I have a mid-2015 15" MBP that is showing age. Keyboard issues (some keys don't work unless you really punch them) and speakers that are pretty shot (I use external speakers when I'm at my workstation, so that helps.) We no longer have Mac repair in my area, so I decided it might be time to buy a refurbished newer model, the 2019 16". I was surprised and dismayed to find that the screen on the newer one is MUCH harder for me to see, despite what must be improved technology. I tried all kinds of adjustments and could not make it work. I have vision issues. On the older model, I can sit comfortably 12-15" away (not great) but on the newer one I had to really lean in. The screen's "white" was just a light gray, and the black text was a dark gray, so the contrast was not great on the newer model. Upping contrast and brightness caused some imagery to blow out, including most of the icones on the doc. Any advice on this? Thanks.
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Older Macbook Pro easier to see than new?
- Thread starter Nellie923
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Just some thoughts...
Go to system preferences/accessibility/display and increase display contrast a little (if that choice is available).
Another thought:
Go to system preferences/displays.
Hold down the option key and click "scaled".
This should show you all the resolutions possible.
Try one "a little lower" than the one you're using now.
Go to system preferences/accessibility/display and increase display contrast a little (if that choice is available).
Another thought:
Go to system preferences/displays.
Hold down the option key and click "scaled".
This should show you all the resolutions possible.
Try one "a little lower" than the one you're using now.
Your second idea worked! I had fiddled with brightness and contrast and all that, and never could get the tones, colors, etc. to look right. I figured that changing the resolution might help, but did not know the trick to click on SCALED, and I was able to choose a resolution that I can see much better now. Thank you!
Another thing that helps is to turn off Font Smoothing. Unfortunately starting with Big Sur there is no setting in the System Preferences Control Panels and the default is Font Smoothing On. To turn Smoothing Off it will take the Terminal app or a "Font Smoothing Adjuster" app.
Here is the app and the web page also shows the Terminal commands:
www.fontsmoothingadjuster.com
I used the Font Smoothing Adjuster app and I find turning turning off Font Smoothing to be very helpful for reading text on the screen.
Here is the app and the web page also shows the Terminal commands:
Font Smoothing Adjuster | macOS App
Download the free and open source Font Smoothing Adjuster app to disable or customise font smoothing on macOS Big Sur.
www.fontsmoothingadjuster.com
I used the Font Smoothing Adjuster app and I find turning turning off Font Smoothing to be very helpful for reading text on the screen.