A warning: Do not buy a Mac Mini unless you have a high resolution (4K+) display.

[staypuftforums]

With the removal of subpixel antialising, it’s clear that MacOS is now built to be used with Apple displays. Full stop. I learned the hard way.

If you are running MacOS on an Apple laptop or an iMac, you’ll have a great experience. Run it on anything less than a 4K monitor and you will be in for a world of pain.

Text is so blurry. Even the desktop wallpapers look terrible. Video is mostly fine, about the same as Windows. But man, the text. Just incredibly blurry and pixelated.

 

[Fishrrman]

That's funny.
I've been using a 2018 Mini since January 2019 -- three years -- with a Viewsonic 1080p display.

Text looks fine to me.

 

[Wando64]

That's funny.
I've been using a 2018 Mini since January 2019 -- three years -- with a Viewsonic 1080p display.

Text looks fine to me.

I think the OP means M1 minis. I have seen similar complaints before. My mini is much older so I cannot comment, but I am interested in understanding to what extent this is an issue, if at all.

 

[maccompaq]

I am using a Dell 1920 x 1200 monitor with an M1 Mac Mini, and the text is just fine. Wallpaper and everything looks great. Video is very good. Tell us what kind of monitor you are using.

 

[phil9971]

I'm not sure what the op is referring to? I am running an M1 Mac mini driving a 27" BenQ 2560x1440 display and it's as sharp as my MacBook Air and my PC driving the same monitor. Is "subpixel antialising" something that's recently been removed?

 

[appltech]

Hey. Thinking about your complaint. Maybe you're looking for  System Preferences –> General and find there font smoothing.
Also, you can use the following terminal command instead:

defaults -currentHost write -g AppleFontSmoothing -int 0

 

[Spindel]

I have no idea too what OP is talking about.

I have a 1440 Asus PA27AC monitor and text is sharp.

It’s connected with a TB cable if that matters.

 

[Spindel]

Hey. Thinking about your complaint. Maybe you're looking for  System Preferences –> General and find there font smoothing.
Also, you can use the following terminal command instead:

defaults -currentHost write -g AppleFontSmoothing -int 0

Man I’ve tried that and setting that from default (2) to 0 looks horrible on my monitor.

 

[phil9971]

Hey. Thinking about your complaint. Maybe you're looking for  System Preferences –> General and find there font smoothing.
Also, you can use the following terminal command instead:

defaults -currentHost write -g AppleFontSmoothing -int 0

Font smoothing doesn't appear in that location in Monterey, you have to use the second option in Terminal (not that I've ever done it).

 

[DJLC]

Y'know, I've read this complaint 1,000 times since Apple removed that sub-pixel anti-aliasing, but I've yet to see any difference with my own eyes.

Monitors at home? 1080p 24" Dells. Look fine now with my M1Pro MacBook Pro. Looked fine with my Intel Mac mini before.

Monitors at one of my clients' offices? Various sizes and brands, but all are 1080p. Looked fine with their Intel Mac minis from 2011-2021. Continue to look fine with their new M1 Mac minis we upgraded to a few months ago.

If your eyes are sensitive enough to see a difference, very sorry, sounds like you'll need a 4K or better monitor. But I genuinely don't get what all the fuss is about.

 

[pshufd]

My M1 mini is hooked up to a Late 2009 iMac 27 in Target Display Mode at QHD resolution and it looks gorgeous.

My guess is that the OP is talking about scaled mode. If you're using HD at 24 inches, you're probably using native resolution. Same with WUXGA (1,920 x 1,200).

 

[now i see it]

in my experience, Mac OS since at least El Capitan looks pretty bad on a 1080p monitor.

 

[LeeW]

Where I see the M1 being shown up really badly is when I switch over to PC that is when you can see just how bad the Mac Mini is. It has only been seen I moved to the M1, every MM prior was fine.

 

[pshufd]

Where I see the M1 being shown up really badly is when I switch over to PC that is when you can see just how bad the Mac Mini is. It has only been seen I moved to the M1, every MM prior was fine.

I have a Windows PC hooked up to a Dell U2718Q and an M1 mini hooked up, also to a Dell U2718Q and both look fine. I actually have more problems on Windows because of font scaling issues. I run both at native resolution.

 

[LeeW]

I have a Windows PC hooked up to a Dell U2718Q and an M1 mini hooked up, also to a Dell U2718Q and both look fine. I actually have more problems on Windows because of font scaling issues. I run both at native resolution.

Going to assume that is a 4k resolution. No issues with either machine on a 4k display. I am using a 34" 3440x1440. The difference is not even subtle. When I visit some websites the text can be almost rough, unreadable on the M1, perfect on Windows.

