Mac newbie after one week. Multiple questions

[thebart]

Hi

I've had my used M1 mini 16/512 Ventura 13.2.1 for 10 days now. I have some questions mostly MacOS related.

1) what black levels is it outputting to external monitor via HDMI? Low (16-235) or high (0-255). By experimenting it seems to be low, because setting it to high on my monitor makes it look too bright, but on low and gamma 2.2, I'm losing some shadow details. There doesn't seem anywhere that tells you what it is outputting.

2) Is there something beside

defaults -currentHost write -g AppleFontSmoothing int x

you can do to improve the font rendering? With it set zero I get pixelated and thin text. But at 1 some text looks too bold and blurry. It seems inconsistent, dependent on the size of the text, and which app. I guess the app can choose to ignore that setting? Some apps (like Warp terminal) have an option to use thin font or not. But again, turning that on makes it a little too thin, but off makes it too thick and blurry. I'm running at default res, no scaling.

On Windows, after a lot of experimenting I found just the right combo of settings in the registry to get the font to look just right by using (I think) gray antialiasing. I think the mac does that too but just a bit too much

3) there's no way to remove an app that can't be uninstalled from launchpad, correct? I can' only move it into a folder?

4) before I knew what I was doing, I was opening .dmg files and double clicking the .app inside it rather than drag the icon over to the applications icon. Is that the same thing? If I drag it to a different folder or external drive, will it install and run from there?

5) I disabled the shortcut for moving between spaces, and I cannot figure out how to restore it. I searched everywhere in Settings. Googling, I see it's supposed to be under settings > keyboard > keyboard shortcuts > expose and spaces. But I don't see an "expose and spaces" category and I went through all the categories.

6) how do I read the per app memory usage in activity monitor. Viewing all apps hierarchically, I see a top item like "google chrome" ~600MB. But then, under that, there's a bunch of child processes, and of one them, "google chrome helper" is taking up 1G+. So what's the deal? Are we supposed to add all the numbers up ourselves?

7) speaking of activity monitor, kernel task has written 8G since (I assume) boot, which sys info shows as a 1day. (I don't know if it counts sleep time). I guess that's not a lot in the grand scheme, but seems quite a bit considering I have no swap? what's it doing?

thanks in advance

 

[Nermal]

Googling, I see it's supposed to be under settings > keyboard > keyboard shortcuts > expose and spaces. But I don't see an "expose and spaces" category and I went through all the categories.

If you're referring to "Move left a space" and "Move right a space" then they're under "Mission Control" (at least on my OS 12.6 system).

 

[brookter1]

Ventura introduced a new System Settings dialogue (it used to be called System Preferences), and a few of the settings are in different places now.

On Ventura, go to System Settings and type `cmd-f` which will take you to the search bar. Typing in the name of the setting you're after and the list will narrow.

Type 'Keyboard' into the search box and you'll be give several options, one of which is 'Keyboard Shortcuts'. Highlight that in the left panel, then click on the button with the same name on the right.

This will take you to the general shortcut assignment dialogue and it's here where you'll do the vast majority of any shortcut management.

Click on Mission Control on the left, then again on the disclosure '>' next to Mission Control on the right. You can recreate the shortcuts for moving to different spaces there.

While you're there, have a look round at the other categories you can change:

- Modifier keys – many people like to change Caps Lock to Control and you can do that system-wide here (no registry hacks needed 😀)

- App Shortcuts - add your own shortcuts for menu items in any app

- Services - Macs come with tens of additional small utility programs ('Services') which are available system-wide in different categories of apps. For example, highlight a file in Finder, right click and choose Services and you'll see a list of additional actions you can take (such as opening it in Terminal, attaching it to a new email and so on). Apps often add services when they're installed. You can enable / disable services in this menu, and give them shortcuts if you want.

Finally, as a general tip in the 'I wish someone had told me this at the beginning' category, all properly behaved Mac apps (*even* Microsoft Word) come with a 'search this app for a menu item' feature. In any Mac use `cmd-shift-/` to open the Search bar in the Help menu and you'll be able to type a term. Any menus with that term will be shown and you can click on them from there (or use the arrow keys). It makes getting to know your way round a lot easier… E.g. In Safari `cmd-shift-/ Bookmark` brings up 10 candidates for you to choose from.

Sorry: I don't really have any answers for your other questions, but I hope this gives you some useful tips to be getting on with.

 

[okkibs]

Viewing all apps hierarchically, I see a top item like "google chrome" ~600MB. But then, under that, there's a bunch of child processes, and of one them, "google chrome helper" is taking up 1G+. So what's the deal? Are we supposed to add all the numbers up ourselves?

