of water

[@joekim3902]

Windows does that already and scaling on 4k displays is an absolute shitshow

[@ellandill]

@@joekim3902 fonts on windows looks a way better on 27'' 4k than on mac, even comparing same applications like chrome or evernote

[@michaelriga6431]

@@ellandillAgreed! I have a 4k LG Ultrafine on WIndows everything looks a lot better. Even SuperHuman looks better!

Can't agree with you. Scaling has impact on the performance and it's clearly visible e.g. in Blender when you rotate some complicated model in the viewport. You can also just open same model in the viewport and then open also the preferences window. Next, try to move this preferences window over the viewport. You will see how low fps it is in scaled mode comparing to the native 4k. It may not be noticeable when web browsers, text editors, some IDE or other less demanding apps are used. Usually I use scaled mode most of the time, and switch to native 4k when working with graphics. Of course the better machine you have, the less you see this problem. I have MacBook Air M1 16/512 and it is quite noticeable even when switching desktops with lot of windows open.

[@ashatron656]

Agreed. On a mac m1 pro I noticed text legibility was noticeably worse at "looks like 1440p" vs 100% or 200% scaling.

[@zoltangacsi5331]

@@ashatron656m1 max. Same here

[@Eric_Elephant]

Would it be wise to simply buy a 1440p

[@justalostlocal]

​@@Eric_Elephantheard that 1440p monitor has mushy text. I use discord a lot. It would drive me crazy.

[@kumardeepanshu8503]

Bro should I by 2k or 4K , I am very confused,

[@Aspireonthego]

Thanks for the awesome and in-depth explanation! I have a 27" 4K monitor hooked up to my top spec macbook pro 16" 2019 and have not noticed any performance hit, scaled at 1440p. Under most tasks, I don't even hear the fans spin up.

[@martinwoodfilms]

Same here

[@samaelmorningstar8737]

which monitor do you have?

[@Aspireonthego]

@@samaelmorningstar8737 Dell u2720qm

[@Aspireonthego]

@@samaelmorningstar8737Dell u2720q

[@mrsin666]

I really like your real-world approach to your testing, although you‘ve missed a pretty important point in regards to 3D rendering performance: as long as you‘re rendering something like cinebench where you‘re outputting a specific resolution, of course there‘s no change in performance because the workload is literally the same. When you‘re rendering a 1080p image, you‘re always rendering a 1080p image no matter the scaling. Now if you take a look at realtime rendering performance, like the blender viewport, you will definitely see a performance impact because the viewport is rendering at a resolution based on your internal resolution. So 1x scaling renders at the displays native 4k resolution while something like 1.5x renders at an internal 5k resolution which will demand a lot more from the GPU. With simple scenes not a big deal. But when your scene becomes more complex, that impact will become increasingly noticeable.

[@iamdragonetta]

Why not use a 5k monitor instead of a 4k monitor, if the 1.5x renders at an internal 5k resolution?

[@axelsfirst]

@@iamdragonetta Either price of buying one or maybe quality od displays, 5k monitors do not have true HDR, like QD-LED monitors, so they could be much better for watching movies.

[@markeissler]

@@iamdragonetta Where are these 5k monitors coming from? There is only one 5k option right now: Apple Studio Display. That's the whole problem. The world has settled on 4k monitors (and the occasional 8k) but Apple has settled on 5k and 6k monitors. What sucks more is that Apple has decided to only offer one choice at each resolution.

[@chidorirasenganz]

@@markeissler LG has their 5k monitor as well but 4k is usable on smaller displays such as the old Intel 21.5in iMac and the new M1 24in iMac. As far as other options I’m sure they are coming sooner than later

[@smashedlegends]

@@markeissler 27 inch from Apple is not an option. Its way too small to be an option.

[@caedenisviral]

extremely underrated youtuber, going off the quality and video information alone, I would’ve assumed you had over a million subscribers. Keep up the good work man 👍

[@foronefilms]

I'm running a MacBook Pro M2 Max in clamshell with (2) Dell 27" 4K external monitors set at 1920x1080 (HiDPI). Works well for my purposes. Crispy display and no performance issues. Toggle the "Show all resolutions" setting to select HiDPI mode.

