Problem with resolution and proper scaling on MacBook Air M4

robnich wrote:

On my MacBook Air M4 the default resolution, as seen in System Settings under Display, is 1470x956 not 1280x832. The screen is sharp and crisp at the default setting. MacOS Sequoia 15.3.2

Here's where things get "interesting".

Apple originally always chose LCD panel resolutions, and default Displays {Preferences/Settings} resolutions, so that there was exact 2x Retina scaling. E.g., 27" 2560x1440 pixel iMacs gave way to 27" 5120x2880 pixel ones where the default Displays Preferences setting was Retina "looks like 2560x1440" mode.

Thus text size stayed the same, and scaling was exact (one large pixel mapped to a 2x2 grid of small ones).

The MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2015) was the first to break the mold. All of Apple's 13" and 15" notebook computers from the previous few years had at least 1280x800 pixels worth of 'workspace' at default settings … even after taking Retina scaling modes into account.

That MacBook's screen only had 2304x1440 pixels. A default based on exact scaling would have offered merely 1152x720 pixels worth of 'workspace'. Apple set the default to 1280x800; i.e., they gave up having exact scaling be the default, probably so that applications designed to assume that there were 1280x800 pixels of workspace (or more) would look OK on the screen.

Since then, Apple has sometimes chosen to crank the default setting for Retina screens – especially the ones on Mac notebooks – up a notch from exact scaling, in favor of greater workplace.

That 1280x832 mode is probably Retina 1280x832 mode, in which

• Things are sized as if the resolution was 1280x832 pixels
• Drawing takes place on a (2x1280)x(2x832) pixel canvas, i.e., a 2560x1664 pixel canvas
• The contents of the 2560x1664 pixel canvas are displayed on the 2560x1664 pixel screen

If you run System Information ( > System Information…) and click on the Graphics/Displays sidebar item, you can get a more complete picture of what is going on. E.g., I'm running a 27" 4K display in Retina "looks like 2560x1440" mode, and this is what I see in System Information:

Note the difference between the "UI Looks like" (which corresponds to System Settings > Display) and the drawing canvas "Resolution".

If your MacBook Air is indeed running in a Retina mode where the internal canvas "Resolution:" exactly matches the native resolution of the LCD panel, I don't know why you would be seeing fuzzy text.

You should be seeing very sharp text, as each letter shape would be drawn using 4x as many pixels as are available on an actual 1280x832 display.

lyudmil16 wrote:

So, Mac uses the full resolution of the screen, even in settings the default is 1280x832?

If you're in a Retina mode where the nominal Displays Setting resolution is at least 1/2 of the LCD panel resolution in each direction, yes.

If you selected "1280x832 (low resolution)", the Mac wouldn't take full advantage of the screen. But I believe you would need to display all resolutions as a list to even see the "(low resolution)" choice. (Yes, you could select it – but why would you want to do so?)

lyudmil16 wrote:

I’m sorry! This is my first Mac computer.

The Retina modes are something that Apple doesn't explain very well.

Basically, when high-PPI displays were new, Apple chose a design that offered better compatibility with legacy applications, at the cost of additional complexity.

Apple being Apple, they try to hide that complexity, even though in this case it might be to their advantage to acknowledge it, and tell you up-front in Displays Settings that the 1280x832 is for sizing and that the drawing actually is going to take place at 2560x1664.

A lot of Windows PC users see that Displays Settings resolution and assume that it is the canvas resolution – because on Windows, it would be.

If the picture looks as fuzzy in real life as it does in that photo, you may want to take the MacBook Air to an Apple Store or an Apple Authorized Repair Facility and see if there is some hardware issue.

That does not look like the sharpness I would expect. It is almost as if the computer is drawing the pixels properly for the selected mode, but there is some issue causing the entire screen to be out of focus. I don't know what the possible issue might be – but it might be worth having someone check to see if there is one.

Sorry, but I don't see how all that bears on the fact that the OP stated "the picture looks fuzzy" at the default resolution of 1280x832 and I simply pointed out that the default was actually 1470x956 and at that settings the screen is sharp and type is easy to read. Perhaps the OP should try it.

On my MacBook Air M4 the default resolution, as seen in System Settings under Display, is 1470x956 not 1280x832. The screen is sharp and crisp at the default setting. MacOS Sequoia 15.3.2