Straying a bit off topic from the OP's original question about clarity of the MacOS video output but this is a good read about MacOS and monitors https://bjango.com/articles/macexternaldisplays/ 
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- Thread starter kona0197
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OP wrote:
"First of all how do I make the display as crisp and sharp as I can? Everything seems a little bit blurry. I have a HP M24H monitor running at 1080P and 60Hz via a HDMI connection. I know my eyes are getting old but it seems the Windows output was way sharper."
That looks to be an old 1080p display with only a VGA input, is this correct?
Get yourself a 27" 4k display, connect via USBc (or perhaps HDMI), and you will be much more pleased with the image. 27" 4k comes in all kinds of price points, but don't "cheap out".
"First of all how do I make the display as crisp and sharp as I can? Everything seems a little bit blurry. I have a HP M24H monitor running at 1080P and 60Hz via a HDMI connection. I know my eyes are getting old but it seems the Windows output was way sharper."
That looks to be an old 1080p display with only a VGA input, is this correct?
Get yourself a 27" 4k display, connect via USBc (or perhaps HDMI), and you will be much more pleased with the image. 27" 4k comes in all kinds of price points, but don't "cheap out".
When I run my 27” 4K monitor at 1080p, it is amazingly crisp. It’s indescribably good, really. Not as much desktop space as I always want, but the image is unbelievable. This is on a fairly basic LG 4K60 monitor.
It does not matter what was paid, what configuration, etc. Of course as time goes on and as a new user becomes more familiar with Mac one will always be able to get more for less in the future. As long as the OP's workflow is not misbehaving the issue of what was purchased at what price is moot.
I don't know why. But I never used this Launchpad in the twelve years owning a Mac now,
The first thing I always do on a fresh installation is putting the Application folder in the Dock and the included Utilities folder in it next to it. Set both to "Folder" display and "Grid" view and it's all sorted alphabetically and you can also change that.
It's almost the same as using Launchpad only the search function is missing. But when it's alphabetically I don't need to search anyway.
How is asking a question of what was paid moot? For one it’s out of curiosity (it’s a forum for discussion) and I’m not judging I was just wondering because I was trying to see why a Intel Mac was chosen over Apple Silicone as other than price or some specific use cases (which it doesn’t seem this user had), it may of been a wiser choice. In addition, yes his workflow may possible be incompatible / harder.. the spec he got (an i3 2018 Intel Mac mini) was slow then and likely even slower now with all the updates.
The reason that the question was moot is because it is an action that has occurred in the past, and that has nothing whatsoever to do with the new user's operational question. It simply complicates the OP question while providing zero value add.
There are plenty of threads here where folks discuss potential new purchases. Discussions about cost alternatives are most appropriate there. Just my $0.02.
Is this, that you are complaining about, more burdensome than reading your incessant posts about RAM? Wind down your neck a bit and let people discuss.
Fair enough. New term to me. I am familiar with breathing down one's neck, but "Wind down your neck a bit" is new to me. Is it Australian perhaps? The meaning is obvious enough by context.
You toggle between those options and the list of resolutions in the Advanced section of the Displays tab/page.
I do wonder if that’s partially a/the problem. I assume, @kona0197 is using an HDMI to VGA adapter. There are affordable (TB3) USB-C to VGA adapters. Though, quite frankly, I’ll second a couple of other posters in suggesting it’s probably better to purchase an affordable UHD/4K display.
Honestly, my cheaping out(?) on cables might be part of a annoyance I occasionally experience:
Lastly, beyond the low(er) PPI of FHD/1080p on most monitor sizes nowadays, both of my previous monitors, Samsung CF27390 and Acer ED320QR, had noticeable — dare I say bad — ghosting-type effect on text, it would almost entirely blur into the background, when scrolling. By the way, it’s not a refresh rate difference. Even if I set my current display to 30Hz, fast scrolling is a little laggy but still easy to see. Panel type? Panel quality? I’m not sure.
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Fair to an extent, but it’s about discussion here no? However the spec of the machine was still relevant to ask..