Yes you have to add them up. Browsers have switched to running each website/tab in a separate process. If one website crashes for some reason it doesn't take everything else with it. In Activity Monitor generally your best metric is the color of the pressure in the bottom left corner, green means you got plenty memory for your workload, yellow means it's close to a limit where slowdowns can happen.

2) Is there something beside

defaults -currentHost write -g AppleFontSmoothing int x

you can do to improve the font rendering?

Apple expects you to use a 4k screen, or rather a screen that can enable HiDPI resolutions in MacOS, which at 27" and up means at least 4k. MacOS is optimized for that, or rather, a few years ago support was removed to make fonts appear crisp on lower resolution screens. So if you find fonts are still blurry the issue is likely MacOS itself and the typical monitor that resolves it is any 27"-32" 4k/5k monitor where you set the scaling to "appear as 2560x1440px" or 2560x1600px if it's 16:10.

It's a fact that if you have a lower resolution monitor you will have blurry fonts on MacOS, even though the same monitor has clear fonts with Windows. It's a common complaint. Sometimes it's not very noticeable unless you have a direct comparison, so many people won't complain about it or assume it's the old monitor's fault.

7) speaking of activity monitor, kernel task has written 8G since (I assume) boot, which sys info shows as a 1day. (I don't know if it counts sleep time). I guess that's not a lot in the grand scheme, but seems quite a bit considering I have no swap? what's it doing?

kernel_task is the MacOS kernel itself. So anything happening in the file system will end up there. What it is doing is it's running your Mac.

 

[Fishrrman]

RE the terminal command:
defaults -currentHost write -g AppleFontSmoothing int x

Be sure to try ALL the available settings:
0
1
2
3
(4 total possibilities)

You need to LOG OUT and then LOG BACK IN after making any change to this setting.

Perhaps I missed it above, but WHAT MONITOR are you using?
What resolution is it?
What connection possibilities does it offer?

 

[thebart]

Thank you all for the helpful answers. I did search "space" and "spaces" in the Settings app but it did not show up. Turns out it's under keyboard > keyboard shortcuts > mission control > mission control again. There's no "expose and spaces" category. That must be from.a different OS version.

A bummer about the font. I was vaguely aware of mac's scaling thing, but did not know Apple removed support for low dpi screens w.r.t. text rendering. I still use 24" 1080p monitor because I sit close and 27" and larger screens just make me move my head around too much. Also, higher res screens make text and UI on Windows apps that don't scale properly look tiny. I imagine the same problem exists on the Mac side. MacOS gives me no scaling options for my monitor except to run in lower res, which looks ugly.

I hooked the mini up to my 65" OLED TV and it has an additional scaling option "Larger Text" (the others are smaller so no help to me). I option clicked on the monitor and it gave me options to run in lower res (no thanks). I don't see any "Like..." options. But I guess my TV is not high dpi, just high res.

It looks at this point like Mac is really not good for someone with poor eyesight. It has no arbitrary scaling (in Windows, you can scale everything up by any X%). I guess doing this makes things look not as good, but it still looks better to me than whatever mac is doing at default. The two Apple apps I use most -- Finder and Settings -- won't let me increase font size with cmd +. Finder does let me increase font size in view options -- from default 13 to 16. I feel like Oliver Twist ("could I please have some more, sir" "MORE? YOU WANT MORE?").

I realize MacOS has a bunch of accessibility options for low vision users. But my eyes aren't that bad. I don't need voice narration, nor do I want to zoom in things all the time. BTW, Windows has a useful magnifier feature that shows a magnified view for whatever is under the mouse pointer in a floating window. Useful for photoshop type apps with their tiny icons and controls. I can't find something like it in MacOS).

The default scaling is not unusable for me -- thank goodness for dark mode. It's just small enough to be tiring. The "Larger text" option I tried on the 4K OLED made things a little too large for me, ironically.

This seems like a combination of Apple making the ideal the enemy of the good and -- not coincidentally -- wanting to sell 5k displays. It's stuff like this that has made me avoid macs all these years, until they made hardware so good I could not resist. sigh.

But I'll try to buy a 4k monitor before my ebay 30 day return window expires.

Considering my situation, do you recommend a 1440p or 4k monitor? 5k is too rich for my blood. It'll probably be 27" since higher res 24" are slim picking.

thanks again. Please keep the answers and comments coming.

 

[thebart]

RE the terminal command:
defaults -currentHost write -g AppleFontSmoothing int x

Be sure to try ALL the available settings:
0
1
2
3
(4 total possibilities)

You need to LOG OUT and then LOG BACK IN after making any change to this setting.