[@berndnuel508]

Same / prefer also $K 27" Dell

[@MCName115]

Thank you so much!! I'm upgrading from 2k due to blurry texts to 4k to solve it and now I found out about virtual scaling and as I found out after watching your video there are so many missinformation abou this online. Thanks a lot for this video.

[@delsurmusic]

Hello Kyle, finally a video that clearly explains this scaling thing. I even went to the Apple store and ask to the specialist and he just did not have a good answer. Thank you very match for your time and efforts!

[@pushpdeeppandey]

Thank you! I didn't find this to be an issue either but heard so many youtubers make a hue and cry about it. Frankly if I'm using a larger 4k display, I definitely need the extra space it comes with where I can see more of the panels or place more program windows alongside as the need be. So while I will continue doing what I was doing, at least after seeing this video, I'll be more at peace about the overall performance hit. Thanks for testing this out and sharing your thoughts here!

[@Jared-Pace]

Great video. The question I keep coming back to is if I’m going to scale a 4k display to 1440 why not just buy a native 1440 display?? Perhaps I’m missing something but I don’t see the value in a 4k display if I’m scaling it to a non native resolution. Personally I DO see a difference in image crispness when using scaled resolutions.

[@ChillumT]

I totally agree with you. I also see the difference. I use a native 1440p monitor at work for the same reason.

[@SR-mm2wz]

Because a 4K display scaled to 1440 looks sharper (depending on your eye sight) than a native 1440 panel. When you scale the 4K it virtually creates a 5k display and then halves it. I have a 4K 27 LG display and a 1440 27 LG display and I can easily see the difference in sharpness with both set to 1440. You seem to be saying this isn’t the case for you and you see better sharpness at native 1440p than retina 1440p (5k halved)?

[@ChillumT]

@@SR-mm2wz Yes. Maybe sharpness is a difficult thing to explain. Let me say like this. 4k look more “blurry”. Where 1440p looks more sharp though, with less pixels. And also scaling throughout all applications is correct.

[@SR-mm2wz]

@@ChillumT sounds ideal then. I don’t get how a lower PPI can ever look sharper than a higher PPI but you got to use what works best for you.

[@SR-mm2wz]

@@ChillumT just to double check you are upscaling to 5k first and then back down to 1440, you aren’t just scaling 4k down, as in that case I agree it world look worse and would prefer native 1440p.

[@classicaloracle]

I have been looking around for many weeks to find a definitive answer to this after deciding the Apple Display was not for me. You have cleared up a lot of concerns. Thank you! Subscribed.

[@ZR1Terror]

So did you get this display?

[@DaleC1980]

That was so helpful. I have a mac mini with a samsung 32 inch 4k. I scaled it to 3200x1800. I liked the scaling size but it still looked scaled. I thought it was still 4k but making it look bigger. So I took a screenshot and realized it was 4x. So now I just set it to native 4k and manually adjusted screen elements such as the menu bar size, the dock and desktop icons as well as the Safari text size.

[@MonicaRubio]

wish you could do a tutorial or something because i have a macbook air with a samsung 32 inch 4k and i genuinely hate using it bc of how laggy it is

[@jspring86]

Great video man!

[@avicreates]

Excellent! subbed! High quality detailed production!

[@HusainU]

Just bought a 4k monitor(Samsung ur55, 4k, 28') and running it off an m1 air 8gb. No issues so far, I use it mainly for school work and software development.

[@davidrenoz]

I have the same setup, and I'm finding the text blurred

[@mrasquaretech]

He did a video no one asked and I’m so glad he did that. Very informative.

[@SteveW60ish]

Just revisited this from a year ago. It is so well explained and illustrated that IMHO it is the "go-to" V;og on the internet for this question/matter/explanation! Thanks again - very well done and as preofessional as it gets!