I got a 4k LG Ultrafine 32UN88a from a friend on Sunday to compare and with the Mac Mini, it was night and day, so much better.

Everyone has their own perception of what looks good, but as I say, for me the differences are not subtle.

 

[staypuftforums]

I have a Windows PC hooked up to a Dell U2718Q and an M1 mini hooked up, also to a Dell U2718Q and both look fine. I actually have more problems on Windows because of font scaling issues. I run both at native resolution.

That's a 4K monitor. I'm specifically warning people to avoid the Mini if they do not have a 4K screen.

 

[staypuftforums]

Y'know, I've read this complaint 1,000 times since Apple removed that sub-pixel anti-aliasing, but I've yet to see any difference with my own eyes.

Monitors at home? 1080p 24" Dells. Look fine now with my M1Pro MacBook Pro. Looked fine with my Intel Mac mini before.

Monitors at one of my clients' offices? Various sizes and brands, but all are 1080p. Looked fine with their Intel Mac minis from 2011-2021. Continue to look fine with their new M1 Mac minis we upgraded to a few months ago.

If your eyes are sensitive enough to see a difference, very sorry, sounds like you'll need a 4K or better monitor. But I genuinely don't get what all the fuss is about.

Have you run Windows on any of these displays? As others have mentioned, the difference is night and day.

I find MacOS much more enjoyable to use and might even keep the mini for that reason. But the text is rough.

 

[phil9971]

That's a 4K monitor. I'm specifically warning people to avoid the Mini if they do not have a 4K screen.

As mentioned above, I have a 27" 2560 x 1440 display and the text is crystal clear. It sounds like you have problems with yours but don't assume everyone else will! (and yes, I have run windows on this display as well).

Why not send us a screen shot so we can see the extent of the problem you're suffering?

 

[DJLC]

Have you run Windows on any of these displays? As others have mentioned, the difference is night and day.

I find MacOS much more enjoyable to use and might even keep the mini for that reason. But the text is rough.

Only via Parallels, so I feel like I probably wouldn't have seen a difference there since macOS is still drawing the screen. Next time I've got hands on a Windows machine that's near these monitors, I'll give it a shot and see if I can tell. I'm happy to be wrong!

At the office, we got new monitors when we switched to Mac starting back in 2011, so none of those have ever been connected to a PC.

 

[LeeW]

It sounds like you have problems with yours but don't assume everyone else will!

Multiple threads on this forum about it, on the apple community forum, Reddit and so on. If it works for you then good. Don't assume just because you are having no issues nobody else is.

 

[phil9971]

Multiple threads on this forum about it, on the apple community forum, Reddit and so on. If it works for you then good. Don't assume just because you are having no issues nobody else is.

Ehm I wasn't.

What I do disagree with is the Op's title of this post "Do not buy a Mac mini unless you have a high resolution display (4K+) display". This sweeping statement is incorrect and should be re-phrased to provide a word of caution rather than ostensibly being click-bait.

Anyway, it's an interesting discussion and I wonder why it's happening?

 

[Colstan]

This is a matter of personal preference. Some people are fine with a standard resolution display, others are bothered by it. I'm in the second camp. I had an old 1680x1050 Dell that I used with my 2018 Mac mini. I stayed on Mojave for as long as possible, because Catalina onward gave me physical headaches due to sharpness issues, no matter what terminal settings I changed. I switched to a 21.5-inch 4K UltraFine last Summer and have been able to use Monterey without issue. What causes me problems may be perfectly acceptable to others.

 

[ibran]

Agreed. It's 2022 — if you're buying a display for anything but gaming, 163ppi should be the bare minimum you'd consider.

The old standard of 110ppi looks bad on any OS, but its saving grace is that it's relatively cheap and easy to find 110ppi displays with >120Hz refresh rates if gaming is your thing.

 

[August West]

I'm going to get an M1 Mini to replace my 2012 Mini which is stuck on Catalina and intend on keeping my 24" Cinema Display since it looks fine to me plus I think it is a nice looking monitor. I can always pick up another monitor later if it is bad as some claim but I though the font complaints were related to a way the OS renders rather than the machine.

 

[staypuftforums]

As mentioned above, I have a 27" 2560 x 1440 display and the text is crystal clear.

Text cannot be crystal clear on such a display. The resolution is simply too low. Your tolerance for blurry text seems to be higher than mine, but text will most certainly be blurry and pixelated on any sub 4K display while running a modern version of MacOS. You simply can't work around the problem of a low resolution display without utilizing subpixel antialiasing (like Windows and Macs prior to Mojave). It's impossible. The pixels just aren't there to make it work.