Why can't I get 2560x1600 resolution on my MBP Retina?

[mm1250]

I own a 2012 MBP Retina 15''.

When I goto the display control panel, I choose the option that says "More Space", and under the MBP picture it says "1920x1200. However the Max resolution i'm suppose to get is 2560x1600. The display control panel isn't intuitive in allowing me to go past the 1920. What am I missing here?

 

[Qaanol]

What am I missing here?

You are missing QuickRes.

 

[mm1250]

You are missing QuickRes.

So I need to use a 3rd party app to get the max resolution advertised by Apple? What am I missing here?

 

[FelixII]

The 15" retina MBP always runs at a resolution of 2880x1800. The only thing you can adjust in settings is the scaling factor. For example, when you choose 1440x900, every displayed "pixel" consists of 4 pixels in fact. That's why it's looking so sharp. According to the Apple Store, the highest scaled resolution you can get is 1920x1200.

http://store.apple.com/us/tab?node=home/shop_mac/family/macbook_pro&tcid=tg_tabcontroller&tab=2

Greetings

Felix

EDIT: 2560x1600 is the highest resolution the MBP can output to an external display via Thunderbolt.

 

[Stetrain]

So I need to use a 3rd party app to get the max resolution advertised by Apple? What am I missing here?

The modes you see in the preferences menu are "HiDPI" modes. The real resolution is double those "Looks like" numbers in both directions.

The "Best for Retina" or "Looks like 1440x900" mode is actually 2880x1800. If you took a screenshot the dimensions would be 2880x1800.

Since it's a HiDPI resolution mode, everything is drawn at double the size. Fonts, buttons, windows, icons, etc. are all drawn at double the size they normally would be, but of course with a lot of extra detail because of all the extra pixels available.

It's just like when the iPhone and iPad went "retina", things did not get smaller on screen, just sharper.

Similarly the "Looks like 1680x1050" and "Looks like 1920x1200" modes are actually 3360x2100 and 3840x2400 with the HiDPI doubling mode enabled. Since those resolutions are higher than the native 2880x1800 pixels of the display, the final image has to be downscaled slightly to fit the screen.

Apple does not give you the option to run at 2880x1800 without the HiDPI doubling mode by default because it make everything extremely small as you might expect and isn't really usable.

 

[soccerjoe5]

Hello!

Is it possible to get 2560x1600 with the 15" Retina MBP? Does it look sharp?

 

[Fzang]

Hello!

Is it possible to get 2560x1600 with the 15" Retina MBP? Does it look sharp?

You're stating the native resolution of the 13" rMBP. The 15" has a resolution of 2880x1800.

But what exactly are you asking?

 

[soccerjoe5]

You're stating the native resolution of the 13" rMBP. The 15" has a resolution of 2880x1800.

But what exactly are you asking?

It's a bit of a long story. Basically I need a 15" Retina MBP mirrored to a large monitor for work purposes.

I tried it out with a 24" (1920x1200) and it looked great - both the laptop and monitor were sharp.

I am also looking at a 30" (2560x1600) and I was wondering if it can somehow handle mirroring okay. So I'm hoping someone can try it out for me and let me know

 

[Fzang]

It's a bit of a long story. Basically I need a 15" Retina MBP mirrored to a large monitor for work purposes.

I tried it out with a 24" (1920x1200) and it looked great - both the laptop and monitor were sharp.

I am also looking at a 30" (2560x1600) and I was wondering if it can somehow handle mirroring okay. So I'm hoping someone can try it out for me and let me know

Hope this helps.