[@luxdealer]

Great video, professionally done, very factual and generally pleasant person :)

[@WineWorldTV]

I have a Late 2015 iMac 27 and an LG 27MU58-B 27" monitor. I've had this setup for 5 years. For many years I ran the monitors at a resolution higher than 1440p thinking it would be better. I saw a similar video a couple years ago explaining basically the same thing and switched to 1440p for both monitors. Other than a brightness difference and a slight color difference, the LG monitor looks just as sharp as the iMac. Yeah, I could pixel peep and see a difference, but the reality is for 95-99% of the work I do, it doesn't matter. For video editing, I use the iMac to make sure my colors are good, but otherwise, it doesn't matter which monitor I'm using. Great video.

[@frostgodx]

you can easily tell a difference between 5k running at half (1440) vs a 1440 display at native res once your used to the 5k though which is what annoys most people. You see the same things in windows laptops people cry about the 1080 screens looking like crap but love a 4k screen running at 200% scale the same 1080 just because you don't see the pixels.

[@murdockscott]

I had been shopping for a new monitor to replace my aging Apple Thunderbolt and had landed on the Dell U3223QE as a possible choice but could never find one being demonstrated anywhere. I tried looking for information online but was continually warned off because of the “dreaded Apple upscaling performance hit”! I witnessed many people calling others foolish for even considering a 4k monitor, mostly based on a video made by a seemingly well meaning young man who was very vague about the specifications of the gear and workflow he was basing his opinions on. I was dubious due to my several decades of experience as a digital artist, creative director and purchaser of gear for art departments. It just seemed like something else was going on. Like maybe he was using a low powered Mac mini or worse yet an older Intel based computer with integrated graphics. Since the Apple Studio Display did not seem like a good deal to me and I really wanted a 32 inch so I could sit back a bit from the monitor with my aging eyes, the Dell seemed perfect. I am very glad I ignored all those people insisting that it would cause technical heartache to hook a 4k monitor up to an Apple Studio Max! I purchased the Dell and it has been GREAT! Thank you so much for working to dispel this nonsense. I wish this video had existed back when I was looking, it would have quickly put my mind at rest and made me feel less crazy about my inherent belief that the information must have been overblown.

[@imtony]

I’m also planning for a monitor. Does it give the retina look at 3840x2160?

[@Kergari]

Does the text seem blurry on screen?

[@murdockscott]

@@imtony I would say that it’s very subjective and difficult to answer, all I can say is that I am very happy with mine. 😀

[@murdockscott]

@@Kergari Not to me, but keep in mind that I am an older person with aging eyes, plus I am not doing coding or other text-centric tasks. I took a risk and ordered mine sight unseen, and I have been very happy. I have started seeing them at places like Micro Center, maybe you can check one out before purchasing theses days. 🤷‍♂️

[@cesarbernal9789]

Thanks Kyle, after a lot of research your video finally clarifies things to me!

[@oleksandrkalietnik982]

Thanks!

[@KyleErickson]

Thank you!

[@sudZAYNsu]

For those who are still wondering which monitor to buy for Mac then go for 5k monitors if you have budget or go for 4k monitors, your last option should be 2k monitors. On 4k monitor you can just scale down to 1080p for Retina like display quality or scale down to 1440p which looks a bit better than the native 1440p display. I’ve tested both 4k and 2k monitors on mac. I preferred 4k monitor over 2k. Currently I own Asus Proart Pa279CV 4K Monitor. I bought it for editing purpose, colors look very accurate out of the box as it has Delta E < 2. It’s mentioned as 10bit monitor but it’s actually 8bit + FRC. Anyway I am very happy with my decision.

[@TripleIProductions]

Doesn't size matter here too? Will there be a difference between 27" and 32"?

[@sudZAYNsu]

@@TripleIProductions 27inch 4k seems to work fine for me. Haven’t tried 32 inch.

[@TheGabriel75011]

Hi there! I'm hesitating in choosing a 27' 4K monitor, would you know why you chose the Asus vs a Dell or other? Thanks 🙏

[@sudZAYNsu]

@@TheGabriel75011 Its been over 3 months since I bought 4k 27 inch Asus Proart Monitor and I don't have any regrets. 27inch is perfeect size for me. However I noticed that 4k monitor use a bit more resources of graphics and RAM so make sure you havecomputyer with good specification.

[@Ed_Mann]

@@TripleIProductionsyes.

