MacBook Air M4 screen appears low resolution

I bought an Macbook Air M4 16/512 and started unpacking and activating it a week later.


I transferred data from my previous MBA Air M2 and immediately discovered a problem with the image quality on the screen. It feels like its resolution is significantly lower. Small fonts are poorly smoothed. White pixels are burning inside some small letters. Smoothing and the number and brightness of white pixels are enhanced when the text is written in black on a gray background.


I tried completely erasing the SSD, reinstalling MacOS from recovery mode, and activating as new. The problem did not disappear. Quality decreases and white pixels become brighter when the screen brightness is increased, especially in a well-lit room or when shining light on the light sensor.


Now I can’t contact a service center in my region. I will be able to contact them only in a couple of weeks. Is there a possibility that this is a software problem?


Photo from iPhone, and screenshot from MBA:

[Re-Titled By Moderator]



MacBook Air 13″

Posted on Apr 10, 2025 9:03 PM

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Apr 11, 2025 8:53 PM in response to vitekkk

Within the Display System Settings, try setting the first item showing "Large Text" and "More Space" to the "Default" option. And select the Refresh Rate to "ProMotion" which is the system default.


You can also create a new macOS user account. Log out of your current user account, then log into the new user account. How does it look? The new user account should have all macOS default settings.


Are you using an external display at all? Disconnect the external display to prevent it from interfering.


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Apr 23, 2025 5:43 AM in response to HWTech

Bought a second M4, same problem.


1) New account - the problem remains

2) Complete erase and reinstall macOS from recovery mode - the problem remains


This looks like a hardware problem or, perhaps, a problem with the new version of macOS on the M4. There is an M2 nearby, which has no problems in similar scenarios. I do not use an external display. I tried to switch night mode, truetone, brightness, color profiles, nothing helps. The screen frequency does not change on the MBA, only on the Pro


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MacBook Air M4 screen appears low resolution

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