The new Retina MacBook has an astounding 2880 x 1800 pixel display, but Apple has restricted it’s ability to use that resolution in OS X. Lucky for you, a developer took on the task and created this simple tool that allows you to get the native resolution your Retina MacBook is capable of. Though you might need a magnifying glass to see anything…
In the System Preferences on the new Retina MacBook you have the ability to define your resolution up to 920 x 1200 pixels. But what happens if you want more space? Surely the display is capable of a bigger resolution.
SetResX is a new menu bar tool that allows you to do just that. Set a ginormous display resolution of 2880 x 1800. If you decide to go this route, you may find yourself squinting. As you can see above, It makes everything super small…
Regardless Phoenixdev from Reddit posted this nice little tool:
So Apple just announced their new retina Macbook Pro…but they only let you use the scaled resolutions they specify? Well, as Apple eloquently put it, there’s an app for that.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/mef6sk
SetResX (name will be changed, I’m quite sure) is a free menu bar program to set any non-scaled resolution your retina Macbook Pro supports, including the famed 1:1, 2880×1800 resolution.
Now for the fine print:
- First and foremost, this is still under development.
- I do not have a retina Macbook Pro yet…but this has been tested on one.
- Changes do not persist when you log out. A future version will let you make them persist.
- Want to go back to a scaled resolution? I’m working on it…but for now, use the System Preferences Displays panel.
It’s been tested and does actually work so if you’re up for a little squint reading or having four full-size windows open at once, this tool may be for you. Otherwise the highest standard resolution on the Retina MacBook may do just fine.
The tool also offers a wide array of resolutions not available in OS X:
- 2880 x 1800
- 2560 x 1600
- 2048 x 1200
- 1680 x 1050
- 1440 x 900 (no HiDPI)
- 1280 x 800
- 1024 x 768
- 800 x 600
- 640 x 480
Let us know if you get a chance to try it out.
Source: Reddit via Cult of Mac
