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User profile for user: whiskey sour
whiskey sour Author
User level: Level 3
507 points

Make Text, etc Larger on 27 inch iMacs

Hello. I was having some difficulty seeing the fonts on my recent purchase of a 27 inch iMac. Following a suggestion from Kappy (one of the top Users in this forum) I went into System Preferences/Displays and adjusted the Resolution until I had something that worked well for me (1920 X 1080). If you are having the same problem try this out. A big thanks to Kappy!

iMac 27 i5, 1TB., Mac OS X (10.6.2), 4 GB RAM, Lacie 500GB d2 Quadra, WD Passport 160GB

Posted on Jan 15, 2010 9:36 PM

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User profile for user: Kenichi Watanabe
Kenichi Watanabe
User level: Level 8
41,572 points

Posted on Jan 15, 2010 10:38 PM

That's not an ideal solution, because the native resolution for the 27-inch display is 2560x1440, where one displayed pixels equals one physical pixel on the screen. Because the pixels on the 27-inch display are pretty tiny, 1920x1080 may look good, but it will be a bit fuzzy compared to the native resolution. But if it looks fine to you, then by all means, you should keep using that setting.

You can also try using the native resolution of 2560x1440, and use each application's font setting to increase font size. For example, in Safari (and other browsers) there is a command to increase the font size used to display the web site. You can also change the default font settings in the applications preferences. In Mail, you can change the settings for the fonts used to display messages in its preferences. However, there are places, such as the menu bar, where you cannot change the font size (unless you change the resolution of the whole screen).
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User profile for user: Kenichi Watanabe
Kenichi Watanabe
User level: Level 8
41,572 points

Jan 15, 2010 10:38 PM in response to whiskey sour

That's not an ideal solution, because the native resolution for the 27-inch display is 2560x1440, where one displayed pixels equals one physical pixel on the screen. Because the pixels on the 27-inch display are pretty tiny, 1920x1080 may look good, but it will be a bit fuzzy compared to the native resolution. But if it looks fine to you, then by all means, you should keep using that setting.

You can also try using the native resolution of 2560x1440, and use each application's font setting to increase font size. For example, in Safari (and other browsers) there is a command to increase the font size used to display the web site. You can also change the default font settings in the applications preferences. In Mail, you can change the settings for the fonts used to display messages in its preferences. However, there are places, such as the menu bar, where you cannot change the font size (unless you change the resolution of the whole screen).
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User profile for user: whiskey sour
whiskey sour Author
User level: Level 3
507 points

Jan 16, 2010 6:43 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

Thanks for your input Kenichi. I agree with your comments on 'that is not the ideal situation' however it is the best one for me at the moment and works very well. To use each applications font setting I found to be a nuisance, having to change it each time I used a different browser or went back to one I had used previously. Also, as you indicate, I have not found any way to change the menu bar other than a resolution change. The menu bar of course is a VERY important part of using the Mac. To sum up, at the moment I am satisfied with the resolution change and if not I can easily change it. Again, thank you for your information.
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User profile for user: jakeweed
jakeweed
User level: Level 1
0 points

Mar 10, 2010 6:19 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

I'm having the same problem. I have a new 27" iMac, but the text size is too small for me to comfortably read in Safari and also iTunes. For documents, it's not a problem, since I use the zoom function in those applications. However, I don't know how to increase text size in Safari or iTunes. The zoom screen function is horrible, since the resolution is very poor and it also zooms the entire screen and all open windows.

I'd love to what the command is in Safari and iTunes to increase text size and also how to change that in system preferences. Also, if there's a good application or utility out there, I'd also love to know.

Thanks!
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User profile for user: AdrienneA
AdrienneA
User level: Level 1
8 points

Mar 11, 2010 3:07 PM in response to whiskey sour

I would suggest that you provide feedback to Apple about this issue. I too have a 27" iMac, and while images look stunning, the user interface text is generally too small for me to read comfortably. iWork applications are nearly impossible for me to use as the text is so tiny.

If enough people give Apple feedback on this issue, they may push harder for resolution independence system-wide. Especially for us middle-aged folks, the ability to scale the user interface text is essential.
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User profile for user: jetpants
jetpants
User level: Level 1
0 points

Apr 1, 2010 8:24 PM in response to whiskey sour

What is the best way to provide feedback on this? I've tried the solutions mentioned here. Each is imperfect. I've gone with keeping the native resolution, and increasing the font size on apps that support that.

But it's still a pain and interferes with my user experience. I don't otherwise have any eyesight problems, but the resolution on these 27" iMacs is so high, I really struggle to read a lot of what I see.

What I want is a Systems Preference panel where I can scale up the rendered font sizes across all apps... ie., this is how big I want a reference text of 12pts to look in all apps.

How do I provide that feedback to Apple. It's such a pain with my new iMac I've considered selling it and going back to a secondhand 20".

Thanks!
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User profile for user: Steve M.
Steve M.
User level: Level 5
4,757 points

Apr 1, 2010 9:34 PM in response to jetpants

This is one of the main reasons why I chose my 21.5 inch iMac instead of the larger (more expensive) 27 inch.

The lack of system wide resolution independence is probably the biggest thing, maybe the only thing, I'd like changed with OS X. Really I'm happy with everything else.

Regards,
Steve M.

Message was edited by: Steve M.

Message was edited by: Steve M.
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Make Text, etc Larger on 27 inch iMacs

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