Do You Prefer Notch or No Notch?

[Yonidass]

I'll take the notch any day for more screen real estate. That portion of your screen is almost always empty anyway because of the menu bar. And in full-screen mode, the notch disappears apparently.

Unless you have OCD, you'll stop noticing it. I thought I might be bothered by the notch on my iPhone until I'd had it for two days. Now I never think about it.

 

[LeeW]

I would prefer no notch but it likely wouldn't bother me. The only thing is that in order to 'hide' it they are making the top bezel bigger and therefore some of the real estate unusable.

But I guess there is a big issue here on current software that won't know about the notch and you could end up with menus or key elements obscured by the notch so they need to take that into account.

 

[Feyl]

Who would prefer the notch? It's like if you say you don't mind a little hole in the window of your car or something. The notch has at least some explanation in iPhone but in Mac without Face ID? The notch is clearly a marketing statement for a very wrong reason. Why didn't they bring the notch on iPad Pros with Face ID?

 

[tgwaste]

get a dell with those thin bezels. this laptop isn't for you.

i'll be happy with a M1 Pro beast of a system w/ 1000 nit display + promotion.

I’m so glad you’re around to tell me what is and isnt for me. The new MacBook Pro is garbage. Just another design regurgitation.

 

[playtech1]

I would have been happier if they had stuffed it into the thin bezel - Dell managed it!

 

[imdog]

Who would prefer the notch? It's like if you say you don't mind a little hole in the window of your car or something. The notch has at least some explanation in iPhone but in Mac without Face ID? The notch is clearly a marketing statement for a very wrong reason. Why didn't they bring the notch on iPad Pros with Face ID?

I have a hard time believing this many people would actually, if given the choice; opt for the notch.

 

[thadoggfather]

What happens when the iPhone has no notch or a smaller one?
The MacBook pro’s will look dated at that point and that could be a year out from now

 

[TopToffee]

I’m so glad you’re around to tell me what is and isnt for me. The new MacBook Pro is garbage. Just another design regurgitation.

Yeah, but it's really not. If the claimed performance is even CLOSE to accurate it will be a huge game changer for the users it's designed for (hint - the clue is in the name)

 

[Jett0516]

I've embraced the notch since the iphone 10 🖤

#family

 

[TopToffee]

I have a hard time believing this many people would actually, if given the choice; opt for the notch.

Depends what you're offering as the alternative. If it's the realistic alternative of a thicker bezel and less screen space, then yes lots of people would choose the notch.

The bezel doesn't eat into the screen, it facilitates ADDITIONAL screen space either side of it.

 

[imdog]

Depends what you're offering as the alternative. If it's the realistic alternative of a thicker bezel and less screen space, then yes lots of people would choose the notch.

The bezel doesn't eat into the screen, it facilitates ADDITIONAL screen space either side of it.

It doesn’t even have faceID so it’d be easy to fit the camera system into a thin bezel. Many laptops do it

 

[tgwaste]

Yeah, but it's really not. If the claimed performance is even CLOSE to accurate it will be a huge game changer for the users it's designed for (hint - the clue is in the name)

I'm not talking about whats under the hood.

Oh.. one more thing: Don't you dare try to tell me that the word "Pro" means anything to Apple other than marketting speak. (hint... my iphone pro still has lightning.)

 

[theluggage]

It wouldn't stop me buying one (I don't need a new laptop right now - waiting for the 5k iMac or Mini Pro - but if I did I'd be reaching for the credit card) but I think the dreaded notch is introducing extra technical and visual complexity while not adding much.

OK, so let's accept that we haven't lost space to a notch, we've gained space in the form of "ears" that would otherwise just be bezel... but it looks like all you gain is that, in desktop mode, you get back the space that would have been taken by the menu bar... although, not as much as it may seem because it looks like they've had to make the menu bar bigger so that it fills the ears.

You can already get the menu bar space back by either (a) running apps in full screen mode or (b) choosing the "automatically show/hide menu bar" so... so what?

What's going to happen if there are more menu headings than will fit on the left-hand ear? What's going to happen in "more text" scaled mode (presumably the menu bar stays at the same height rather than getting slimmer....)