A few clarifications:
The monitor: The monitor isn’t that old. I bought it brand new from Best Buy back in March of this year. It has HDMI and VGA ports. It’s connected to the Mac with a HDMI cable. It can run at a higher resolution. However when I use that resolution everything on the screen becomes so tiny I can’t read anything. The Mac recommends running at 1080P at 60hz so I used that setting.
My workflow: I only use this computer for web browsing, emails, YouTube videos, and making budgets using a spreadsheet. Sometimes I write out a document. That’s all I need it for so most of the time it sits on my desk in sleep mode or powered off. My iPad sees much more use.
Price of the Mac: I bought what I could afford. I’ll get a new Mac with the M4 chip sometime next year. I don’t notice any lag in MacOS. I was surprised MacOS 15 even runs on the machine. I was expecting the computer to be running an older version of MacOS. Honestly I wouldn’t mind if it was slow and buggy. Still beats using Windows 11.
Other things to mention: I tried installing Linux. None of the distros I tried could detect and use the SSD inside the Mac. I got Ubuntu to install on an external SSD. It worked great but couldn’t detect the WiFi card so no internet. And yes, Ubuntu looked as crisp and sharp as Windows so I assume MacOS has lousy video drivers.
I’m looking for an app to show the current temp outside in the top bar near the clock if anyone knows a simple program to do that.
Also looking for an app that will show disk activity in the bar.
Thanks for all the replies!
The monitor: The monitor isn’t that old. I bought it brand new from Best Buy back in March of this year. It has HDMI and VGA ports. It’s connected to the Mac with a HDMI cable. It can run at a higher resolution. However when I use that resolution everything on the screen becomes so tiny I can’t read anything. The Mac recommends running at 1080P at 60hz so I used that setting.
My workflow: I only use this computer for web browsing, emails, YouTube videos, and making budgets using a spreadsheet. Sometimes I write out a document. That’s all I need it for so most of the time it sits on my desk in sleep mode or powered off. My iPad sees much more use.
Price of the Mac: I bought what I could afford. I’ll get a new Mac with the M4 chip sometime next year. I don’t notice any lag in MacOS. I was surprised MacOS 15 even runs on the machine. I was expecting the computer to be running an older version of MacOS. Honestly I wouldn’t mind if it was slow and buggy. Still beats using Windows 11.
Other things to mention: I tried installing Linux. None of the distros I tried could detect and use the SSD inside the Mac. I got Ubuntu to install on an external SSD. It worked great but couldn’t detect the WiFi card so no internet. And yes, Ubuntu looked as crisp and sharp as Windows so I assume MacOS has lousy video drivers.
I’m looking for an app to show the current temp outside in the top bar near the clock if anyone knows a simple program to do that.
Also looking for an app that will show disk activity in the bar.
Thanks for all the replies!
On the Mac Mini 2018 Sequoia has dodgy video drivers and (possibly) Wifi/Bluetooth Drivers. I know they screwed the video drivers as when playing games on the inbuilt graphics the mini can lock up and require a hard reset.
Oh yes!!
The monitor is no longer sold new by BestBuy. It is a 1080p monitor and if you're able it to run at any vertical resolution higher than 1080…well…it doesn't have those pixels so it has to do some bad magic to shrink things.
It's a fact that at some point long ago Apple stopped trying to make macOS look good on a 1920x1080 monitor and that Windows does look better on one. I don't know of a way to equal that on macOS. I use BetterDisplay for my 4K and an HP 1080p monitor to the side but I don't think there are any settings in BetterDisplay that improve the HP. I'm actually running it at 1344x756 so that I can see a couple of windows in Logic Pro that I put over there.
I think I paid less for my 27" 4K monitor two years ago than I paid for the first flat-screen 1080p monitor I ever bought.
Not using any menubar weather or disk activity apps so I can't make a recommendation.
When you get a new Mini be sure to budget for at least a 4K resolution monitor!
Moving to an older version of Mac OS than what comes on the new Mac may be impossible and is almost always a bad idea. Fuggedaboutit.
Do consider adding a 4K display with HDMI if your older 1080p display looks bad. Note that just because some display is not that old does not mean it is a good display for a given usage. Like anything else there are good ones and less good ones.
