Notch on a Pro Laptop - A Modern Day Disaster

[fyun89]

I think the word "notch" is causing all these negatives.

It should be called "extended screen". The screen area next to the "notch" is actually extension off of regular 16 inch screen. That's why this year's screen is 16.2, not 16.

I like to think of it as where the Touch Bar moved to.

 

[GrumpyCoder]

It's occupying space that's never or rarely used. And we get a larger screen with thinner bezels for it.

They could have easily placed the display a little lower, making that huge black bezel on the bottom smaller and avoid the notch that way. Same display size in the end, no notch.

 

[mrex]

considering having a piece of tape on your monitor while writing… That is all about it. No, im sure, we wont see notch in future. That is the most ridiculous design i have seen.. What the hell did they think??

 

[TopToffee]

considering having a piece of tape on your monitor while writing… That is all about it. No, im sure, we wont see notch in future. That is the most ridiculous design i have seen.. What the hell did they think??

Yes but a piece of tape TAKES AWAY screen space, whereas this has provided EXTRA screen space.

As has been explained approximately 9000 times

 

[TopToffee]

They could have easily placed the display a little lower, making that huge black bezel on the bottom smaller and avoid the notch that way. Same display size in the end, no notch.

Source, please.

 

[Euroamerican]

No notch for me! Won't be getting a notched display if I can avoid it. Then again, I'm not in the MacbookPro market now and probably never will be again. That's because I think an Air will be more than good enough for me next time round.

 

[GrumpyCoder]

Source, please.

You're kidding right? This is easy engineering work. Size of the frame doesn't change, moving a part from one place to another doesn't change the required space. Look at how a display is built, tear it down, you can change this. And if you say the new displays are different, here's a legal grey area: look at the leaked schematics of the new MacBooks which are already up on the usual sites and tell me again there's a single thing in there that prevented them from changing it before coming up with the final design.

 

[TopToffee]

You're kidding right? This is easy engineering work. Size of the frame doesn't change, moving a part from one place to another doesn't change the required space. Look at how a display is built, tear it down, you can change this. And if you say the new displays are different, here's a legal grey area: look at the leaked schematics of the new MacBooks which are already up on the usual sites and tell me again there's a single thing in there that prevented them from changing it before coming up with the final design.

You’re probably right. A random person on the internet probably has a better idea of what could be done than a team of some of the best display engineers/designers on the planet.

 

[EnderTW]

I genuinely don't understand why this is such a big fuss.

It's occupying space that's never or rarely used. And we get a larger screen with thinner bezels for it.

Since when is screen being a perfect rectangle a sacred thing?

lol this.

the only thing that will be impacted is the OS X menu bar. Nothing goes up in there from a window.

 

[elmateo487]

You're kidding right? This is easy engineering work. Size of the frame doesn't change, moving a part from one place to another doesn't change the required space. Look at how a display is built, tear it down, you can change this. And if you say the new displays are different, here's a legal grey area: look at the leaked schematics of the new MacBooks which are already up on the usual sites and tell me again there's a single thing in there that prevented them from changing it before coming up with the final design.

Rofl. Just rofl. Do you have experience designing complex laptops?

 

[GrumpyCoder]

You’re probably right. A random person on the internet probably has a better idea of what could be done than a team of some of the best display engineers/designers on the planet.

Don't be a butthurt Apple fanboy justifying everything. The same people who did the design at Apple also came up with making things thinner, removing ports, making a butterfly keyboard, a touchbar and so many other things that they later paddled back on. Look at the new MacBook Pros, best proof. There's no technical reason the display could not have moved down, this is a design decision involving how the menu bar works or should work according to a designer. If you have doubts about the technical possibility, why don't you study in a relevant field and get a PhD as well. Thank you.

 

[Tayedrummer7]

This is ridiculous, what on Earth were they thinking?

I have a Macbook Pro and I definitely won’t be ‘upgrading’ to this awful looking thing. There is no need for any fancy cameras or even face id on a pro macbook.

Regardless if the notch area goes black in fullscreen mode, it will still cause massive problems. People often have 2/3 windows open at the same time and that huge notch will massively interfere.

Has Apple forgotten why people buy the Macbook Pro? It’s like the Mac Pro all over again, Apple started screwing with bin designs until they realised all Pro users wanted was a powerful computer so they could do their work.

I can’t be the only one feeling this way, as someone who owns multiple apple products.

awww, stop sounding so entitled! lol... You probably brought your "multiple apple products" on credit, versus budgeting for it and walking outright. MM's isn't going to stop my workflow; I'll take the ports, speed, and battery life!

 

[GrumpyCoder]

Rofl. Just rofl. Do you have experience designing complex laptops?