[@TrutherTalk]

Thank you for this video. It was pleasantly surprising, and informative.

[@johnaistrup9250]

Thank you! Just what I needed to watch to understand scaling on my Mac! Cheers! Great video!

[@cvdavis]

Great analysis and clear explanation. I came back to watch it a second time when I was again considering which monitor to upgrade to for my Mac mini 2

[@rubenj3128]

Noone talks about DisplayPort vs HDMI, but that also makes big difference. I had blurry texts as well when I got a 4k and QHD connected simultaneously, but resolved it by using a USB-c to Display Port cable instead of HDMI.

[@dallas88b]

Thanks Kyle. Another great video. Needed a proper video addressing this topic 👍

[@mondotv4216]

My big question I don't think was answered? Is it only scaling the UI objects or is everything scaled? Video for example still appears to be 4K but if it's not what exactly is the point of buying a 4K monitor for the Mac?

[@EternalHappinessAnytime]

Thanks for clearing this up for me!!!

[@akin242002]

Thanks for this video. QHD seems to be the best choice monitor for those that cannot afford a $3k 5k iMac or Apple 5k Monitor in general.

[@grics667]

Excellent video - as always!

[@socialwill]

I think 5k 27” or 32” is a good sweet spot for the Mac as it can give you a good sharp image, but be easy for macOS to scale. For me I would like to see a 5k 32” with a higher refresh rate of 120.

[@murtadha96]

Untill a new type (or revision) of connector comes out, nothing can handle that much bandwidth.

[@socialwill]

@@murtadha96 TB5 is looks to give us that bandwidth

[@niter43]

@@murtadha96 DisplayPort 2.0 can support 5k@159Hz with 10 bit color, without DSC

[@maulerjan]

@@niter43 Yeah, I wish there was a monitor that could run 5k@120+hz 😭

[@PEMAMETAL]

The 5k 27" is ideal for mac, so as 21.5" 4k. The 5k 32" is not because it has 183 PPI. The important thing is to keep around 220PPI, otherwise text will look very big with the 2x factor scaling that will be suggested as default by macOS. In order to have a regular text size you will have to choose a scaling factor that is not 1x or 2x, making macOS work harder the same way a 4k 27" does when chosen 1440p resolution

[@rtermini]

Great information... I was about to get a 5k monitor which is very expensive... but I now will get the much better deal 4k monitor.

[@bryans8656]

Thanks for this explanation, it helped me understand why the ASUS ProArt 2K monitor I use with my Mac desktop scales so well.

[@Scolio]

Thats the 300 dollar one right? Im trying to find a display that will work with the mac mini Im getting out of the box and that one claims “mac support” which I would hope means it doesnt need any special treatment to look good

[@bryans8656]

@@Scolio Yes, that's the one. You won't have to do anything special to set it up with your mini. Just plug in the HDMI cable and the power cable and you're good to go.

[@avi_g]

Hi do you still like it? I am confused about the whole 4k vs 1440p thing and idk if the text on that one will be too blurry.

[@kokodoug90]

This was the perfect video for my question I had. Thanks!

[@vasileandreicalin2685]

I got a mb pro 16 2019 with 16gb ram and i7 and sometimes my mac slows down a lot with 2 4k monitor and the scaling to 1440p. With the new silicon chips maybe it's not an issue but with my config sometimes gives me problems... I wish i had bought 2 qhd monitors and not 4k or even a super ultra wide .

[@jochenretter]

Thank you Kyle, you made my worries vanish and saved me a lot of time.

[@JeffreyGVny]

This was very helpful. Thanks for the in-depth analysis!

[@Li_Qifei]

Nice explanation! But I still have this question related to scaling. Say I have macOS scaled to 1440p on a 4k screen and when I play a 4k video fullscreen will that be scaled down or native 4k? Thanks!

[@Minsetti]

The real resolution of your display is still 4K no matter the scaling so the video plays at 4K. The scaling just makes the UI elements look like they are the same size than on a 1440p display.

