MacOS Monterey display resolution problem

I have found a temporary quick fix for a stretched out resolution after disconnecting an ultra-wide display:

Change the refresh rate to another refresh rate like 60hz, then switch it back to pro-motion.

As such, you don't have to restart your mac every time.

Details:

• 5120 x 1440 49'' Samsung DQHD Mini LED Gaming ultra-wide Monitor Odyssey Neo G9.
• 16" M1X Macbook Pro with macOS Monterey 12.3.1.

It seems odd, as the size of the elements on screen seems identical, it is like the display aspect ratio is wrong.

Which of the two displays is set as your "Main display"? The built-in or the Dell?

Are you using them mirrored or as extended desktop?

When you have to go to System Preferences->Displays, after disconnecting, and change the resolution, what is selected?

Wait.... I just went looking for the monitor, and it appears to one of those very wide displays (5120x1440, or something like that?)

That may be related.

What is the display resolution you are using on the external? If you are mirroring, are you "optimizing for external display" or for the built-in?

I would start by making sure that your internal is set as the main display, and that you are using as extended desktop, not mirroring - see below. If the problem persists, at the moment I don't know what else to try.

Hi immortalkid,

I've been using an old program called Retina DisplayMenu (RDM) from 2012 to change the display resolution and refresh rates on both the Macbook and the external monitors. It's in perpetual beta, but I've been using it for almost ten years and it still seems to work fine on Monterey. It was distributed free without limitations and you can get it from here.

Looking for I also just found another similar free program at the App Store, but I haven't yet tested that, so can't say if it's any good.

Paulus_2 wrote:

On my Mac mini m1 with Monterey a similar problem. Suddenly my monitor has to cope with a bigger screen. So my monitor a LED Cinema Display, only gives a view off a part of the screen. With cursor keys on the keyboard I'am able to move the view; up, down, right and to the left. I don't know how this effect is enabled. I can restart my Mac of course. But that is a Windows trick.

Via System Preferences > Displays to select 'Default for Display, helps that' does not work...

That is a completely different thing, and fortunately one that is easy to solve.

You apparently have ZOOMED IN your macOS display.

The default way to do this is

to hold the Control key, and perform a scroll gesture - for example, hold the Control key and swipe up with two fingers in the trackpad.

You can revert this by holding down Control and swiping down with two fingers.

And if you never want this to happen, you can turn it off in System Preferences->Accessibility->Zoom

Same issue for me, I set monitors to scaled to get more screen real estate but then on a reboot they reset to default - how annoying.... Remind me not to reboot too often, very odd that this setting appears to now be non-persistent. Lets home it gets resolved very soon...

xtngo39 wrote:

Hi all,

After unplugging the thunderbolt cable from my Dell U4919DW from my Macbook Air M1, the display resolution changes into some weird resolution that doesnt fit my macbook screen.... I have to go into display setting in the System Preference to change it back to make it usable. Can anyone tell me whats going on? Will this be fix in the next MacOS Monterey software up? Thanks

Toggle between mirrored and extended and compare your results

I use my mac with external displays and projectors every day, in class, at home or office.

Several different resolutions, sometimes using extended desktop, others mirroring.

I have never experienced what you describe. When disconnecting the external display, the internal has always returned to what it was before.

My first idea was to suggest resetting NVRAM. Now this apparently works differently in M1 macs (which I don't have yet).

Apparently one is supposed to shut down (not restart), wait some fifteen seconds then start again. Any difference?

I wanted to keep this thread going, as i have a similar issue with my new Macbook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020). When starting the machine up plugged into external display, sometimes the macbook retina display is stretched, and the mouse cursor is missing. When I log into the user, everything on the retina display is stretched so much that the dock isn't reachable. I never had this issue on my 2017 MBP model using the same external monitor

My external display is a Samsung Odyssey 49" ultra wide monitor (C49HG9x). I must restart the computer without the external monitor connected and then connect the monitor after the OS fully loads and I log in. The resolution on the external monitor is always as expected, and this behavior only occurs on the built-in retina display.

Are you mirroring the two displays?

Since the two have very different aspect ratios, something has got to give.

I suggest you use extended desktop in order to use each display at their best resolution.

I’m having the same issue after upgrading my MacBook Pro (2016/13”) to Monterey yesterday. My only refresh rate options are 30 and 25. I do not have the recommended 60 you show above. Additionally, the resolution of 1920x1080 is not an option. The highest in my options is 1600x900. If I check the box to show all options, I get nothing higher than the 1600x900. I have a Dell SE2722HX display set as Extended display. It worked yesterday prior to the upgrade, but no longer works today. Is there a fix for this?

I’m having the same issue after upgrading my MacBook Pro (2016/13”) to Monterey yesterday. My only refresh rate options are 30 and 25. I do not have the recommended 60 you show above. Additionally, the resolution of 1920x1080 is not an option. The highest in my options is 1600x900. If I check the box to show all options, I get nothing higher than the 1600x900. I have a Dell SE2722HX display set as Extended display. It worked yesterday prior to the upgrade, but no longer works today. Is there a fix for this?

Wanted to add my two cents after using my new Macbook Pro (16-inch, M1, 2021). I use a third-party app called RDM to change the resolution from the display defaults to a bit larger (2560 x 1600). Everything works fine until I reboot the computer and the resolution gets reset back one of the default resolutions. In addition to not having enough screen real estate, I have so many programs with icons in the menu bar that they don't even fit with the native resolutions.

Hoping this is a bug with Monterey and gets fixed soon.

I would like to share my experience as well. Unfortunately most of the troubleshooting in this thread did not help. I cannot get refresh rate to show up at all, even using the option key. I've messed with a lot of different settings and the only thing that works is to set it to a lower resolution.

My external monitor or the laptop is not correctly recognizing the right resolution. On the Macbook, in the display settings, it correctly notes that it should be set to 3440x1440 (and the external monitor settings repeat that, adding in @100 refresh). However, when I have it set to that, the Macbook says that it is instead being set to 4302x1440 (external monitor adds that it is @60 refresh).

For now, the only recourse I have, without any ability to get to the refresh rate settings, is to operate on a lower resolution of 2560x1080.