I have a 2015 retina macbook pro, the default scaled resolution of 1920×1080 would be too small for me. I currently have a 2560×1440 display and couldn't accept less real estate.
Under the display settings, if you select "scaled" you should be able to choose between "larger text" or "more space". If I understand correctly, all of these options should use 3840×2160 pixels to render the output (ie, the monitor wont know the difference). The default scaling option should be the equivalent of 1920×1080. I was wondering if you choose "more space" it would allow for the equivalent of 2560×1440 (but scaled so should look crisper than a 2560×1440 display).
As a bonus question, would this be comfortable on a 24" display (eg, Dell P2415Q)
Best Answer
I bought one (the Dell P2415Q) so can offer the results...
Scaled options are:
1504x846,1920x1080,2304x1296,2560x1440and3008x1692That is to say, the macbook always outputs
3840x2160,60Hzas far as the monitor is concerned. It just "looks like" those resolutions in terms of real-estate.1920x1080is the default, and other scaled resolutions are given with the warning that "Using a scaled resolution may affect performance".eg.
Looks like
1920x1080:Looks like
3008x1692:Source: My MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015), running 10.10.4, 2.9 GHz Intel Core i5, Intel Iris Graphics 6100 1536 MB