Blurry or pixelated icons on dock after upgrading to macOS 26 while using external monitor from Macbook Pro

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Level 1

5 points

Blurry or pixelated icons on dock after upgrading to macOS 26 while using external monitor from Macbook Pro

After upgrading to macOS 26, users with a MacBook M2 Pro connected to an external monitor, experience blurry or pixelated icons appearing on the dock, particularly on the external display. This visual degradation manifests as icons losing sharpness and clarity, with edges appearing fuzzy or pixelated instead of crisp. Interestingly, this issue does not occur when using the same external monitor with a Mac mini M4 running the identical macOS version, where icon rendering remains sharp and clear.

Detailed Description of the Issue:

• Device and OS Environment: The problem occurs on a MacBook equipped with an M2 Pro chip running the newly released macOS 26. The external monitor involved is connected via common interfaces such as Thunderbolt or HDMI.

• Symptoms: When the MacBook is connected to the external display, the dock icons shown on that monitor look noticeably blurred or pixelated. This contrasts with the built-in Retina display of the MacBook where icons appear normally crisp. The blurriness impacts both native and third-party app icons docked or popped up on the external monitor.

• Reproducibility: Consistently reproducible on MacBook M2 Pro after upgrading to macOS 26. The issue is not observed on the Mac mini M4 with the exact same monitor model and macOS version, indicating a potential device-specific rendering or scaling problem.

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 26.0

Posted on Sep 25, 2025 10:37 AM

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Answer 1

Sep 25, 2025 10:46 AM in response to saltysoda

FWIW, icons are crips and sharp for me running Tahoe on an M4 Pro MBP with an external display.

Check the resolution(s) selected in System Settings > Displays. Set it to Default – does the issue still occur?

If you option-click the resolution options then set the toggle to Show all resolutions, you will notice that there are some low resolution options available.

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Answer 2

Oct 17, 2025 5:50 AM in response to saltysoda

The new Tahoe dock icon appearance is indeed appalling, even on MBP. All icons look like over-sharpened JPEGs in Photoshop. If you zoom in (Ctrl+scroll), you can easily see that graphics dithering is badly needed. This new "edge" look given to dock icons was a whimsical design decision, and the results are grainy. It just doesn't look good on all icons, and will require many app developers to redesign their icons to fit this new look. Now, designers who create icons that reach their edge are going to have to work extra hard to make icons blend in. However, even Apple app icons are harder to see and present an annoying line around them. It's a cute idea, but poorly executed.

Maybe Apple will offer a choice here in the future.

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Answer 3

saltysoda Author

Level 1

5 points

Sep 25, 2025 12:28 PM in response to neuroanatomist

Thanks for the response, but tried switching different resolutions, no joy. MBP screen appears good, its just the external display. Icons on my Mac mini dock are looking great when connected to the same display & resolution, strange.

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