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iPhone X Is the notch a symptom of Apple's overall design decline?

Is the notch a symptom of Apple's overall design decline?

  • Yes, Steve Jobs would never have allowed it to ship

    Votes: 36 46.2%

  • No, even Steve would have put a spin on the lack of symmetry

    Votes: 33 42.3%

  • Not sure

    Votes: 9 11.5%
  • Total voters
    78
WebHead

WebHead

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 29, 2004
474
105
As a card-carrying "Never Notch" but with my iPhone overdue for an upgrade I was becoming resigned to having to resort to the notch at some point. Now comes news Apple may ditch the notch as soon as next year.

This comes not long after Jony Ive's departure was announced.

So I'm wondering, is the notch a symptom of an overall malaise in Apple's design department? Or was it a necessary stop-gap while the technology caught up with true edge-to-edge displays?
 
No, it's not a symptom of an overall malaise in design - the iPhone 6 was.

I believe Jobs would've allowed the notch. I don't, however, believe the iPhone 6 would've seen the light of day with the antenna lines and the rear camera that was non-radiused with the corner of the device.
 
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Reactions: sputnikBA, mikehalloran, newellj and 1 other person
I'm waiting along with you, and I'll wait as long as it takes, whether that is 2020 or 2025. I tend to believe it will be next year or '21 at the latest, though. All good. I love my 8Plus and it has plenty of life in it.
 
So it’s either people vote to agree with you, or they choose a condescending option of “No, even Steve would have put a spin on the lack of symmetry”. :rolleyes:

I’ll choose another option, that doesn’t contain any of the OP’s bias....You can find it in the many threads already covering this....
 
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Reactions: MEJHarrison, decafjava, Kram Sacul and 6 others
Sorry, condescension wasn't my intention. But it's fair to assume the notch would have grated with Steve, even if it was a necessary evil.

And yes, I don't doubt the subject has been done to death, but the latest news makes it topical again.
 
WebHead said:
Sorry, condescension wasn't my intention. But it's fair to assume the notch would have grated with Steve, even if it was a necessary evil.

And yes, I don't doubt the subject has been done to death, but the latest news makes it topical again.
Click to expand...
It isn’t fair to assume anything. He’s dead and nobody knows what his opinion may have been. If you want an accurate poll, leave people who can’t speak for themselves out of it and go with a simple yes/no answer.

But all you’ll be doing is recreating countless threads where a clear majority of people state they don’t care about the notch because FaceID benefits outweigh any ill feeling about it.
 
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The only reason I see it as a decline is in Apple not going all in and putting Face ID on their iPads and Macs, and even then I'd say that's only a shallow decline at worst
 
WebHead said:
But it's fair to assume the notch would have grated with Steve, even if it was a necessary evil..
Click to expand...

Nothing vexes me more when someone tries to speak/interpret something for Steve Jobs. You Can’t assume anything, and if there was one thing we can say about Steve Jobs, he was completely unpredictable, and we don’t know what his path point Would’ve been for the future of the iPhone as it stands today.

I’ve said it many times before, the notch is and always will be a non-issue outside tech forums, it’s not something someone sits around and discusses about their iPhone, it’s a small intricacy that bothers a select few on sites like this.
 
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Reactions: mizmimi02, chabig, I7guy and 2 others
The notch is a consequence of the tech required for Face ID. Face ID is significantly superior to the face unlock of all other manufacturers but that comes are a price of requiring more than just a front facing camera like all the others. Can they make the notch smaller… I'm sure they can and I'm sure they will. Can they do away with it… not yet unless they can make it work work underneath the display… they won't ever resort to a "pop up" like others have so that's a no go. So for the time being I think Apple are tied to the notch as much as they're tied to Face ID.

If you need to replace now and you "need" iOS, buy now. Waiting isn't going to help you much other than getting you the 2019 model that's coming in a couple month. This is/was part, albeit one of a pile of things, of my switching. I got tired of everything I wanted always being "on the horizon" yet others are able to deliver today.
 
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Reactions: mizmimi02, chabig, StaceyMJ86 and 2 others
I don't even notice that notch when I'm using it. The notch is housing several different components that IMO make the experience so much better. You couldn't pay me to go back to a home button with Touch ID like the models before Face ID.
 
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Reactions: rugmankc and StaceyMJ86
Here's what they should've done

This is the most obvious choice, but nooooo, ive had to come up with something crazy
image.jpeg
 
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Reactions: Count Blah, tranceking26, bleak7 and 1 other person
cableguy84 said:
Apple should have went with thin bezels top and bottom there was no need for the notch.
Lazy design.
Click to expand...
I wholeheartedly agree with this. I believe that notched phones are proof that they weren’t ready for “no bezels” yet. The galaxy s8 and many other Androids have small bezels and look great. I’m in the minority when I say this, but I don’t care about Face ID.
 
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