[sgerenser]

No, the one labeled default is one notch higher on the more space continuum than exact 2x Retina (at least on the 13 and 15” MacBook pros). On other machines, like my iMac, the default notch is exactly 2x Retina. Check out my screenshot and do the math yourself. “Looks like 1440x900” is the default notch, which means rendering at 2880x1800, which is higher resolution than the MacBook Pro 13’s 2560x1600 screen.

[crazygringo]

I stand corrected, thank you.

There were a bunch of articles way back when the scaling options were introduced that claimed anything less than "maximum space" introduced blurriness... but they were obviously wrong.

I just did the math and double-checked with screenshots, and indeed — on my 13" MacBook Pro the default is higher than 2x, not lower. It's only at the leftmost "larger text" that blurriness is introduced.

Thanks so much for the info, and I'm happy to know I am getting maximum clarity out of my Mac after all! Always good to get my misinformation corrected.

And so, never mind about the whole 3x thing... you're right, unless you need text extremely large. Cheers!