[@alastairclarke]

I just got a MacMini M2 Pro and a Dell 4K monitor (S3221QS). I hate it. I have it at 2560x1440 to get decent resolution but it is not NEARLY as crisp as my old 2017 iMac. In your video, at 0:54 you have the Display settings and I see the options at the top. I don't get that for the Dell. It only gives me the resolution. Is that a Dell thing? Do Dell screens just not work as well with Macs compared with LG???

[@marvinisrael1671]

Very reassuring; thanks. I have a MAC Mini M4 Pro and a BenQ PD 3225U monitor on order, and I started worrying about the choice of monitor after reading comments here and there.

[@jettlaggg]

This cleared out a lot of things I had in mind. Thank you so much!

[@marekgitarzysta5193]

The best explanation I could find - good job!

[@alex-pattison]

Great video! Helps demystify the topic.

[@moderndaybeatlefan]

This video helped me out a lot! Thanks for this.

[@SulemanKhan-kn9mj]

From what i understand its if you have 4k montior better to go with 1080p resolution, yes you will have less space but it will look good and if you need extra space then either go with native 2k where text will be blury compare to 4k with 1080p or if you have budget then go for 5k so can you can use at 2k resolution

[@dario3765]

Congratulations on the quality of your analysis!

Thanks, Kyle, for the amazing video review about 4K resolution. I was really confused before I watched your video, and now it's much better.

[@TheGabriel75011]

Best video of this topic and great community in the comments too Thanks a lot

[@ProgramistaNaBudowie]

Thanks man for explaining that!

[@brantlers]

A question I haven't been able to find an answer to: I want to add a monitor to run a second screen off my 27" 5k iMac setup. Am I going to run into a problem running a different scale on the second monitor?

I know this is a video from a year ago. But recently I got a M3 Max with 128GB of RAM and I started using Blender. The issue I have upscaling in my laptop to have more "real estate" is that moving through the 3D view and adjusting and moving objects in real time and making adjustments and duplicating... can be noticeable slower. Enough for me to start seeing the difference. Without upscaling it goes like butter smooth, with upscaling it goes "ok" but definitely more annoying if you are really wanting to work on a scene. So my take is. Computationally there is little different. Real time rendering and working with meshes you can feel it.

[@darrenrowley5646]

I just purchased the asus 279crv on an m1 MacBook Pro. I wanted to specifically edit photos. I saw a video with a guy saying he returned it due to the scaling issue. From using it I don’t understand what he’s talking about the text is sharp in Adobe rgb and pixel density seems fine zooming in on images. The only time I had an issue was when I switched hdr on the Mac and I got flickering when I moved the mouse in Lightroom so switched it off and it was fine. The other issue I had with text was when I put sharpness to 100% on the monitor setting and on screen the text pixalized and looked bad, so I put it back to zero and looked great again. I think people have issues with monitors because they don’t understand the monitors settings. Only thing I noticed dosnt look so good was watching Disney + hd movies and didn’t look 4K like it does on my 4K tv.

[@sfhdoan]

Glad I went with a 27" 5K. It pixel doubles at 2560x1440p. 5120x2880 native. I can't do 1980x1080 on a 27" Clear. No issues. Only problem is there are only two monitors that is 5k -- LG and Apple.

[@andersphansson]

Bought LG 5K?

[@sfhdoan]

@@andersphansson yes

[@Biker5252]

Dell used to do one… Bought it used cheap and I am very happy with it. + samsung have introduced one as well…

[@dbrewood]

I'd be interested in some advice. I was an Intel i7 Mac Mini owner and I've just upgraded to a Mac Mini M2 Pro. The monitor used with both machines in an ageing (8 years old??) Samsung S34E790C (3400 x 1400) 34" UW monitor. With the old Mini it was connected via lightning to HDMI dongle, with the new M2 Mini I'd had to switch to using HDMI as the M2 Mini 'sees' the monitor being 'switched off' when it goes to sleep. This means that when it wakes the screen any apps that are open resize / reposition to the bottom left of the screen - which drove me nuts! So I'm therefore looking for a new monitor, ideally I guess a 34" (or larger) would be preferred connected via Thunderbolt. I consume a lot of media and like to have a lot of windows open on screen so 27" is too restrictive. I've been considering the forthcoming Dell Ultrasharp 32" 6K monitor but I feel it'll be too expensive, or the 49" Samsung Odyssey G959C. I think I may be going overboard here. Also considering the 32" BenQ PD3220U 4K IPS display. I guess a 34" (or similar / larger) UW 5k display would be perfect but no ideas if such a monitor exists for a decent price? So any thoughts? Any assistance or comments would be greatly appreciated.

