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Screen without borders?

S

Spacesim

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 5, 2011
8
0
I've already decided, i'm not bying a new mbp or smartphone until the black border around the display is taken out completely and the space is used as screen instead.

So, i wanted to ask you people, is that even possible? And is it likely to happen?
If you look at your mbp...take a step back and look at it....it looks kind of stupid that there is so much space that could be used as real estate on the screen, that is just a big fat black(or white) border that is used for NOTHING.

So...when will it happen?

I remember i saw some futuristic idea about how iphone 6 will look like, and the border around the screen wasn't there. Beautiful!

Cheers
 
Black bezel makes the screen pop. Has to be a reason why most tv's borders are black.

I think the silver ones looks more aesthetically pleasing.
 
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This is what i mean. Larger screen but not necessarily making the laptop larger...

edit: sorry for a really really bad mockup. But you get my point...kindof ;)
 

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The bezel is there for structural support. The space occupied by the bezel (and not the lcd) is backed by added aluminum and is purposefully there to provide rigidity. You don't want to be twisting an lcd. The original pro had added layer of glass, the air has an added aluminum bezel as there is no glass (itself adding torsional resistance), and the retina has done away with the extra glass but must retain the bezel for the added aluminum.

quick example:
MBA:
 
FuNGi said:
The bezel is there for structural support. The space occupied by the bezel (and not the lcd) is backed by added aluminum and is purposefully there to provide rigidity. You don't want to be twisting an lcd. The original pro had added layer of glass, the air has an added aluminum bezel as there is no glass (itself adding torsional resistance), and the retina has done away with the extra glass but must retain the bezel for the added aluminum.

quick example:
MBA:
Click to expand...

This, and what the OP said about the possible edge to edge screen of a phone, those always have the glass layer on top to provide not only the rigidity and support but also for the touch sensor I believe.
 
Spacesim said:
I've already decided, i'm not bying a new mbp or smartphone until the black border around the display is taken out completely and the space is used as screen instead.
Click to expand...

Have fun with your old tech then. You can't have everything your way, and you are worrying about something that really doesn't matter.

"I am never buying another pair of pants until they come out with automatic butt freshening odor protection"
 
accountforit said:
Have fun with your old tech then. You can't have everything your way, and you are worrying about something that really doesn't matter.

"I am never buying another pair of pants until they come out with automatic butt freshening odor protection"
Click to expand...

ITT: Someone who has no idea that bezels on a smartphone/tablet enable you to hold them comfortably.

With laptops, I agree. No reason the display frame can't be toughened up, Apple seems to try to use tin foil for the display assembly as it is. A full actual frame like what is on the X1 Carbon could accommodate the lack of a bezel.
 
There will be several problems without the border,
Where will you have the FaceTime camera and its led?
When you open / close the screen you will have to push over the pixels with possible damage,
The screen will be less sturdy-too flexible, etc.

Maybe thinner border but no at all is a little bit difficult.
 
No! The constant thumbprints on the bezel-less screen edges from opening it up would drive me crazy!
 
Maybe not bezel-less but they could absolutely reduce the size of the current bezel. No question about it
 
As others said, the bezel is kind of needed. Have you ever taken a laptop screen apart? I have, many of them. The LCD needs to be secured SOMEHOW, and it would look positively tacky to have the screws go through from the back. Also, the wireless antenna are usually in the bezel (usually at the top of the screen), and the wires routed down the sides of the LCD, lose the bezel and you lose those antenna and the routing of the wires. If you try to move that to behind the screen, you run the risk of poor signal reception and you need to make the screen assembly thicker.
 
I'm going to venture a guess that the OP has never taken a symbolic logic course, or anything remotely resembling it before. You first state that you won't do A without B. Then ask if B is possible. Then ask the probability of B occurring. Finally you appear to experience a significant breakthrough and end by demanding a specific time upon which B will actualize.

All of which pales in comparison to the fact that you decided that a well-known constant (B) should henceforth be known solely as a variable without value.

On a more serious note, you should take really good care of whatever notebook you are currently using because you won't be getting a new rMBP for a very, very long time. If you actually work in product development, and judging from your iPhone 6 ideas you seem to have put significant thought into the matter, then I'm personally terrified for the future of technological design. :eek:
 
This ifixit teardown of the retina display (yes the display!) might help understand why it is not so easy to make the bezel vanish:
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook+Pro+Retina+Display+Teardown/9493

The LCD (+ layers of stuff) has a certain thickness. The bezel is thinner, so it can have more metal to give stability. If you wanted to go without bezel, you might need a thicker (and heavier) display assembly to give it the necessary stability.
This is also the main difference from a phone: There the display is glued on top of the device, so it gets stability from that. Instead here the display is on its own, so getting it thin and stable/rigid is nontrivial.

Something else one should not forget: Of the 13'', 15'' and 17'' non-unibody macs, the 17'' was by far the one with the thinnest bezel. This probably means that there are other factors that determine the size of a laptop body, e.g. thermals/cooling and battery size. Also where would you put the camera and microphone?


Anyways, I would also prefer a thinner bezel, in particular on the smaller machines like the Air where it is huge and ugly. But I don't think that a bezel-free screen is possible on a laptop, at least not with a reasonable design.
 
What is more realistic is a smaller bezel, which can lead to a larger screen within the same body sizes of the current 13 and 15 rMBP's.
 
I was in a similar boat, but just looking at those mock ups makes me appreciate the bezel.
When I ordered my rMBP I noticed that Apple slimmed the bezel all the way around to lessen the foot print of the overall machine. What I appreciated the most was that Apple had the humanity to slim the bezel enough to remove the Macbook Pro, like they weren't so proud of the machine to not label it. I like that.

As mentioned I think I'd rather have a study, well built device with slim bezels than a flimsy device that would need a case just to help the structure. Any way, I'm sure it'll happen on some level soon enough, maybe not edge to edge but certainly less.
 
this can't work.
at the moment, the screen is a rectangle shape. which it has to stay as.

The corners of the bezel at the moment are round, which is safer, sturdier and more comfortable to carry etc.

In order for this bezel free design to be possible, the corners of the computer would have to pin point 90 degrees. Which would make them sharp as hell, and very unsafe.

A slight drop from any height would make the corner chip, and there goes your bezel free screen. replacement time.
 
Okay thank you guys for informative replies. I'm now aware that it's not likely to happen. I kind of thought that this design "update" was in the pipeline for coming generations of smartphones/laptops. I thought it was a logical next step and i actually thought that the iphone 6 picture i posted was some kind of official demo of apples vision of the iphone 6. :p.

I still think that the bezel-area is better used as real estate, but my next mbp will most likely come with a big fat bezel around the screen aswell :).
 
Spacesim said:
Okay thank you guys for informative replies. I'm now aware that it's not likely to happen. I kind of thought that this design "update" was in the pipeline for coming generations of smartphones/laptops. I thought it was a logical next step and i actually thought that the iphone 6 picture i posted was some kind of official demo of apples vision of the iphone 6. :p.

I still think that the bezel-area is better used as real estate, but my next mbp will most likely come with a big fat bezel around the screen aswell :).
Click to expand...

Unless you can break the laws of physics, it'll never happen.
 
Not to nitpick too much, but this isn't a physics problem, it's an engineering one. There's no equation that says you couldn't make a bezel less screen.
 
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