Can Mac mini M6 natively support a 4K monitor without scaling?

Nathan25nn wrote:

Does this mean that with the macMini M6, I would not need to scale my display when I use a 4K (3840 x 2160) monitor?

No. 4K monitors do not have the necessary pixel density to work with a modern (Retina/HiDPI) Mac without some degree of scaling. A 27" 4K monitor like your Dell has a pixel density of only about 163 PPI, so there will be inherent scaling.

Modern Macs expect at least 218 PPI. You need at least a 5K monitor to match that. Macs will work with monitors that have lesser specs, but there will be sacrifices to some degree.

For a bit more information, see:

RetinaDesk

Retina Display (Wikipedia)

Nathan25nn wrote:

Does this mean that with the macMini M6, I would not need to scale my display when I use a 4K (3840 x 2160) monitor?

No. Applications traditionally size things in terms of pixels – but your eyes are sensitive to physical size. At normal viewing distances, you can use all of the pixels of a 27" 2560x1440 monitor for "workspace" – but if you use all of the pixels of a 27" 3840x2160 monitor for "workspace", text will grow uncomfortably small. If you use all the pixels of a 27" 5120x2880 monitor for "workspace", the situation would be even worse.

Thus, with high-PPI monitors, the idea is to use some of the pixels for drawing things more accurately or in greater detail, rather than cramming more and more, tinier and finer, stuff onto the screen. (You don't see book publishers printing most books in 3-point fonts just because the resolution of their printing presses would allow that.)

If you run a 27" 3840x2160 monitor in Retina "like 2560x1440" mode,

• Displays Settings and System Information will show a "UI looks like" resolution of 2560x1440 pixels.
• System Information will show an internal drawing canvas "Resolution' of 5120x2880 pixels.
• After drawing in detail on the 5K canvas, the system will downscale the 5K picture to fit on the 4K screen.

FWIW, what happens when you select 2560x1440 as a "display size", internally the Mac actually is using an internal bitmap of 5120x2880. It then maps that output to the actual 4K display to "look like" 2560x1440.

So, your display's 4K "resolution" is being fully utilized to produce a sharp display that "looks like" 2560x1440".

Apple's terminology for it is "Retina" technology and the rest of the world calls it HiDPI.

Personally, I use the display size that "looks like" 3008x1692. It gives me a bit more desktop than 2560x1440 but a descent readable text size.

As my M4 mini can run an unscaled 27" 4K monitor I don't think an M6 will have any problems.

Incidentally I choose to scale my monitor to 1080p as in 4K mode everything is uncomfortably tiny. I think you will find that most users scale it down a bit.

Ian R. Brown wrote:

Incidentally I choose to scale my monitor to 1080p as in 4K mode everything is uncomfortably tiny. I think you will find that most users scale it down a bit.

In the same way that "like 2560x1440" is an exact integer scaling mode for a 5K (5120x2880 pixel) monitor, "like 1920x1080" is an exact integer scaling mode for a UHD 4K (3840x2160 pixel) monitor. But on a 27" monitor that one is viewing at normal desktop viewing distances, it produces very large text.

Mac mini - Technical Specifications - Apple

states

"M6

Supports up to three external displays using Thunderbolt and HDMI ports:

• Three displays: Two displays up to a native resolution of 6K at 60Hz or 4K at 165Hz, plus a third display up to 5K at 60Hz over Thunderbolt or 4K at 60Hz over HDMI Up to two displays: One display up to a native resolution of 8K at 60Hz or 5K at 120Hz or 4K at 240Hz, plus a second display up to 5K at 60Hz over Thunderbolt or 4K at 60Hz over HDMI
• Supports up to two external displays over a single Thunderbolt port
• Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports support native DisplayPort 1.4 speeds
• Supports variable refresh rate (VRR), HDR, and multichannel audio

"

Servant of Cats wrote:

But on a 27" monitor that one is viewing at normal desktop viewing distances, it produces very large text.

Not for me! 😳