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Apple Plans to Obscure MacBook Pro Notch With Wallpaper in Marketing Images

xWhiplash said:
This is going to be the worst design decision Apple will make with regards to Macs. I hated the notch since iPhone X, I will hate the Macbooks if this is true. Apple can make a perfect laptop if they remove the touch bar and add the Apple Silicon with more RAM support.
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Honestly, the touch bar doesn't really offend me beyond the missing esc key, with a physical esc it would be kind of a nice feature. I never cared about Fx keys, I didn't really use them in the '80s and I don't use them now.
RAM support OTOH is a MAJOR problem with the M1. This 2012 MBP I'm using right now has 16GB RAM. Almost a decade later, and Apple releases a new chip that can address at most... 16GB RAM. That's beyond stupid.
 
Maybe its a notch for both but for the 14inch its a 1080p camera but for the 16inch its Face ID. Look at the iPad Pro release this year. The 12.9 got the new screen while the 11 was just the same screen. Face ID on the 16inch would be one way to get more consumers to gravitate towards it. Then next year the 14inch can get Face ID?
 
bob_hearn said:
Notch, no notch, really, who cares? But heavy, and a max of 32G RAM, those are nonstarters for me.
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Heavy is fine. This 2012 I'm using weighs 5.6 lbs, and another pound or two on top of that wouldn't bother me in the slightest. It's beyond time for more RAM.

But the notch is also unacceptable. Sorry, I just don't need that distraction at the top of my screen.
 
Boil said:
m1x-chip-info-ty98.jpg


Whole lotta pins there...
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Why would more graphics cores require more pins in the first place? That doesn't make sense. If that is more RAM and not GPU cores, then at least that makes some sense.
 
slb said:
Here come the stockholders who defend everything Apple does. I'd be happy not having a dark object on screen all the time like a hair you can't wipe off.
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This is the crux of the issue, for long time Macbook Pro users, can we live with this notch, how annoying will it be? Perhaps with your attention generally focused on the center of the screen, it will be liveable. I hope so, because I really don't want to return to Windows.
 
Two big questions for me: just how thick, and just how pricey?

If it’s too much, I might switch over to the MacBook Air. I’ve heard the M1s are very impressive.
 
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The notch Issues as far as I can see:
  • If the notch eats into the menubar - non-starter - I have apps that need enough menu items to reach the centre of a 27" display. I also have menubar apps and status indicators, which drop menus with extended information, that could cross the centre of the menubar if I enabled enough of them.
    • Unless they put that poxy "more things" 3 dots in a circle button thing when your app's menus reach the notch. Again, non-starter.
  • If the notch is above the menubar, and the area to either side is for status indicators:
    • Is the menubar still backstopped for the mouse pointer - that's literally the most important, and heavily defended piece of IP Apple ever made for the Mac.
    • If it is, how do you interact with these (frankly distracting if they're variable and above the main menu) status indicators.
      • Oh God, the touchbar, they're going to split the touchbar in half, and put it on each side of the notch, aren't they?
 
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ice29 said:
Not happy about the thickness (if true), the last MBP gen was okay, but much thicker than that, I don't know... Of course great for hard-core cases requiring lots of performance, but for someone who simply wants a 16inch semi-portable machine to replace a fixed-workstation and e.g. does a lots of dev work in the cloud (so does not need 32+ GB RAM), it might be too much... but let's wait for tomorrow :)
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You need all the RAM for those electron apps that you use to do cloud work, also for all those browser tabs
 
xpaulso said:
Thank You. So I’d imagine that it’s the number of textures and models that need to be held in memory? Most of my work has been in DBs virtualization and text processing. So memory is factor but often it’s memory latency and disk latency that are the bigger factors. In many use cases it’s impossible to keep a full data set in memory. So we focus on reducing datasets and streamlining the pipeline.

But I know next to nothing about 3D design and modeling, But I’m always curious about other use cases,.
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Music production with large orchestral sample libraries is another use case where at least 64 GB is truly needed.
 
ponzicoinbro said:
There is not going to be any notch on the menu bar or obscuring tool bars in full screen mode.

The camera module will still be above the menu bar.

Above the menu bar there will probably be a black mini LED area with notifications, etc. It would look like a bezel but with shortcuts and information.

The camera module will be in this black area above the menu bar.
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I wonder if they’re just relocating the touchbar…
 
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People act like getting the notch is losing something. Everything indicates the screen will be slightly larger.
Apple is ADDING an extra row, but the row is incomplete due to the notch.

Sheesh. Or switch to Windows until they also start shipping with notches (did you notice how everyone making fun of iPhones went ahead and copied them?)
 
