Cannot change internal screen resolution on MacBook Pro

Start by rebooting your Mac in safe mode. Safe mode will often correct weird software behavior by forcing the OS to clear caches, do disk repair and other self-maintenance and housekeeping and temporarily disables third-party mods. How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support 

Uninstall the 3 apps you installed to correct this problem.

Then try again to change the display resolution.

Finally, shut down your Mac and restart it normally. Does the problem remain?

If it works or doesn't work let us know.

The MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019) has a native resolution of 3072x1920 pixels.

Many of the choices in the Displays Settings list are likely to be "Retina" ones where the internal canvas has twice as many pixels in each direction as the nominal Displays Setting resolution. E.g., Retina "like 1536 x 960" would imply a drawing canvas with (2x1536) x (2x960) pixels – i.e., 3072 x 1920 pixels, matching the LCD panel resolution. Things would be sized "as if" the display had 1536 x 960 pixels, but drawn at a 3072 x 1920 level of detail, offering a sharper picture than you would get with an actual 16" 1536 x 960 pixel display.

Is there any reason why you are not selecting Retina "like 2048 x 1280" mode? That's close to "like 1920 x 1080" or to "like 1920.x 1200" and would not require the use of third-party applications.

devinh7777 wrote:

Cannot change internal screen resolution on MacBook Pro

Late 2019 MacBook Pro 16"

Intel gen8 core  I9

Model Name A2141

MacOS Sequoia 17.7.3

The native screen resolution is set to 3072x1920.

I can't change it to anything else. the screen flashes as expected as if it were trying to change, but it doesn't.

system_profiler verifires that the resolution stays the same.

I do not see anything in the system log after these attempts.

I need a custom resolution of 1920 x 1200 or 1920x1080.

I installed 3 different apps to help, but they also cannot change the resolution.

What can I do to make this work?

Sounds like a third party issue.

? < 1920 x 1200 or 1920x1080 >

I am not sure whats going on here... "The native screen resolution is set to 3072x1920"...

On the built in Display I see no 1920 x 1200 or 1920x1080

What I do see on my 2019 Intel 16" MBP ref: MacBookPro16,1

ref:

devinh7777 wrote:

You are correct the resolution I need is not in the Apple Display Resolution menu.

I used BetterDisplay to create 1920x1200 and 1920x1080

Out of curiosity stating exactly what application(?) is the issue:

"I need to run a specific application that is optimized for the lower resolution so the full screen can show witn no scrolling."

These native resolutions all scale proportionality exactly as your 1920 x 1200 request

so I don't understand the outlier (1920x1080) in relation to your query

Most applications that prefer a specific resolution, when faced with a display that is larger, simply open a window of the size they prefer, and live happily ever after.

There are older Macs that could legitimately have a much larger screen as their only display, and that has not typically been an issue.

Where are you getting these strange "requirements" from?

why the need for a specific resolution? what are you doing that requires this?

and what are the three apps you tried?