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How poor is the font on a MBA (or any non-retina screen) in Mojave?

non Retina MBA - fonts are terrible as is contrast etc. Spent the last 24 hours playing with options but...still not great
 
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Do somebody has some deeper developer knowledge if it is technically possible to bring back subpixel rendering in future versions of Mojave? Hope it does....(if not HS is the last usable version of MacOS for all non-Retina Macs or Macs with non-Retina additional displays...)
 
AlexJoda said:
Do somebody has some deeper developer knowledge if it is technically possible to bring back subpixel rendering in future versions of Mojave? Hope it does....(if not HS is the last usable version of MacOS for all non-Retina Macs or Macs with non-Retina additional displays...)
Click to expand...

Apparently this fixes it:

defaults write -g CGFontRenderingFontSmoothingDisabled -bool NO

From this reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/9inu3e/if_the_font_rendering_on_mojave_looks_odd_to_you/

I want to do it, but as a Designer I want to keep my designs as consistent as possible with what users will see. Sucks that Apple did this. Font weights look completely different compared across Chrome/FF/Safari.
 
Doesn't look great on my 27" non-retina monitor (1920X1080). I also use this monitor for my work laptop (Win 7) and it looks fantastic. Not a happy camper, probably will go back to high-sierra, still deciding.
 
ugh said:
It doesn't fix it.
Click to expand...

It definitely makes the font weight thicker, but you're right it's not as crisp as it used to be. I found you dont even need to restart. Hit the command and refresh the page. You should notice the font difference.
 
wubsylol said:
I am honestly not a fan of Mojave font rendering on Retina screens either, however this is probably just down to preference and it being different generally.
Click to expand...

I have a MBP retina too, and this is extremely noticeable in some apps. Some fonts are bolder, some other are lighter. For me this is a dealbreaker (as I coder I cannot mess with the fonts).

I've spent few hours on this since I upgraded, the only solution I found was setting:

defaults write -g CGFontRenderingFontSmoothingDisabled -bool NO
... which turns the LCD subpixel anti-aliasing back on.

AND

defaults -currentHost write -globalDomain AppleFontSmoothing -int 1
... which sets the anti-aliasing weight to "light".

I use to have simply the "Use LCD font smoothing when available" setting turned on. With both of these settings it looks almost the same. Fonts are maybe slightly crispier, but with smoothing level set to 1 it's acceptable.
 
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antwan said:
I have a MBP retina too, and this is extremely noticeable in some apps. Some fonts are bolder, some other are lighter. For me this is a dealbreaker (as I coder I cannot mess with the fonts).

I've spent few hours on this since I upgraded, the only solution I found was setting:

defaults write -g CGFontRenderingFontSmoothingDisabled -bool NO
... which turns the LCD subpixel anti-aliasing back on.

AND

defaults -currentHost write -globalDomain AppleFontSmoothing -int 1
... which sets the anti-aliasing weight to "light".

I use to have simply the "Use LCD font smoothing when available" setting turned on. With both of these settings it looks almost the same. Fonts are maybe slightly crispier, but with smoothing level set to 1 it's acceptable.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this. Fonts are hugely improved now.
 
ChrisChaval said:
I will not go Mojave with my MB Air nor with my Mini which is connected to a non retina screen

what is an OS good for if you can barely read the fonts?
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My mini is also connected to a non retina screen and I’d say your last statement is a gross exaggeration.
In any case, if you can barely read the fonts, too bad. Sorry you are stuck on HS.
 
inarush said:
Jeez, it looks so blurred. I am now unsure if I want to update my non-Retina Mid-2012 MBP!
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Well,, it is a non-Retina display... I don't think your gonna see exactly the same sharpness....

When i moved away from my Retina MacBook Pro 2015, to MBA 2017, there is definitionally a difference. I put it down to retina vs non retina. and the MBA doesn't have anywhere near he number of pixels-per-inch (ppi) that Retina screens have. 227ppi on Retina,

Apple doesn't give ppi for MBA in tech specs, probably because of being non-retina its too low a figure to report... lol
 
Wando64 said:
My mini is also connected to a non retina screen and I’d say your last statement is a gross exaggeration.
In any case, if you can barely read the fonts, too bad. Sorry you are stuck on HS.
Click to expand...

I can barely read your comment which means that I did upgrade to Mojave ... ;)

Let me be clear (non pun intended): I am talking about the system fonts only here, which are visibly pixelated on non retina screens.

That plus my eyes not getting better with age make it somewhat difficult for me to read those blurry system fonts, especially when in dark mode.
 
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