Perhaps I missed it above, but WHAT MONITOR are you using?
What resolution is it?
What connection possibilities does it offer?

Yes, I've tried them all, logging out each time. 1-3 look the same to me. There's conflicting info on this. Some say higher number = stronger antialias, others say it's only on or off.

I have a LG 24" 1080p 60hz IPS monitor, via HDMI.

 

[BrianBaughn]

"Mac is really not good for someone with poor eyesight" is a ridiculous statement but I know what you mean about the big monitors and vision. The new multi-focus lenses I have in both eyes are fantastic but my focus points are 12", 18" and then some distance to infinity…so when I place my 27" 4K monitor (on a VESA desk mount) 36" away (behind the fronts of my nearfield audio speakers) I have some trouble. I've been meaning to get measured for glasses at that distance. When I don't mind blocking the speakers the monitor sits 20"-24" away.

I got the 4K monitor when I bought a Mac Studio. I still use the old 1080p monitor over to the side…mostly to stream TV.

Put your applications in the Applications folder as Apple and every developer expects you to. If you want to uninstall an app the best way I've found is to use an app called "AppCleaner". It gets rid of most (all, usually) of the app's related files and folders throughout the Mac. Leaving those behind won't cause issues but why not get rid of the clutter?

AppCleaner

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"I hooked the mini up to my 65" OLED TV and it has an additional scaling option "Larger Text" (the others are smaller so no help to me). I option clicked on the monitor and it gave me options to run in lower res (no thanks). I don't see any "Like..." options. But I guess my TV is not high dpi, just high res."

ummmm....
It could be me, but you're just not going to get a good image from a 65" 1080p tv.

OP also wrote:
"It looks at this point like Mac is really not good for someone with poor eyesight. It has no arbitrary scaling (in Windows, you can scale everything up by any X%)"

NOPE. WRONG.
Get yourself a 27" 4k display. Many available and they're not overly expensive (but get a GOOD one).
Then, set your display to "looks like 1080p" (1920x1080).

IF you do this, you will be AMAZED at the clarity of the display.
And yes, you'll have to learn to "move your head".
(or perhaps sit a few inches farther back from the display).

 

[thebart]

"Mac is really not good for someone with poor eyesight" is a ridiculous statement but I know what you mean about the big monitors and vision. The new multi-focus lenses I have in both eyes are fantastic but my focus points are 12", 18" and then some distance to infinity…so when I place my 27" 4K monitor (on a VESA desk mount) 36" away (behind the fronts of my nearfield audio speakers) I have some trouble. I've been meaning to get measured for glasses at that distance. When I don't mind blocking the speakers the monitor sits 20"-24" away.

I got the 4K monitor when I bought a Mac Studio. I still use the old 1080p monitor over to the side…mostly to stream TV.

Put your applications in the Applications folder as Apple and every developer expects you to. If you want to uninstall an app the best way I've found is to use an app called "AppCleaner". It gets rid of most (all, usually) of the app's related files and folders throughout the Mac. Leaving those behind won't cause issues but why not get rid of the clutter?

AppCleaner

I have damaged corneas so it's not an issue with glasses and focal points. I just don't see well.

I have app cleaner installed. I just never remember to use it lol.

OP wrote:
"I hooked the mini up to my 65" OLED TV and it has an additional scaling option "Larger Text" (the others are smaller so no help to me). I option clicked on the monitor and it gave me options to run in lower res (no thanks). I don't see any "Like..." options. But I guess my TV is not high dpi, just high res."

ummmm....
It could be me, but you're just not going to get a good image from a 65" 1080p tv.

OP also wrote:
"It looks at this point like Mac is really not good for someone with poor eyesight. It has no arbitrary scaling (in Windows, you can scale everything up by any X%)"

NOPE. WRONG.
Get yourself a 27" 4k display. Many available and they're not overly expensive (but get a GOOD one).
Then, set your display to "looks like 1080p" (1920x1080).

IF you do this, you will be AMAZED at the clarity of the display.
And yes, you'll have to learn to "move your head".
(or perhaps sit a few inches farther back from the display).

My OLED TV *is* 4K. (I did not mention that because I thought it was implied.) That's why I tried hooking the mini to it, to see what scaling options I'd get. "Larger" but no "looks like".

Do you know what a 27" 1440p would give me scaling wise? That may avoid too small UI and would also be a good res for PC gaming.

Another question: is it normal behavior in MacOS for the home/end keys, when you are in a textbox like the one I'm typing in now, for the home/end key to jump scroll the outer web page to top/bottom, rather than to go to begin/end of line?