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schneider21

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 16, 2012
8
0
Miami
With all the talk of an amazing retina display on the new Ipad 3. I was wondering if anyone thinks if the bezel will be thinner? I just think that the current bezel is way to thick and would look amazing if the screen was almost edge to edge.
 
The standard response to bezel complaints is "Gosh. Don't you know anything? A smaller bezel would make the iPad impossible to hold! The bezel is perfect the way it is and Apple won't change it!"

Obviously that statement is capable of changing if Apple does choose to give a smaller bezel and those same people will praise Apple for being the first to figure it out. But for now then just get used to people slamming you for wanting something Apple doesn't offer. (yet)
 
The standard response to bezel complaints is "Gosh. Don't you know anything? A smaller bezel would make the iPad impossible to hold! The bezel is perfect the way it is and Apple won't change it!"
It's just hard to think of how they would get rid of (or make it drastically smaller... any other change is moot) the bezel. The touch situation could be easily remedied with programming; however, the simple fact that you'd be covering up portions of the screen with your hands does not seem attractive. It would look great out of your hands... but become a nightmare when in use.
 
The standard response to bezel complaints is "Gosh. Don't you know anything? A smaller bezel would make the iPad impossible to hold! The bezel is perfect the way it is and Apple won't change it!"

Obviously that statement is capable of changing if Apple does choose to give a smaller bezel and those same people will praise Apple for being the first to figure it out. But for now then just get used to people slamming you for wanting something Apple doesn't offer. (yet)
Do you really think this bezel is only good because Apple says so? Of course not!

I'll give you a hint: if the iPad had an edge-to-edge screen, than you wouldn't be able to hold it (unless you let it rest on your hand).

The bezel is there so you can hold it without touching the touchscreen. The iPad will never get an edge-to-edge screen. It's possible they might make adjustments to the bezel, but a thick bezel will always remain here. If not, than Apple is very stupid or they must have some very intelligent software.
 
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I value the size of the bezel myself. I have thumbs and they're not exactly paper thin, ergo, the bezel is important to me.
 
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The standard response to bezel complaints is "Gosh. Don't you know anything? A smaller bezel would make the iPad impossible to hold! The bezel is perfect the way it is and Apple won't change it!"

Obviously that statement is capable of changing if Apple does choose to give a smaller bezel and those same people will praise Apple for being the first to figure it out. But for now then just get used to people slamming you for wanting something Apple doesn't offer. (yet)

Because there are no other reasons people might like the bezel besides being sycophants. Let me blow your mind - I hate the fact that the iPad doesn't have filesystem access, I think it's stupid that the mute and volume controls are separate (a useless holdover from the iPhone, where that makes sense due to ringing), and I think it's ridiculous that you can't change the default browser (and I've fixed two of those on my iPad with a jailbreak).

And yet I still think it would be nearly impossible to use an iPad without a bezel barring some other major design change. An iPad identical to current ones but with edge to edge screen would be awful. If you're so sold on it, how would you hold such an iPad?
 
Personally I like the size of the bezel as it stands right now. I have big hands and the bezel is the perfect size for resting my thumbs when I am using the iPad.
 
The bezel on ipad 2 is almost perfect. It could be reduced a small.:p

I don't have huge fingers so I could get by just fine with a slightly narrower bezel but then it wouldn't work for those who do. Anyway making the bezel smaller would screw up all those fitted cases that people bought to fit the current dimensions so let's just let it be. If there is going to be a smaller tablet then it will have to fit in most peoples hands so that the fingers can grasp the edge from the back which would require about a 5 or 6 inch size. That may be coming this Fall.
 
Think of it this way:

The bezel on the iPad is not based on what's possible with manufacturing or the way that the components have to be engineered to to fit. The bezel is based on the width of a human thumb when holding the device.

Notice that basically all other mid to large size tablets have a similar bezel.

Notice also that the bezel size stays almost the same even when looking at a smaller 7" tablet. The Kindle Fire for example has a bezel almost as wide as the iPad.

With the iPhone and iPod touch it's a bit different, since the small size lets you cradle it in one hand without worrying about accidentally touching the screen.

I think that Apple most certainly could make a smaller bezel if they wanted to. They could have done it with the iPad 2 if they had wanted to. They could do it with the iPad 3 if they want to. I don't think they want to, otherwise they would have done it already.

Basically the bezel is a function of human interaction with a touch sensitive device.
 
With all the talk of an amazing retina display on the new Ipad 3. I was wondering if anyone thinks if the bezel will be thinner? I just think that the current bezel is way to thick and would look amazing if the screen was almost edge to edge.

I agree completely. I think they could do a iPad with a bezel about equal thickness as the home button...so like a half inch!

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Also I don't rely hold it with my thumbs, I use the cleft of my palm so I could easily use an iPad with a iPhone sized bevel I think
 
I agree with the post above.... I hardly ever grip the ipad with my thumbs over the front, i cradle the ipad in the palms of my hands
 
When the iPad 1 came out, I thought that bezel was ridiculous. In fact, I thought the whole device was ridiculous. But Apple won me over, and I eventually bought an iPad 2. That bezel is a necessary evil both for gaming and for e-reading.
 
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