Long time readers know I have some skin in the game as a long-time computer user. As such, I have opinions on desktop wallpaper.
Statistically, it stands to reason that there are some Mac users who will never change the default wallpaper from the factory. They’ll happily use their Mac, just as it shipped from the fine folks at Cupertino.
Personally, I think that number is very, very small.
Like bumper stickers or tattoos, desktop wallpapers are a form of personal expression. Many computer users happily show off their desktop wallpaper – at work, school, or while sipping a chai latte at their favorite coffee shop. Whether they are a Star Wars fan, or celebrate their family and loved ones, a person’s desktop wallpaper says a lot about who they are and what’s important to them.
Customizing one’s desktop wallpaper is easy – making it an obvious go-to for nearly all computer users, whether they are newbies or geeks. And, from personal experience, every Mac I have owned over the past three decades have each had their Desktops adorned with a variety of custom artwork, minimalist abstract designs or serene landscapes.
But this week, I’ve embarked on something a bit different. An experiment, if you will. I traded my custom wallpaper for a boring, flat color background. That’s right. For the next few weeks, both my Macs are sporting a solid color on their Desktops.
You may ask: Why?
The answer is one part focus and the other part performance. Using a flat color background on a desktop Mac has several advantages over an image-based or other complex wallpaper.
First and foremost, Macs with a flat color background use less GPU and CPU resources. Let’s be real: on a modern M-series Mac, you will probably never notice the difference. But if your Mac is driving two or more 4K displays, and you have two separate 4K (or greater) resolution wallpaper images, it’s a fact that your Mac will need to allocate more of its resources to display them. Doubly so if you run “live” wallpapers that animate in the background. Using a high resolution, pixel-based wallpaper can potentially impact performance on RAM-starved Macs, both new and old.
Raster-based images with large dimensions have a higher pixel count. The more pixels in an image, the larger its file size. And the larger the file size, the more storage space it takes up. By contrast, solid color backgrounds have almost zero overhead. A wallpaper image can either be stretched, distorted, or blurry across different screen sizes. On the other hand, flat colors never have scaling issues.
Another advantage of going with a solid color background, particularly for Mac laptops, is battery efficiency. On MacBooks, using a solid color wallpaper can slightly improve battery life by reducing power consumption. Again, not really much of an issue on modern Apple silicon Macs, but it does play a greater factor on older machines.
And while one can argue the finer nuances of power consumption and resource usage when it comes to desktop wallpaper resource usage, I’ll be honest. For me, personally, it’s more about the increased focus and usability that solid color backgrounds bring.
With a solid color background, I have reduced distractions. There’s less visual clutter to parse, allowing me to have greater focus on my work. Desktop icons tend to have better contrast on a solid color background, making them stand out more easily. There are also benefits when it comes to reduced eye strain. Using a neutral, dark or desaturated solid color can be easier on one’s eyes; an important factor if you spend a large percentage of your day staring at the screen.
Using a flat color on your Mac’s Desktop can give off a clean, minimalist look. Or, if you prefer, it can also give your Mac a little retro vibe, channeling the simple Desktop visuals from the earliest color Macs.
The goal here is not to change your mind when it comes to your desktop wallpaper preferences. You do you! But if you’re looking for greater focus while you work at your Mac or if you simply desire a minimalistic aesthetic, going with a solid background color for your desktop backdrop can be a noteworthy option, with absolutely zero down sides. Best of all, you can always change your wallpaper back if you want!
If you’re looking for a quick way to change your desktop to a solid color, you’re in luck! I’ve written a simple script in Keyboard Maestro that automatically changes my desktop wallpaper to a solid periwinkle blue color image for all of my displays in my Mac setup.
To trigger it, I simply press Control Command Option W. And to switch out my blue wallpaper with something more fun, like the Graphite wallpaper from Mac OS X Snow Leopard, I run another KM script by triggering Control Command Option T. Who says you can’t have it both ways?
I’ve always used “simple” screens–a gradient or perhaps an organic swatch running across the screen (System 8??). Right now it’s a medium dark gray. I do hate a cluttered screen.
I use a sold background when I am frazzled but still have work to do. The remainder off the time I use serene scenes, usually photos I have taken while traveling, often involving the ocean or sunset.