We're talking about the display, a laptop is a different story, due to many other things such as airflow and cooling involved. Not even talking about chip design, that's a whole different matter. I had to go through all of this when studying electrical engineering and after that computer science, before pursuing a PhD. I found chip design somewhat interesting, but my work in the industry focused more on software than hardware before I returned to a university for research and teaching. Not sure if that answers your question, but then again, I don't care either. 🤷‍♂️

 

[Ryan1524]

You're kidding right? This is easy engineering work. Size of the frame doesn't change, moving a part from one place to another doesn't change the required space. Look at how a display is built, tear it down, you can change this. And if you say the new displays are different, here's a legal grey area: look at the leaked schematics of the new MacBooks which are already up on the usual sites and tell me again there's a single thing in there that prevented them from changing it before coming up with the final design.

Yeah, the inside of that top section is hollow, and the mini-LED system and hinge components takes zero volume. They just placed it into a notch formation because they feel like it.

 

[GrumpyCoder]

Yeah, the inside of that top section is hollow, and the mini-LED system and hinge components takes zero volume. They just placed it into a notch formation because they feel like it.

No it isn't hollow. It is however not completely filled and parts don't have to be exactly in this location. MR at it's best again, the Apple sheeps are alive and rolling. If you like it, good for you. Many don't like it, including myself after using Apple products for almost 40 years and as primary driver since the G4 days. Guess many have to live with it that some people like it and some don't. End of the world is coming when not everyone accepts that everything Apple does is holy. 🤷‍♂️

 

[Veridium]

I genuinely don't understand why this is such a big fuss.

It's occupying space that's never or rarely used. And we get a larger screen with thinner bezels for it.

Since when is screen being a perfect rectangle a sacred thing?

Most of the people complaining about it, clearly don't understand that extra vertical pixel rows were added to the display to make sure that NONE of the screen real estate of the 16:10 aspect ratio was impacted by this. It simply covers up the middle of the top bar(which has been pushed up out of real estate it previously occupied thanks to this), and when in full screen mode, you still get the exact same resolution you would get, had they not put a notch there, and the notch doesn't impede it in any way.

 

[CooKieMoNs7eR]

How about I tell you guys if there was a no camera option on the mbp I’d get it, I never use it first of all, 2nd I don’t want a notch in my laptop, I own my laptops for 5-7 years, imagine still having a laptop with a notch in 2025….

 

[TopToffee]

How about I tell you guys if there was a no camera option on the mbp I’d get it, I never use it first of all, 2nd I don’t want a notch in my laptop, I own my laptops for 5-7 years, imagine still having a laptop with a notch in 2025….

I’d say good for you, but it’s become pretty clear in the last 2 years that a webcam (ideally a good one) is an essential tool for a LOT of professionals, and will likely continue to be so.

 

[pi=e=3]

I’ve never seen people get so worked up and have such existential crisis’ over something so trivial.

 

[Ryan1524]

I'm actually more annoyed they didn't do FaceID this year. Seems like something that shouldn't be delayed if they want make a stronger case for the notch.

 

[Veridium]

I'm actually more annoyed they didn't do FaceID this year. Seems like something that shouldn't be delayed if they want make a stronger case for the notch.

Personally, I prefer touchID, I don't like faceid, but I understand those who do. My biggest gripe is still no ethernet port. Ethernet is way faster, far more secure, and far more reliable. Further, every client I have has ethernet, only some of them have wifi, and some of them have outright banned wifi for security reasons. Are most pros who work with large files like 4k video really wifi only? I suppose it's possible, but it's really hard for me to believe.

 

[Veridium]

How about I tell you guys if there was a no camera option on the mbp I’d get it

If I had to guess, I would bet that view represents no more than 3 percent of notebook buyers in this day and age. I can totally understand how a sizable number of people might hate the aesthetics of the notch, but to not want a camera on a pro notebook in this era? That has got to be a very very very small number of people at this point. As much as I hate dongles, having to use a clip on web cam to handle remote meetings would completely kill this notebook for me as a professional tool.

 

[Ethosik]

It's occupying space that's never or rarely used. And we get a larger screen with thinner bezels for it.

Its occupying space that the menu bar uses - and I have software that has a dozen or more dropdowns. So there is going to be a gap with dropdown X and dropdown Y, or there will now be a scroll bar on the left "ear". Its a pointless design decision.

 

[Jayson A]

Has anyone figured out what happens when there are too many menu items in the menu bar and they start going into the notch area? Do they just slide over to the other side? If so, what if they don't all fit there either?

 

[Ethosik]

Has anyone figured out what happens when there are too many menu items in the menu bar and they start going into the notch area? Do they just slide over to the other side? If so, what if they don't all fit there either?

See when we have legitimate concerns/criticisms about it, people just ignore it and just call us Apple Haters. This is why I am waiting for a review. I have some software that has a lot of menu items so it is a concern with me. Why should I be okay with either option? There will be a large gap between menu options or there could be a scroll bar.