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The notch is embarrassingly bad, unintelligent design. That’s the reality. The only accurate thing you said in regards to good/bad design is that the curved edges of the screen such as on the galaxy phones is also idiotic design.

The only thing the display being lit in the ears does, is draws your eyes TO IT. IT DOESNT CREATE AN ILLUSION IT CREATES A DISTRACTION. You’ll see this in person when you receive the device. So enjoy that.

I disagree. Based on the candid shots of the phone in the wild, the iPhone X looks incredible.
 
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I think Wonder Woman has a lot to answer for. People are focusing on that now infamous zoom view and using it as a huge example of why the notch is bad.
the Wonder Woman movie is actually a great example of the X being a better screen layout if compared to iPhone Plus models.
(and crazy better if comparing to regular sized iPhone)

but yeah, people saw that one photo which showed someone watching Wonder Woman fullscreen on the X and made some sort of ill-informed judgement.. reality is, no matter which way you play the movie (full screen or non-cropped), you'll always get more content on the X vs Plus.
 
The screen could have 1 million PPI and a screen that is beyond realistic but it all gets shadowed by a poor design.
It is identical to buying a brand new 2017 Ferrari completely covered in rust and holes!
 
The screen could have 1 million PPI and a screen that is beyond realistic but it all gets shadowed by a poor design.
It is identical to buying a brand new 2017 Ferrari completely covered in rust and holes!
The lengths that some of you go to be displeased with the notch is...worrying.
 
The lengths that some of you go to be displeased with the notch is...worrying.
I just can not believe Apple went with such a design when aesthetics and user experience is what drove this company to the highest mountain ever created.
 
I just can not believe Apple went with such a design when aesthetics and user experience is what drove this company to the highest mountain ever created.
You would rather have more bezel and screen space used then? It looks different now because we aren’t used to it. There are comprosmises with everything.
 
I just can not believe Apple went with such a design when aesthetics and user experience is what drove this company to the highest mountain ever created.
so they should just continue making a rectangle screen? a rectangle is aesthetically beautiful or pure?

i think a lot of people can only see backwards and never into the future so for you, you’ll simply have to wait a half decade.. then you’ll be able to use your backward vision to see how old fashioned rectangular screens look.

screens have been rectangular due to technical reasons. not aesthetic reasons.

now that these limitations are going away, or not being too cost prohibitive.. i think you’ll see many instances of displays moving away from rectangular layouts.

but again, in your case, you’ll just have to wait longer than others in order to recognize this.
 
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I just can not believe Apple went with such a design when aesthetics and user experience is what drove this company to the highest mountain ever created.

Someone else on the forum made a comment that helped me realize the notch is a great design.

Current iPhones use two rows for stuff. Earpiece and sensors on one row; time, battery, carrier, etc. on the second row.
This not efficient use of space.

The iPhone X puts all of that “stuff” on one row. The notch will be iconic for the new generation of iPhone, just as the circlular home button was iconic for the outgoing design.
 
As to the shape of displays and their evolving tech and our evolving perception of what is expected or pleasing, I remember these:

CBE18C7E-043B-4CAD-AF60-10E285E586CA.jpeg
 
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the Wonder Woman movie is actually a great example of the X being a better screen layout if compared to iPhone Plus models.
(and crazy better if comparing to regular sized iPhone)

but yeah, people saw that one photo which showed someone watching Wonder Woman fullscreen on the X and made some sort of ill-informed judgement.. reality is, no matter which way you play the movie (full screen or non-cropped), you'll always get more content on the X vs Plus.


