macOS 27 Golden Gate Allows HDR With Scaled Resolutions on Third-Party Displays
Apple's macOS 27 removes the macOS 26 Tahoe limitation that forced third-party HDR displays to run at native resolution, but one M1 Max MacBook Pro test could not enable both settings.
Apple's macOS 27 Golden Gate allows a scaled resolution such as 2560 x 1440 and HDR to be enabled at the same time on third-party HDR displays, according to 9to5mac.com. The change addresses a limitation in the previous release.
On macOS 26 Tahoe, selecting a scaled resolution on an HDR-ready third-party display disabled the High Dynamic Range toggle and reverted the display to Standard Dynamic Range. HDR on third-party panels could only be enabled at the native 2x pixel-doubled resolution, such as 1920 x 1080 on a 4K panel.
macOS 27 also offers broader native HDR support across the operating system, including brighter spectral highlights and cursors and a more contrasty appearance than macOS Tahoe. The report cites a Dell UltraSharp U3226Q as an example of a third-party HDR display.
One test did not behave the same way. On an M1 Max MacBook Pro running macOS 27, a scaled resolution and HDR could not be selected at the same time, suggesting hardware requirements for the feature.
Quick answers
What did macOS 26 Tahoe limit on third-party HDR displays?
On macOS 26 Tahoe, selecting a scaled resolution on an HDR-ready third-party display disabled the HDR toggle and reverted to Standard Dynamic Range, so HDR worked only at the native 2x pixel-doubled resolution.
Does macOS 27 Golden Gate enable HDR and scaled resolution together on all Macs?
Apple's macOS 27 allows a scaled resolution such as 2560 x 1440 and HDR simultaneously on third-party HDR displays. However, an M1 Max MacBook Pro tested with macOS 27 could not select both at the same time, suggesting hardware requirements.