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If you're thinking it might make the monitor look better don't bother. The issue has been around since before that Mini was made.
You could go back to Ventura which is still supported by Apple and that has fully functional drivers. Whether it is worth the effort of a complete erase of the SSD and a USB install would be up to you as that would be dependent on your confidence and technical expertise.
As to getting a 4K display, it will always be scaled as it doesn’t meet Apples standard pixel density. On an Intel MacOS device i don’t know how that would look but i do know a 4K screen will default to 1080p and has to be scaled to taste.
Honestly, stick with what you have, acclimatise to the Apple ecosystem and when you get the new Mac next year decide what to do about the monitor 👍
If you don’t mind me asking what’s the display? From that link I put up before 2k is better than 4K but as with everything there are good displays and bad displays!
You do realize that your "new" Mac is 6 years old? This will give you a very poor introduction to the world of Apple computers. COmpared to a new Mac Mini, your is quite slow with poorer graphics. But on the other hand it does demonstrate how long a Mac can last. After 6 years the Mac Mini is still usable.
Also most of there advice you get is from people using a newer Mac. They seem to have forgotten that your's is different.
About the blurry text. The rule is to set the Mac's screen resolution to the native resolution of the monitor. If using the S2721DS then it is 2560 x 1440 Set the Mac to 2560 x 1440. (assuming a 2018 vintage Mac can do 2560 x 1440)
Also most of there advice you get is from people using a newer Mac. They seem to have forgotten that your's is different.
About the blurry text. The rule is to set the Mac's screen resolution to the native resolution of the monitor. If using the S2721DS then it is 2560 x 1440 Set the Mac to 2560 x 1440. (assuming a 2018 vintage Mac can do 2560 x 1440)
@kona0197 Personally i think that would be a good choice for a monitor as i have always found Dell's to be of good build quality and have a good display (i use a Dell S2721DGF and to my old eyes it gives a really good picture using my 2018 mini).
Before you buy though you may want to try the "Path of Least Cost" (if you havn't already). This is what i call testing to death what you have and changing out the least expensive item first. In your case it would be to factory reset the monitor, swap out the hdmi cable with one that you know is good and then try some different colour profiles from the dropdown. If none of them work to correcting your problem, then it could be the HP monitor and the way it treats the incoming signal from your 2018 mini (i have had HP monitors behave really weird before now).
Before you buy though you may want to try the "Path of Least Cost" (if you havn't already). This is what i call testing to death what you have and changing out the least expensive item first. In your case it would be to factory reset the monitor, swap out the hdmi cable with one that you know is good and then try some different colour profiles from the dropdown. If none of them work to correcting your problem, then it could be the HP monitor and the way it treats the incoming signal from your 2018 mini (i have had HP monitors behave really weird before now).
100% 👍
Some updates:
I took the time to make a bootable MacOS Ventura USB drive. After I installed Ventura I noticed their isn't a way to enlarge the system font in accessibility options. My eyes aren't what they used to be so that's very important to me. I upgraded the system to MacOS Sonoma. So far, no issues! I also went out and got a high end 8K HDMI cord. Made a world of difference. I still am going to get a 2K or 4K monitor here in a few weeks. Until then, everything is working good.
Only questions I have are simple:
How do I make the folders in finder stay on top? I am using the list view and have files listed by the app that made them.
Is there a simple plug and play backup program I should use for backups or is Time Capsule good enough?
I took the time to make a bootable MacOS Ventura USB drive. After I installed Ventura I noticed their isn't a way to enlarge the system font in accessibility options. My eyes aren't what they used to be so that's very important to me. I upgraded the system to MacOS Sonoma. So far, no issues! I also went out and got a high end 8K HDMI cord. Made a world of difference. I still am going to get a 2K or 4K monitor here in a few weeks. Until then, everything is working good.
Only questions I have are simple:
How do I make the folders in finder stay on top? I am using the list view and have files listed by the app that made them.
Is there a simple plug and play backup program I should use for backups or is Time Capsule good enough?