[@itsjfoster]

Great review! What’s a good 4k monitor you recommend for scaling? I have a Mac mini m2.

[@tamnguyenduc63]

In my opinion is Asus Pro Art

[@rsr789]

Fantastic video! Thank you for posting!

[@cinicrus]

Nice overview. Thanks dude 😊

[@EnokMadrid]

I just got the LG 40" 40wp95-w, it's a 5k2k monitor. Scaling issue is there but barely noticeable, the blurriness is minimal and I haven't had any performance issues. The default resolution makes the interface very tiny and the next native resolution without the scaling/performance warning makes the interface huge. So to hit the sweet spot I have to used a scaled resolution. Thanks for this video and all the research/ tests performed.. I feel at ease knowing I shouldn't worry about scaling issues since this monitor was a big investment.

[@Brithor]

What chip are you using? I'm looking at buying this monitor but worried my base M2 chip is not going to cut it.

[@EnokMadrid]

@@Brithor M1 Mac mini

[@markeissler]

@@Brithor Probably not a good idea. Neither is the M1 Mac mini. They just don't have the GPU processing power and I bet that for every negative review you see on KZbin or threads like this it probably comes down to: 1) I'm running an Intel Mac; 2) I'm running the most affordable base model M1/M2 MB or MBP I could find. You're likely to find better success with a native 5k monitor (the 5k2k is just a gimmick, it's 5k horizontally but it's a 4k vertically) otherwise you'll still run into needing to scale and a lesser machine just won't perform well.

[@EnokMadrid]

Mac mini, M1 with 16gb ram... I run design software with large files. Video editing. Zoom calls while presenting my screen with all design and browser software running. So far so good, I haven't had performance issues from the monitor. It's all smooth.

[@freddymiguelponce]

This is my first time in your channel. WOW! what a great video! Thanks for putting all this info in a simple way to understand Have a Productive and Healthy Day!

[@vladibarraza]

You're nearly the only one that says don't worry too much about it. This whole conundrum about native scaling gave me headaches, 'cause I didn't want my MacBook to feel sluggish. But my base MacBook Air M1 has no problem at all running a 4k 27" display monitor. Just as you said. What I mean is thank you. PD: I bought a QHD monitor, used it with better display at a HiDPI, and decided to return it for a 4k monitor.

[@zaaap0]

It won't be sluggish as probably 99% of macbook pro users dont use >80% of it's potential. But text will look bad, images are not that sharp also.

[@vladibarraza]

@@zaaap0 Before I used the app Better Display the text wasn't sharp, but that app solved those problems you mentioned.

[@francescoliguori4708]

@@vladibarraza What settings do you set in BetterDisplay? With a 27’ 1080p monitor and Macbook Air M1 8/256 with BetterDisplay's HiDPI mode I notice a significant increase in temperature.

[@vladibarraza]

​@@francescoliguori4708 I use it at 2048x1152 HiDPI, 60Hz, without any issues at all. The text is tack sharp. Your issue with temperature may be due to how macOS handles the monitor's resolution. As you know, macOS multiplies everything by two and then scales it down to half the size. So, my system thinks that my monitor is 4096x2304, which is exactly double 2048x1152. My monitor is actually 3840x2160, but if I used that resolution, the text would be too small. I don't know how to help you other than to suggest ignoring the temperature. Your computer has processors that monitor the temperature and control how high it is allowed to go without causing damage to the components.

[@GeneralLack]

Hello! I am willing to buy an external display for my mac book pro 14. Should i go for a 4k or a 1440? I am a photographer.

[@GenX_US_Marine]

2:27 that part is what I mean. Is there a setting for this or is it supposed to be automatic. This is a lot to take in, and I kind of understand it. On the rescaling info, when I try to change the display resolution from default to the next on up, or even the highest resolution which on my Mac is 3456x2234 all the text and icons are too small. Is there a way to adjust the text size without effecting the screen resolution.

