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Apple macOS Display Disorder: Resetting the Desktops

Published by C. S. Wyatt, MFA/Ph.D. on March 11, 2021

Working with two (or more) external monitors with an Apple computer seems to require a daily display arrangement dance.

With my MacBook Pro to my left, an LG monitor in front of me, and an ASUS to the right, my arrangement works great for media editing and its also handy for daily chores like grading student work.

After I start or wake my system, the screens are often in a new order. The arrangement doesn’t change in the System Preferences. The displays have not moved physically. Yet, “Display 1” or “Display 2” might or might not be my LG monitor. The Asus is sometimes second and sometimes third.

This is the display arrangement dance:

  1. Open System Preferences.
  2. Select Displays.
  3. Choose the Arrangement tab, available only on the primary screen.
  4. Drag the white Menu Bar indicator to the screen you eventually want to be “Display 2,” making it the primary screen.
  5. Locate the Displays preferences pane, now on the active screen.
  6. Drag the Menu Bar indicator to the screen you really want as the primary screen.

Why go through this?

I assign various applications and windows to specific workspaces. In OS X and macOS, these workspaces are called virtual desktops. I don’t want to be dragging and dropping applications and windows every time I switch programs.

  • The LG screen offers a wonderful amount of real estate. That’s why it is in the middle. It’s my workhorse.
  • The Asus is a color-calibrated Adobe-certified monitor. I want to see previews of video on that screen. Always on that screen.
  • The MacBook Pro, with its smaller screen, is good for web browsing and research.

When I open Word or Excel, they should open on the LG: Display 1, Desktop 1. When I open a video file, I want it on the ASUS. If I open Chrome or Safari, they should open on the MacBook Pro’s display.

Apple needs to remember these settings. There should be an option, “Remember display arrangement,” within the System Preferences. It’s not enough that Apple and Microsoft “support” multiple display arrangements. I should not have to verify the arrangement at least once a day.

Every media editor I know uses two external screens. I know a programmer with three external screens.

Come on, Apple. Creators are among your most loyal users and the most likely to have complex workspace preferences.

 

 

Published inHardwareTechnology