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v3rlon said:
People act like getting the notch is losing something. Everything indicates the screen will be slightly larger.
Apple is ADDING an extra row, but the row is incomplete due to the notch.
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How do they solve the backstopping issue? The most fundamental design aspect of the Mac is that the mouse cannot overshoot the menubar. You can't just put an extra row of stuff above it, unless it's inaccessible to the mouse.
 
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MacRumors said:


Last minute rumors that came out just days ago suggest that the MacBook Pro will feature a notch at the top for the 1080p webcam and ambient light sensor, but it turns out information about a notch was shared months ago by a Chinese leaker that may have been the source for several other rumors about the upcoming 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.

M1X-MBP-Feature.jpg

In a forum post shared in August, "ty98" said that both MacBook Pro models will have a notch. He went on to provide several other details about the machines, including a mention of the 1080p webcams and the lack of Face ID, which we have previously heard from other leakers.

The leaker claims to have intimate knowledge of the new machines, and at one point, he said that he saw both the case of the MacBook Pro and its packaging. Apple apparently plans to obscure the design of the notch in its marketing materials for the upcoming device.

"Today, I saw the packaging shell," he wrote. "Sure enough, it was the kind of wallpaper with a dark top. If you don't look carefully, you can't see the [notch] at all."

We don't know much about this leaker, but he shared the MacBook Pro notch details months ago, and it's looking like that information is accurate. Since the news of the notch leaked, there has been mounting evidence that it's real, including Apple's own display resolutions, which we outlined in our original article.

Apple has also published patents on notch implementations in the MacBook Pros, and yesterday, a photo of a MacBook Pro display unit with a notch surfaced. We've recently learned that the REvil leak that saw stolen MacBook Pro schematics released back in April also included photos of a MacBook Pro with a notch, lending more evidence to the possibility that Apple has settled on a notched design.

In light of that, we thought we'd share the rest of the information that Ty98 provided in his original August forum post and in the comments that followed.
  • There is no Face ID, with the notch to house a 1080p webcam, an ambient light sensor, and an indicator light.
  • There will be a mini-LED display.
  • The MacBook Pro is "very thick, thick and heavy."
  • The maximum configuration of "32+4T" will be its biggest selling point.
  • Apple will add two large fans to the new chip.
  • "Don't expect too much on narrow borders. It is indeed narrow, but it is not much narrow."
  • Touch Bar is gone.
  • MacBook Pro models will feature MagSafe, HDMI Port, and SD Card slot.
  • No "MacBook Pro" logo on the bottom bezel.
  • Bezel width remains at the current size, with the bezels at the three sides basically the same width with the bottom bezel thicker.
  • The MacBook Pro "has various curves" to give people an "intuitive feeling that it is a large rectangle."
Not all of what Ty98 says makes sense, especially in regard to the thicker bezels, so there may be details here that are just lost in translation. The leaked schematics and a notch design seem to suggest the inclusion of very thin bezels. Just today, the leaker shared a look at the "M1X" chip variations that he says are representative of the Apple silicon chips set to be used in the new MacBook Pro models, complete with pin counts.

m1x-chip-info-ty98.jpg

It's worth noting that because this forum post is from August and the leaked schematics are from April, there's a chance that Apple changed design directions and does not plan to release MacBook Pro models that feature a notch, but there is overwhelming evidence that it was at least considered.

We don't have long to wait to find out if the notched design is happening as Apple's event is set to take place at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time tomorrow and will provide us with all of the details about the new machines.

Article Link: Apple Plans to Obscure MacBook Pro Notch With Wallpaper in Marketing Images
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I'm glad it is large and rectangle!

Notches Smotches - don't care about that.

I think it's smart to have HDMI - although I won't use that much and wonder if they could just use that USB C Thunderwire stuff instead, but whatever

I'll be very happy to have SD card slot - first purchase would be a zero profile big SD "drive".

Very pleased that there might be MagSafe!

I do hope it has little LED's to show that the unit is connected to live power - even with lid closed.
 
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slb said:
Here come the stockholders who defend everything Apple does. I'd be happy not having a dark object on screen all the time like a hair you can't wipe off.
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You know there are people who like to short the stocks too. So they will say terrible things about Apple.
 
magicschoolbus said:
I don’t understand the notch. Apple pulled off a beautiful design with the iPad Pro screen and there is no notch. It’s built into the bezel which is quite small. Why not just keep that design language and extend the sides and bottom to go more bezel less and just leave the top bezel to feature the hardware underneath.
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Because it’s “Apple” they love to do stuff that makes zero sense than what the public knows and wants is good
 
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