[@jonatassilva5038]

I use an M1 Macbook with 4K 28" Samsung display and it looks just fantastic for me. As my work requires more coding/text and web browser usage, this is perfectly acceptable. Specially when fitting more information in the screen makes difference for productivity. Still, sometimes when the laptop returns from sleeping for a long time, it completely messes up the scaling and window position, and I have to reboot the Mac. I have no idea why

[@thinksmartstudios]

can you tell me which specific monitor you're using, I too want a monitor for web browsing and programming, as at times, this 13" display is just too small for even 3 windows to fit in.

[@MusicAlfon]

Hello! Nice video, thanks for the info. I ve been reading tons of information and posts saying that there is also a big problem with QHD ULTRAWIDE resolution (bluriness, text clarity), do you know if is true or is it the same misunderstanding as you said about 4k?

[@FireBlade57]

Finally someone explained this properly! Thanks a lot!

[@zboy1236]

Considering all of this what 4K monitor would you recomemd for my m2 pro Mac book pro budget up to £400

[@andrewchang4915]

Hi what is the website of the ppi simulator you use at 6:00 please

[@vsk.design]

FINALLY SOMEONE DID IT. Thank you, subscribed

[@mamba24boi]

My issue is that when I try to adjust my Macbook Pro M4 to it's maximum 4k resolution from the native 1512 x 982 it defaults to in display settings, I lose that scaling option you displayed in the beginning. This results in really small UI that isn't viewable. Do I need to change the resolution to get the most out of my Mac display for photo/video viewing and whatnot and if so, how do I get the scaling back?

[@jtrjammer]

Kyle, excellent video, thank you for posting. Question, if you use a WUHD display, e.g. 34” native 3440 x 1440 or 38” native 3880 x 1600 does Apple still scale this up to 5K and then down to the native resolution?

[@jcantin9491]

Thank you very much for your point of view on the subject. It has convinced me to go for a 4k monitor

[@o0alois0o]

Hello there... thank for this video! So when it comes to Blender, which 32" Monitor would you go for if you're using an M1 Max? Thanks for your help :)

[@michaelwerner5165]

Thanks. An extremely helpful video, which helps debunk myths around scaling and performance

[@grics667]

Hi Kyle! I am using a 4k monitor with my M2 Pro Mini. I would like to ask if I set the scaling to 1920x1080 or 2560x1440, will 4K videos (e.g. YT) be displayed in native 4K or in the scaled resolution? Thank you

[@RapManCZ]

And what about the power consumption of the mac with different scaling options?

[@nishilvy]

Awesome. Exactly what the doctor prescribed. Thanks so much!

[@co_jones]

great video. dude! i cant find a monitor that looks good as a second display for my macbook. Ive tired 4k and 5k monitors, etc. What would you recommend to keep the image as close to 100% as the mac? Thanks!

[@damiandej]

it seems nobody can ask to this question......

[@co_jones]

@@damiandej indeed

[@johnrohde243]

I have a Benq PD2700U 4K (KVM) monitor. For windows 10, scaling the text to 150% gives a good result and its still 4k (some applications still have tiny text though). With my Mac Mini, the text was too small at 4k. Scaling to 1440p seems perfect, although the screen doesn't have 4K realestate any more. I haven't noticed any screen quality drop at 1440p. Great color on this monitor.

[@markeissler]

In macOS, the operating system handles scaling across all applications; in Windows, each Window handles the scaling. This is one reason why Windows has had such a rough go with the transition to high dpi.

[@isblijkbaarnodig]

I have the same monitor and it’s very sharp on MacBook Pro and Mac mini m1 in native and schaled resolutions. A huge difference with 34 inch 1440 displays I used.

[@aleksey9801]

@@isblijkbaarnodig Do you have a macbook m1? I am very hesitant about which monitor I should get as on my 23 inch 1080p text is very blurry when connected to a macbook

[@markproano50]

They removed the "Larger text" options in Sequoia. What's the move now? Use the HiDPI resolutions?