Notch incompatible with my workflow?

[rocketbuc]

I am planning to upgrade to a MacBook Pro 14 or the new MacBook Air. Using an old MacBook Pro 15 right now.

I went to an Apple Store today to play around with it. I noticed that with my current way of working (menu bar and dock hidden, most of the time one app covering the full screen but not in fullscreen mode) macos does not let me move the window of the application all the way up into the notch area.

This means that I will basically waste the extra space almost all the time because the screen on both sides of the notch is useless.
Is there anyone else with a similar way of working? How do you get around it?

 

[usagora]

My understanding is that the menu bar area on the "notched" MBP used to be taken up by the bezel, so you're not losing any screen real-estate. In fact you're gaining some. You'd just have to get used to not hiding the menu bar or working in full screen mode if the visible strip of desktop on either side of the notch bothers you.

Here's a video to put the screen real-estate issue in perspective:

 

[Basic75]

Just enable a black menu bar all the time, that way you are using the extra screen real estate for what it was probably intended for in the first place.

 

[jav6454]

I am planning to upgrade to a MacBook Pro 14 or the new MacBook Air. Using an old MacBook Pro 15 right now.

I went to an Apple Store today to play around with it. I noticed that with my current way of working (menu bar and dock hidden, most of the time one app covering the full screen but not in fullscreen mode) macos does not let me move the window of the application all the way up into the notch area.

This means that I will basically waste the extra space almost all the time because the screen on both sides of the notch is useless.
Is there anyone else with a similar way of working? How do you get around it?

There are ways of bypassing it. However, for me, just like for you, I view it as wasted space and I dislike the notch.

 

[rocketbuc]

There are ways of bypassing it. However, for me, just like for you, I view it as wasted space and I dislike the notch.

@jav6454 Any concrete ideas that I could use for my workflow? I have been looking at Bartender to clean the menu bar of excess items. Would like to maintain the minimalist look I currently have with both menu bar and dock hidden until I actively need to use them.

 

[jav6454]

No idea what to include. I don't own a 14" due to (one of several) the notch.

 

[falconer.]

The area to the left and right of the notch adds new space to the screen that would otherwise not be there at all, so if you look at it from that perspective, you're not really losing anything if you don't use that space.

Beneath the notch, there is still an entire 16:10 ratio screen that previous MacBook Pros have had. You can use a tool such as SwitchResX (or compile your own) to cut off the notch area entirely and give you a standard rectangular screen to work with, either to preserve existing workflows or if you simply like it better that way.

 

[Tagbert]

@jav6454 Any concrete ideas that I could use for my workflow? I have been looking at Bartender to clean the menu bar of excess items. Would like to maintain the minimalist look I currently have with both menu bar and dock hidden until I actively need to use them.

This may be a change to revisit some of the assumptions built into your existing workflow. On the menubar, there are a few third-party tools that will make that menubar dark and visually blend into the bezels. That can reduce the visual distraction. Since the menubar has been moved out of the main screen area it no longer takes up valuable vertical space so you may not need to hide the menubar for that reason. This will make menu items and menu icons more directly available for use.

If you do get one, I suggest trying it out for a couple of week as-is before you look for ways to convert it back to the older experience. You might find that the new experience is not as bad as you had anticipated.