FullScreen Comparison:
Screen Shot 2017-10-15 at 1.01.51 PM.png




----------------

Zoom Extents Comparison (no cropping):
Screen Shot 2017-10-15 at 1.02.13 PM.png
 
something else that's interesting (to me at least) as far as the layout of the X's screen is concerned..

these newer phones are using 18:9 aspect ratios (or 2:1.. same thing)..

for example..
LG V30:

Screen Shot 2017-10-15 at 2.02.51 PM.jpg

(to visualize iPhone 6/7/8 on the above graphic.. cut off the top row of squares and the bottom row of squares.. you'll be left with 16:9 )


---------------------------

Samsung S8:

Screen Shot 2017-10-15 at 2.02.57 PM.jpg
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------




but what Apple did with the X is a little bit different.. they've gone with a wider 19.5:9 aspect ratio.. but what's interesting is within the notch and the opposing margin created by the round corners, you're left with a perfect 18:9 ratio within that space:

Screen Shot 2017-10-15 at 2.12.48 PM.jpg



-------------------------------------
and it's interesting because there's been a push lately start using 2:1 for video/films.. some prestige type TV shows have already started to adopt this proposed format.. such as Transparent, House of Cards, Fargo, Stranger Things.. as well as some movies...

Video shot in this format will preform great on these and similar phones.. edge to edge content with no loss.. (well, the S8 and V30 will lose a tiny bit in the corners).. with the X, this sized video will fit perfectly in between notch/bottom margin & the edges with zero loss of content even when maxed out in the shorter direction... for example, here's Stranger Things on iPhone X:

Screen Shot 2017-10-15 at 2.25.12 PM.jpg




-----------------
and how this relates to anything would be... rumors about Apple inking deals to produce prestige TV shows ala Game of Thrones or Stranger Things etc.. i'm willing to bet when/if that happens, these shows will be shot in 18:9 ratios... and they're going to look awesome on iPhone X.
 
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It’s functional and allows for a modern almost all screen design. It was about time for a major redesign and we got it. The front has been the same fie years less minor home button changes. Notch hate is overblown.
 
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Here's my take on it:

There needs to be quite a bit of space devoted to the hardware of the front-facing camera, proximity sensor, earpiece speaker, and all the FaceID stuff.

Apple could have just made a solid bezel across the top of the phone like any other phone in this generation.

Instead... they gave us two little extra screens on either side! All the hardware goodies are in the middle... and we get extra screens for mundane static things like the clock, battery and carrier info.

People call it a "notch" because they think it cuts into the screen... as if it's taking away screen area.

I think it's the complete opposite. I think Apple is giving us bonus screens! :p

Maybe I'm trying to make lemonade... but I'm stickin' to it!

This is pretty much how I'm looking at it too. Extra screen real estate to have; I suppose it'll eventually won't stick out as much once we have the device, we'll see.

In general: The only way I see a possibility of eliminating the notch would be to develop a display whose pixels are transparent, so the camera and other sensors could live under the display. I imagine such a task is very hard to do. I don't develop displays or work on related hardware, but this would be an interesting thing to explore. My work entails a lot of hardware, electronics, and software development so such things are always interesting to think about!
 
-------------------------------------
and it's interesting because there's been a push lately start using 2:1 for video/films.. some prestige type TV shows have already started to adopt this proposed format.. such as Transparent, House of Cards, Fargo, Stranger Things.. as well as some movies...

Video shot in this format will preform great on these and similar phones.. edge to edge content with no loss.. (well, the S8 and V30 will lose a tiny bit in the corners).. with the X, this sized video will fit perfectly in between notch/bottom margin & the edges with zero loss of content even when maxed out in the shorter direction... for example, here's Stranger Things on iPhone X:

View attachment 725545



-----------------
and how this relates to anything would be... rumors about Apple inking deals to produce prestige TV shows ala Game of Thrones or Stranger Things etc.. i'm willing to bet when/if that happens, these shows will be shot in 18:9 ratios... and they're going to look awesome on iPhone X.


This would be ok, except they need to improve their zoom options for the video player. Currently it just seems to zoom until the left and right edges hit the left and right extremes of the screen (including the ears), and the top/bottom are cropped accordingly. Partly I guess this is because the source material is usually held within a 16:9 video with top/bottom bars encoded into the video. So if content is 2:1 it’ll actually get the top and bottom slightly cropped, plus the notch sticking into the left side of the content.

