How to Run Your Retina Display at its Native Resolution
MacBook displays normally run at a scaled resolution, which uses the additional pixels of higher resolution monitors to improve the clarity of text on screen while keeping everything at the same size. However, this leads to the display essentially being “zoomed in” with everything much bigger than it should be.
If the display runs at its native, non-scaled resolution, you’ll have a lot more space to work with, which may be good for those who are trying to squeeze every inch of workspace out of a smaller MacBook.
Try Out the Built-in Controls First
Apple does include some controls for changing how zoomed in the display is, which you can find under the “Display” settings in System Preferences:
If you’re currently using the default settings, it’s probably best to try this out before resorting to a third-party solution.
Run at Native with Retina Display Menu
Retina Display Menu is a simple menu bar app that lets you select a custom resolution from a drop-down list. It’s an older app but has no issues running on macOS Mojave. If it ends up breaking in the future, you can try SwitchResX, which has been updated much more recently, but is a paid app.
Download the DMG for the app from the release link at the bottom of the app’s page and open it up. From the icon in the menu bar, you can select which resolution you want to run.
