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I just purchased a Dell P2175Q monitor for my 15" MBP w/Touchbar. I'm connecting with a USB-C to DisplayPort cable, but when I go to Apple > System Preference > Displays, there is nothing about the Refresh Rate. Pressing the Option key does not show any additional options.

I've seen countless screenshots where this information should appear. Is there another way to check the refresh rate?

I'm on macOS 10.13.4

Thanks.

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Ralph
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4 Answers4

64

After pressing the option key while clicking the "Scaled" radio button, tick the box "Show low resolution modes." This will show the refresh rate. display preferences image

Kris Olson
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    My 24fps movies would stutter on my 60fps TV. Followed the steps above to find out that my Mac had set a value of 30fps for the TV. Choosing 60fps solved my problem. Thanks! – Michael Jan 10 '19 at 00:39
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    This is the only answer that tells how to see the refresh rate, thanks! – Bogatyr Oct 24 '19 at 09:12
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    Thank you! I don't know why they had to make it this convoluted. Using your method I managed to set my monitor to 120Hz instead of 60. Why the "Show low resolution modes" option would enable a refresh rate dropdown is beyond me. – Chris White Aug 06 '20 at 17:37
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    This doesn't work for me on 10.15.6. – parzival Aug 21 '20 at 20:10
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    I wonder how does one guess tha magic combo of option-clicking a radio button – Ciprian Tomoiagă Aug 31 '22 at 07:01
59

You need to hold down the option-key while clicking the "Scaled" radio button to bring up the hidden part of the interface.

However, usually this does not give you any information on Refresh rate on this type of monitor as you cannot set it anyways.

You can click the Apple-logo in the top-left corner of the display, choose "About this Mac" and then "System Report" to bring up the system report. Choose "Graphics/Displays" and you'll have the information on the monitor. In the listing "Resolution" you'll see the refresh rate.

Note: Changing refresh rate might not be supported for the built-in display on some models, and in that case this option only appears if an external display that supports changing the refresh rate is connected to your Mac.

Per Quested Aronsson
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jksoegaard
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    It's like they don't want you to view the refresh rate. – Daniel Que Sep 06 '18 at 03:46
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    Mostly FYI: In Mojave, I don't see the resolution on the Graphics/Displays information. I have the LG display and a MBP with the displays mirrored. – pedz Dec 19 '18 at 03:13
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    Thanks, but in High Sierra I don't see the refresh rate there. It only says: "Resolution: 2560 x 1440 (QHD/WQHD - Wide Quad High Definition)" – Magne Jan 08 '19 at 14:33
  • In Mojave: the refresh rate (in Graphics/Displays) shows up at the end of "UI Looks like: 2560x1440 @ 30 Hz", where the 30 Hz refers to the refresh rate. – Seb Jul 28 '19 at 21:08
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    I don't see this on an Apple Thunderbolt Monitor on Big Sur. Not in System Prefs, not in System Information, either. – benwiggy Mar 30 '21 at 18:19
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    Not displayed in Big Sur either... – Per Quested Aronsson Jun 15 '21 at 07:06
8

You can also use a command-line tool called cscreen

# install homebrew if you don't have it already
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

install cscreen


brew install cscreen


list displays


cscreen -l

The output will look like this

(base) 12:06:41 jupyter ~$ cscreen -l
DisplayID  Index     Depth     Width     Height  Refresh
1c81fe45       1        32      2560       1440    60
 4281006       2        32      1680       1050     0

Note that with macOS Catalina, the first time you try to open the cscreen the os will not allow it because it isn't signed. You have to go to "Security & Privacy" in "System Preferences" and allow it.

Morgan Bye
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Gourneau
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    This does not work for built-in display on MacBook Pro 2017 with Big Sur. cscreen lists one display with the wrong resolution and refresh rate 0 (no external display connected), but maybe that's expected? – Per Quested Aronsson Jun 15 '21 at 08:45
  • For me cscreen shows logical resolution of desktop scaling, not the physical resolution the monitor is ran at. Same as system report. – Agent_L Aug 31 '22 at 07:24
0

I like the command-line tool displayplacer which functions similar to Linux's xrandr.

Install via brew: brew install jakehilborn/jakehilborn/displayplacer

Then use displayplacer list to see screens, resolutions, timings:

user@macbook ~ % displayplacer list
Contextual screen id: 3
Serial screen id: s1
Type: 42 inch external screen
Resolution: 3840x2160
Hertz: 60
Color Depth: 8
Scaling: off
Origin: (0,0) - main display
Rotation: 0
Enabled: true
Resolutions for rotation 0:
  mode 0: res:800x600 hz:75 color_depth:8
  mode 1: res:800x600 hz:72 color_depth:8
  mode 2: res:800x600 hz:60 color_depth:8 scaling:on
  mode 3: res:800x600 hz:60 color_depth:8
[...]
  mode 165: res:3360x1890 hz:25 color_depth:8 scaling:on
  mode 166: res:3360x1890 hz:24 color_depth:8
  mode 167: res:3360x1890 hz:24 color_depth:8 scaling:on
  mode 168: res:3840x2160 hz:60 color_depth:8 <-- current mode
  mode 169: res:3840x2160 hz:50 color_depth:8
  mode 170: res:3840x2160 hz:30 color_depth:8
  mode 171: res:3840x2160 hz:25 color_depth:8
[...zillions of modes]

Other install options here: https://github.com/jakehilborn/displayplacer

David Scott Kirby
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