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Do you think it's ugly?


  • Total voters
    125

Melotz

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 20, 2021
13
1
Because of the notch, the menu bar on the new system is 1.5x thicker than the current bar.

new-14-inch-macbook-pro-front.jpeg
 

Jack Neill

macrumors 68020
Sep 13, 2015
2,272
2,308
San Antonio Texas
I think the aspect ratio of this photo is deceiving. It just looks squished to me. It does appear larger in this photo. I would like to see how the notch looks on a black or dark mode menu bar.
 
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tpfang56

macrumors regular
Jul 1, 2021
183
328
It’s not the prettiest, and I will miss the nice slim menu bar when I eventually upgrade. However, I’m not going to complain about extra screen real estate.
 

zakarhino

Contributor
Sep 13, 2014
2,611
6,963
I’m gonna wait to see what it looks like with the display scaling set to max density. It looks like the menu bar won’t shrink so it’ll be awkward to see a huge menu bar and text but smaller window elements.
 
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Mr. Dee

macrumors 603
Dec 4, 2003
5,990
12,840
Jamaica
I think its Apples way of slowly introducing touch to the Mac in a secretive way. Just like when they first introduced native iPad apps with Mojave, Craig claimed this does not suggest they were not doing that. But, if you look at a culmination of things that started happening with the 2015 launch of the retina MacBook (12 inch), the introduction of the Touch Bar based MacBooks: T2 chip, Bridge OS, removing 32 bit support in Catalina and ultimately Apple Silicon, shows that the design was kinda intentional.

They obviously are gonna stay mum about it and say otherwise over the next few years. But its glaringly obvious to them that macOS is out of place without Touch support. Considering so many of Apples users are primarily exposed to their devices first through the iPhone or iPad. Keeping Mac traditionally point and click (especially how awkward the keyboard commands are for iPad apps) is not sustainable.

They are gonna milk this though: next Face ID comes to the Mac for 2FA security, 2023, the Notch gets smaller and of course the processors get more powerful, DDR5 ram. But, when 2024 rolls around they pull the big one, Touch is finally supported. 2018 will be long forgotten when Craig said no, they are bringing touch the Mac. But it will ultimately bring coherence and consistency across all the devices and application experiences.
 
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cupcakes2000

macrumors 601
Apr 13, 2010
4,037
5,429
Looks like a further encroachment into the toy-ification of the Mac experience if I ever saw one.

I feel a bit bad for Apple here, because they have no choice but to double down on the crusty old app menu when everyone else (Windows, Gnome, KDE) have all moved well past it.
I dunno about that. I prefer ‘the crusty old menu bar’ in these cases to be honest. It’s a trusty place for menus to be, but that may be be just me.
 

joevt

macrumors 604
Jun 21, 2012
6,967
4,262
It looks like the menu bar is a few pixels taller than it needs to be. Did Apple make it that tall so that the "More Space" mode would still be tall enough to encompass the notch?
 

zarathu

macrumors 6502a
May 14, 2003
652
362
I guess the aesthetic may not be for everyone- but from what I understand it takes up no screen real estate compared to previous iterations. So in actual fact you’re getting more screen. I may be wrong?
That’s what David Pogue says, and he’s correct.
 
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RetroDan

macrumors regular
Dec 17, 2015
112
150
Michigan
I think its Apples way of slowly introducing touch to the Mac in a secretive way. Just like when they first introduced native iPad apps with Mojave, Craig claimed this does not suggest they were not doing that. But, if you look at a culmination of things that started happening with the 2015 launch of the retina MacBook (12 inch), the introduction of the Touch Bar based MacBooks: T2 chip, Bridge OS, removing 32 bit support in Catalina and ultimately Apple Silicon, shows that the design was kinda intentional.
Eh, I'm not so sure. I honestly don't think Touchscreen functionality is going to work in a desktop-type computer. It works on iPhones and iPads because those devices are able to be oriented and operated parallel to the ground plane - ie, laying flat. That means that all the operative manipulation occurs with the arms and hands in what is mostly a resting state of being.

However, touchscreens oriented perpendicular to the ground plane, as a computer screen would be, means that your arm has to be held aloft by itself. Easy enough when you only have to tap the screen a few times. But try holding and moving your arm around a screen for just ten minutes. It gets tiring! No, I don't think touch capability is coming to Macs anytime soon, and even should it do so, I don't really think it'll be anything more than a gimmick - I strongly state my belief that it will be as well received as the TouchBar...ie, lukewarm at best and largely ignored by devs.
 

