Fix for small text on hi-resolution monitors is now available.

For those that have exceptionally high resolution screens, Apple has come up with a solution for the tiny text found just about everywhere on your screen. It's pretty slick, really.

If you go to Display Preferences in the System Preferences, (System Preferences > Display Preferences), you should see two buttons for resolution, "Default for display" and "Scaled". If you hold down the Option key while clicking "Scaled" it will provide you with two different sets of selectable resolutions. In one or the other, you should see a list of various resolutions, some with "(low resolution)" written next to them (Retina displays are a little different in that you have a button to select whether you want to see low resolution settings or not). The ones that have (low resolution) printed next to them actually lower the resolution of the display. The ones that don't have this indicator next to them will increase the text size without lowering the resolution of the desktop. Also, it might be worthwhile to check the "About this Mac", under the Displays tab to make sure it is reading your Display correctly. If it thinks it is a 1080 display, that is highest resolution option it will give you, including "Default for display".

If you have the option on your TV to set the HDMI port to 4:4:4 or 4:2:0, I would recommend 4:4:4. It should do two things for you. It should give you a much better picture if your monitor has defaulted to 4:2:0 and, also, it should give you more choices in the Mac display resolution preferences and may assure that the Mac reads your Display specs accurately. When I had chosen 4:2:0 HDMI, the Mac was reading the 4k display as a 1080p resolution display. I believe that, if you monitor does not give you the option then, more than likely, it is using 4:4:4.

There's been some discussion concerning whether this really does as advertised. From what I can tell, and I checked it as thoroughly as I could, it really does seem to. I am certain that my displays are receiving 3840 x 2160, as my Sharp display actually tells me what the resolution is that it is receiving. It seems to affect all windows and bars without affecting the actual resolution, thereby leaving the desktop at full resolution. I'm not really sure what happens to things like Preview or Photo apps. I'm guessing it probably clips their resolution. It's pretty hard to determine for certain. I am pretty certain that the Desktop Pictures are full resolution.

What they seem to have done is adjust the number of actual pixels per "virtual pixel" across the board for all apps. It's a nice way to handle the problem that could lead to much more sophisticated solutions. I'm hoping it can lead to specific app preferences and, maybe, best case, a system preference for menu bars, tabs, and toolbars. That would be perfect (yes, I already sent this and a lot of other suggestions for solutions).

Some of the various apps, especially browsers may need to be fiddled with to work properly. I had to adjust a few things in both Firefox and Chrome to make them work adequately (e.g. minimum text size, etc). But, most everything works very well and it is a lot better for me than having to zoom all of the time to be able to see the tiny text from across the room. There are a few cases where characters are stepping on each other, but what can you do? I can still open and use around four to six windows per desktop depending on the app.

The only thing that baffles me is that it seems to be a new feature with El Capitan and, yet, there was no official word on it. I mean, it's not the ultimate solution, a little bit clunky, but it's a good start!