Ideally they’d have a Smart zoom that detects the black bars in content and zooms to best maximise the image without cropping
 
This would be ok, except they need to improve their zoom options for the video player. Currently it just seems to zoom until the left and right edges hit the left and right extremes of the screen (including the ears), and the top/bottom are cropped accordingly. Partly I guess this is because the source material is usually held within a 16:9 video with top/bottom bars encoded into the video. So if content is 2:1 it’ll actually get the top and bottom slightly cropped, plus the notch sticking into the left side of the content.

Ideally they’d have a Smart zoom that detects the black bars in content and zooms to best maximise the image without cropping

from what i gather from watching hands-on videos at the event..
there are two options.
a video or image will first scale until it hits the notch (or, until it hits the edges if the image is more square)..it fills the so called 'safe area'.. in the Wonder Woman example i posted earlier, this would be the bottom comparison.. the 'no cropping' one.

screen shot 2017-09-15 at 43953 pm.png

you could then double tap to go full screen and arrive at the top comparison.

?

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-iphone-x-notch-will-handle-videos-2017-9
(there's a video at that link showing it in action)
 
This is pretty much how I'm looking at it too. Extra screen real estate to have; I suppose it'll eventually won't stick out as much once we have the device, we'll see.

In general: The only way I see a possibility of eliminating the notch would be to develop a display whose pixels are transparent, so the camera and other sensors could live under the display. I imagine such a task is very hard to do. I don't develop displays or work on related hardware, but this would be an interesting thing to explore. My work entails a lot of hardware, electronics, and software development so such things are always interesting to think about!

a hypothetical side note..

if they do eventually manage to make that happen.. ie- everything is either under the display or otherwise not taking up any space on the front..

they'll have to do one other thing which is.. make it so it doesn't matter if the phone is pointing up or down.. because without the notch or any other visual or tactile cue as to orientation, half the time you try to swipe up, the phone will be upside-down without you knowing..

with the notch there and no home button, the notch tells us which way is up.. if the notch goes away then you'd need to be able to swipe up from either end.. (sort of how with landscape, you can turn it either direction)..
they'd then have to probably figure out a better placement for the rear camera because half the time, it will likely be in the wrong place and you'll block it with your fingers.

idk, for now, even if will don't realize it... we'll be using the notch as a means to know which way is up, where the camera is, etc.. just like we currently do with home button-- either via seeing it or feeling it.
 
a hypothetical side note..

if they do eventually manage to make that happen.. ie- everything is either under the display or otherwise not taking up any space on the front..

they'll have to do one other thing which is.. make it so it doesn't matter if the phone is pointing up or down.. because without the notch or any other visual or tactile cue as to orientation, half the time you try to swipe up, the phone will be upside-down without you knowing..

with the notch there and no home button, the notch tells us which way is up.. if the notch goes away then you'd need to be able to swipe up from either end.. (sort of how with landscape, you can turn it either direction)..
they'd then have to probably figure out a better placement for the rear camera because half the time, it will likely be in the wrong place and you'll block it with your fingers.

idk, for now, even if will don't realize it... we'll be using the notch as a means to know which way is up, where the camera is, etc.. just like we currently do with home button-- either via seeing it or feeling it.

That's a good point; knowing which way is up is difficult to do without some fiducial marker like the notch at the moment.
 
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I just can not believe Apple went with such a design when aesthetics and user experience is what drove this company to the highest mountain ever created.

in your previous post about the rust, I really thought you were praising the iPhone X until I saw the above post. I'm serious, I thought the 'million pixels' was a reference to samsung having more pixels (which cannot be discerned even with better than 20/20 vision) and the 'rust' referred to the reflexions down both sides that the curved screen cannot avoid. Fancy that!
 
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