Are the "Looks like" resolutions in the scaling modes on Retina Macs the true resolution they run at?
The answer to your question really depends on the definition of the &quot;true&quot; resolution.
Some people would say that the resolution that the actual display uses is the &quot;true resolution&quot;. This means that this is the actual &quot;pixels&quot; you can turn on/off.
If you use this definition, the &quot;Looks like&quot; resolution is not the true resolution. The &quot;true resolution&quot; is much higher, usually double of that. However &quot;Looks like&quot; means that things on screen appear as if the resolution was that, but pixels have been doubled (or nearly doubled) in order to improve sharpness and clarity while maintaining an actual physical size of letters, shapes, etc. that is not too small for you to be able to read.
For example you might have a 4k display capable of displaying 3840x2160 pixels. You might choose a setup here that &quot;Looks like&quot; 1920x1080. The actual resolution in terms of pixel data sent to and shown on the display is 3840x2160, but user interface elements, font sizes, etc. have been scaled so that in terms of physical size it looks like you had a 1920x1080 display of the same physical size. The benefit you get is that text and other elements are &quot;clearer&quot; on screen.