Mr. Dee

macrumors 603
Dec 4, 2003
5,990
12,840
Jamaica
Eh, I'm not so sure. I honestly don't think Touchscreen functionality is going to work in a desktop-type computer. It works on iPhones and iPads because those devices are able to be oriented and operated parallel to the ground plane - ie, laying flat. That means that all the operative manipulation occurs with the arms and hands in what is mostly a resting state of being.

However, touchscreens oriented perpendicular to the ground plane, as a computer screen would be, means that your arm has to be held aloft by itself. Easy enough when you only have to tap the screen a few times. But try holding and moving your arm around a screen for just ten minutes. It gets tiring! No, I don't think touch capability is coming to Macs anytime soon, and even should it do so, I don't really think it'll be anything more than a gimmick - I strongly state my belief that it will be as well received as the TouchBar...ie, lukewarm at best and largely ignored by devs.

I use my iPad all the time with the Smart Keyboard, pretty much, I use it like I would a laptop. Guess what, I still interact with the Touch screen without complaint and it works. Of course, this is because iOS is heavily optimized for touch. But, I don’t see the difference if I had a MacBook in my laptop vs the iPad Pro right now and touching the screen.

Apples worry is really how you make macOS balance the two worlds of touch and point and click. I recommend they transform the UI on the fly dynamically whenever its touched. When you interact with the Touchpad or keyboard it automatically readjust for that mode. Microsoft is now doing this with Windows 11 whether you disconnect the Typecover on a Surface. Instead of it just switching to Tablet Mode, the UI elements just get bigger and more optimized on the fly.
 
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sportsfrk214

macrumors 6502a
Sep 18, 2007
566
32
It looks like the menu bar is a few pixels taller than it needs to be. Did Apple make it that tall so that the "More Space" mode would still be tall enough to encompass the notch?
I have been wondering the same thing. If they had to make the menu bar larger to fit the size of the notch, I would have thought they would have made it exactly the same height. It appears though that the menu bar is even larger than the notch, which seems so odd to me. I honestly think that makes it even worse.
 

LonestarOne

macrumors 65816
Sep 13, 2019
1,074
1,426
McKinney, TX
However, touchscreens oriented perpendicular to the ground plane, as a computer screen would be, means that your arm has to be held aloft by itself. Easy enough when you only have to tap the screen a few times. But try holding and moving your arm around a screen for just ten minutes. It gets tiring!

Like an artist using an easel? I guess that’s why painters have such powerful arms. :)

For some tasks, a touchscreen makes sense. Not for word processing or spreadsheets or coding, but for graphic tasks, a touchscreen with an Apple Pencil would be very attractive.
 
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leman

macrumors Core
Oct 14, 2008
19,521
19,679
I think it looks fine. Of course, one would need to see it in person. In the bright side, now we know why Big Sur changed the spacing of the menu items - it was to visually prepare us for the notch.

I think its Apples way of slowly introducing touch to the Mac in a secretive way.

You are aware that people have been claiming it for the most part of the decade (since the alleged „iOSification“ of the Mac)?
 
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AppelGeenyus

macrumors regular
Nov 3, 2019
227
295
Mac user: "I demand a better webcam!"

Apple: "Here's a better webcam, more usable screen realestate, smaller bezels, 1600 nit HDR, 120Hz, way better performance battery life & thermals, way less fan noise, double SSD speed, removed the Touch Bar, brought back function keys hdmi port sd card reader and magsafe, fast charging, further improved the microphone and already amazing speakers, high impedance headphone support, Thunderbolt 4, integrated the capabilities of a $2000 afterburner card, support for three 6K + one 4K display simultaneously. "

Mac user: "I dOnt LiEk tEh nOtcH!!!11!1!!!one!!11!!"
 

Mr Screech

macrumors 6502
Mar 2, 2018
260
264
It's extremely ugly.
If you wouldn't know this was an apple laptop you'd think it was a $500 dollar b-tier system from your local outlet.
 
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PsykX

macrumors 68030
Sep 16, 2006
2,747
3,926
1. I don't know why it's not always black (like in fullscreen or dark mode).
2. I don't know why it goes below the notch.
Maybe they should compact the menus on the left half of the screen when there's too many (i.e. adjust the text kerning like what they often do on iOS).
Having too many menus is not the way to go in macOS anyway.
 
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