5K resolution (which isn't...)

[John Emmas]

I'd been thinking about buying a new Mac Pro. One of the attractions was that (at some stage) I'd be able to use a 5K graphics monitor - but...

27" iMacs (at least, the modern ones) also supposedly support 5K. So in theory they can work at a resolution of 5120X2880. But when I had a play with the ones at my local Apple store, the highest resolution I could set was 3200x1800.

What's going on here? Why are they claiming to offer 5K resolution if they can't ??

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

I have one of the 2015 5K iMacs & here is my res details found under  ~> About This Mac~>Displays Tab

I can't seem to be able to adjust this, maybe on the 2017 models you can?

 

[John Emmas]

Hi Spawn_Dooley...

Basically, yes - even the ones in the shop were displaying the same screen that you posted. But things get a bit trickier if you try to adjust them. Go to System Preferences->Displays and select the option called Scaled.This will bring up some options for adjusting the screen size bigger or smaller. But AFAICT the highest setting is 3200x1800.

Maybe check on your own system.

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

Hi John, I've done a bit of research & have found the following:

you can manually set the resolution to make text and objects appear larger on your screen, or adjust it to make text and objects appear smaller so you have more space on your screen.

The Scaled option is to make the resolution "look" like those sizes

macOS Sierra: Adjust your display’s resolution

The default is 5k but you can make the objects on the display appear as per the other settings. It's somewhat confusing to me I must admit as I don't intend on ever altering the display settings.

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

John, try this ...

1. Open System Preferences from the  Apple menu in OS X
2. Click on “Display”
3. Under the ‘Display’ tab, hold down the OPTION / ALT key while you press on the ‘Scaled’ button alongside Resolution to reveal all available screen resolution options for the display
4. Choose the resolution desired from the complete list of available screen resolutions, then close out of System Preferences as usual

The res at the top of the list that is now revealed is the 5k default.

 

[John Emmas]

Hi Spawn_Dooly and thanks for the tip. I headed back to my local Apple store and tried it. Hey presto! It now offered me 5120x2880. For my tastes, the previous maximum (3200x1800) left everything looking too big. But when I set it to 5120x2880 I couldn't read anything (even wearing glasses!!)

No problem I thought... I'll choose an option somewhere in-between. The only problem is - there isn't one!!

My gut feeling is that on a 27" monitor, 4K resolution would be about right - but 4K isn't available. You can have the resolution too high or you can have it too small - but you're not allowed to have it right!!