Also, it's pretty obvious that this was designed by someone who prefers "dark mode" where the notch just disappears. In light mode it will always stand out like a sore thumb.

I think it's telling that - apart from the bit where they show you how it works - you hardly ever saw it in the video because they were using dark mode, fullscreen apps or a backdrop with a dark top. If you have to go out of your way to hide something in the launch presentation that introduces it then something is not right.

 

[tomtad]

I hate it already, just as we got rid of stupid touchbar they introduce the next hate object.

Has anyone a screenshot with the notch in fullscreen apps, how's that gonna work out?

They just blank out the top part of the screen. So in effect the screen shrinks when you go full screen 🤦‍♂️

 

[therealMasa]

What happens when the iPhone has no notch or a smaller one?
The MacBook pro’s will look dated at that point and that could be a year out from now

Who honestly thought the iPhone 14 would be notch-less?

Unless they're scrapping FaceID, it's not happening for at least another two years.

 

[TopToffee]

I'm not talking about whats under the hood.

Ah so you're not talking about the important stuff, but writing off the MBP as "garbage". Cool cool

 

[nlkccom]

I don’t want the notch, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it just like the iPhone.

 

[pianostar9]

Why is there never a "don't care" option?

Because it's a voluntary response poll, so typically, only people with strong opinions would care enough to vote in it.

 

[3Rock]

I'll take the notch any day for more screen real estate. That portion of your screen is almost always empty anyway because of the menu bar. And in full-screen mode, the notch disappears apparently.

Unless you have OCD, you'll stop noticing it. I thought I might be bothered by the notch on my iPhone until I'd had it for two days. Now I never think about it.

Yes….. The menu bar is taking up that space with the notch anyway so it’s not being intrusive to the screen

 

[pianostar9]

The menu bar is taking up that space with the notch anyway so it’s not being intrusive to the screen

Agreed, the notch is acceptable - it's as if the macOS menu bar that's been around since macOS first existed was just waiting for the notch to appear.

I'm not a huge notch fan, but owning the Apple Thunderbolt Display, my mind is boggled imagining if it were as full-screen as a notched display might have made it.

 

[tgwaste]

Ah so you're not talking about the important stuff, but writing off the MBP as "garbage". Cool cool

Yep. Exactly right.

 

[sebban]

Yes….. The menu bar is taking up that space with the notch anyway so it’s not being intrusive to the screen

Exactly, I feel like many that complain about the Notch on other websites are not MacOS users and don't realize that on macOS the Menu bar is always on top instead of one for each app as it is on Windows. So I'm happy they have the notch and give more real estate, without compromising the camera.

 

[DNichter]

I’d prefer no notch, but I am fine with the design/trade off.

 

[sebban]

I would have been happier if they had stuffed it into the thin bezel - Dell managed it!

That is not correct. The Dell camera is not as good. Source. And the display ain't either. It's great to have extra real estate for a Notch that is in a place where the menu bar is anyway, and is otherwise being unused.

 

[briko]

Yes….. The menu bar is taking up that space with the notch anyway so it’s not being intrusive to the screen

Exactly, I feel like many that complain about the Notch on other websites are not MacOS users and don't realize that on macOS the Menu bar is always on top instead of one for each app as it is on Windows. So the Notch is only good tbh.

The iPhone 12 notch is less than 2mm taller than the newly-thin bezels on the MacBooks, and the iPhone takes 1080p video as well and has even MORE sensors packed into that space. I totally understand the argument for increased screen real estate, but isn't there a point of diminishing returns? At just 1.8mm of vertical space it's barely handful of pixels at that point. If I'm going to give up part of my screen, i'd rather it be a thin strip of pixels across the top rather than a sizable chunk taken from the middle.

It will certainly be intrusive to apps that have enough menu items to reach the middle of the display. And that's not even taking into account how visually intrusive it will be, at least to some users. Plus, it doesn't really "give you back" any space because in fullscreen apps, that area is still inaccessible.

There is no reason to justify the notch in my opinion. I believe that Apple introduced the notch because marketing is more important than the user experience to them. They wanted to add the MacBook Pro to their family of iconic notched devices.