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xraydoc

Contributor
Original poster
Oct 9, 2005
10,970
5,426
192.168.1.1
So I've had my 14" MacBook Pro for 24 hrs. now. In clamshell mode connected to an external monitor, the desktop icons are auto-arranged into the top left corner of the desktop as per normal, right up under the menu bar (which comes as no surprise to any Mac user). When I disconnect the external monitor, the top icons become slightly covered by the wider menu bar -- the new camera notch-compatible wide menu bar seems to slightly cover the top desktop icons.

Am I missing something? Why don't the desktop icons drop down a few pixels to make space for the wide menu bar? If I adjust the desktop icons when the laptop screen is open to uncover them from the menu bar, then go back to clamshell mode, new desktop icons don't line up correctly with the previous ones, until I again rearrange.

Seems to me like macOS doesn't realize the menu bar gets wider when the laptop's display is open and narrower again when in clamshell mode on a standard (no-notch) monitor.

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed this? Could it be an artifact of the way I migrated my old Mac to this new one (Migration Assistant)?
 

Czo

macrumors 6502
Dec 30, 2008
437
274
Debrecen, Hungary
I have the same problem (under Sonoma), and this drives me crazy, because i have to manually resnap my icons to the current grid many times a day (multiple times switching between clamshell mode and undocked mode).
 

chabig

macrumors G4
Sep 6, 2002
11,410
9,112
...the desktop icons are auto-arranged into the top left corner of the desktop as per normal, right up under the menu bar (which comes as no surprise to any Mac user).
Count me as surprised. macOS normally places desktop icons down the right side of the desktop, starting at the top.

I suspect your icons were manually placed, which might explain why they don't move when the menu bar changes. If they were aligned to the grid I would expect the grid (and the icons) to move when the menu bar changes. I can't test this though because I don't have a MacBook Pro. But you can try selecting View > Clean Up, which will move your icons to the grid. See if that changes the behavior.
 

xraydoc

Contributor
Original poster
Oct 9, 2005
10,970
5,426
192.168.1.1
Count me as surprised. macOS normally places desktop icons down the right side of the desktop, starting at the top.

I suspect your icons were manually placed, which might explain why they don't move when the menu bar changes. If they were aligned to the grid I would expect the grid (and the icons) to move when the menu bar changes. I can't test this though because I don't have a MacBook Pro. But you can try selecting View > Clean Up, which will move your icons to the grid. See if that changes the behavior.
I meant right side, not left.
 
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