Notch on MBP

[Falhófnir]

...a reasonable solution until you try and Skype someone on one. They're off to the side, if they ever use the keyboard their hand will almost always cover most of the picture, and there's a slightly unflattering emphasis on their chin.

The couple of people with an XPS that I know both never use the webcam because it's so inconvenient. I'd take a notch any day of the week compared to that (not that I think either are likely on an MBP).

I suppose it depends on how often you will be videoconferencing - note that the newer XPS now has a centred camera so ‘off to one side’ won’t be an issue. In my limited experience with the machines, I’ve found if you are sitting back at a reasonable distance from the computer and not hunching over it, it looks just fine. A funny shaped screen is ok for a mobile phone, but a serious business computer can do without it. Hopefully Apple will use common sense and leave enough top bezel to continue including it in its traditional position.

 

[maflynn]

The notch is a non-issue to me. Yeah prior to release of the X, I was not liking it but in my day to day usage of the iPhone X, I don't even notice it there.

Apple had two choices when putting the front facing components on the phone. A notch, or create a bezel. They opted for the notch.
With the MBP, Apple has to two choices in making the display panel. A Notch or use a bezel.

 

[AssassuN]

A notch on a MBP would be interesting but would interfere with the menu items on the menu bar. I've been using a dell XPS 15 for a couple months. The small bezel is really nice. After working on a machine with minimal bezel, going back to my MBP is like going from an LCD TV back to an old CRT.. if that makes any sense. View attachment 750511
[doublepost=1518151557][/doublepost]The 2019 Notchbook Pro... I don't think I like it.

View attachment 750514

Notch doesn’t look too bad tbh but I’d obviously prefer a true bezelless display

Actually, after seeing the notch in place makes me think that it might not interfere with the menu as much as I thought: menu on the left of the notch, and notifications on the right of the notch. Since the menu can be hidden, it might not matter as much.

Buenos notches.

Yup exactly as I said in OP

 

[GtrDude]

I don't see how reducing the bezel to the degree a notch is necessary is beneficial on a laptop?

If you have spent any time on the Dell XPS you understand if you max your software.
If you haven't then you will understand once you do.

 

[Glockworkorange]

A notch on a MBP would be interesting but would interfere with the menu items on the menu bar. I've been using a dell XPS 15 for a couple months. The small bezel is really nice. After working on a machine with minimal bezel, going back to my MBP is like going from an LCD TV back to an old CRT.. if that makes any sense. View attachment 750511
[doublepost=1518151557][/doublepost]The 2019 Notchbook Pro... I don't think I like it.

View attachment 750514

I don't think it looks that bad in the render.

 

[tresmith]

I don't see how reducing the bezel to the degree a notch is necessary is beneficial on a laptop?

I was thinking the same thing. Reducing the bezel to that extent is unnecessary.

 

[kadify]

Idk imo the MacBook Pro is supposed to a pro model, whether you believe it is or not is your own dilemma. But I feel a notch would get in the way of productivity on quite a few apps and I believe it would be a bigger issue than it could ever be on the phone.

 

[AssassuN]

Idk imo the MacBook Pro is supposed to a pro model, whether you believe it is or not is your own dilemma. But I feel a notch would get in the way of productivity on quite a few apps and I believe it would be a bigger issue than it could ever be on the phone.

Actually it would literally be a smaller issue than on the phone. It’ll be the same size notch as the iPhone but on a 13.3”/15.4” display vs. a 5.8” display.

And I didn’t consider full screen apps before, where it would cut into usable space. So it’s not the best option, but then again that didn’t stop Apple for the X.

 

[Beau10]

I was thinking the same thing. Reducing the bezel to that extent is unnecessary.

It's not necessary, but there is a functional reason - it's essentially giving you a larger laptop in the same form factor. If the bezel in the 13" MBP is replaced by screen you end up with a 14" laptop. In the vast majority of use cases the area taken up by the notch is dead space - it's that unused area in the menubar.
[doublepost=1518367804][/doublepost]One other thing that needs to be addressed is the fact that MBPs use 16:10 ratio - unless the body shrinks height-wise or the ratio becomes more square (unlikely) it's a moot point... the width will be maximized first and some vertical bezel will remain. There is about 1/2" that could be brought down in the area above the keyboard, so if this is part of a physical redesign we could end up with a slightly smaller 14" and 16" laptops, or significantly smaller 13"/15" laptops.

 

[Wakey87433]

I would dare to say not big enough that it would be a deal breaker for a minor feature like a FaceTime camera... it’ll do the job just as well in reality, the XPS camera seems to do alright. If you are using the computer at a normal height and distance then it’s probably fine, it would only be if it’s on your lap or you have your eyeballs 3/4 inch away from the screen that it’ll be ‘looking up’ at you excessively.

Oh come on while the XPS is a good machine in general the camera placement is awful. Seeing as most people don’t use their laptop on a desk where the screen is at eye level then it’s almost always basically looking up your nose.

A Bezel, a camera notch or at the bottom are all equally as bad options so Apple may as well stick with the bezel until embedding a camera under the sceeen becomes a viable tech to include

 

[MBX]

Why do people think Apple will do the notch on everything now just because the iPhone X has it?

Don't you realize they do this because the iPhone X screen is smaller and has less space. A bigger iPad or MBP screen doesn't need a notch. The bezels will get slimmer but not as much as on a phone. In future yes. But by then they have figured out how to implement a camera behind the screen that works via transparent OLED pixels.

Currently a notch would make no sense. Also I hide my menubar and thus the notch would be in the way of my screen and apps. Absolutely dumb idea.

The other thing is there won't be a MBP redesign before 2019/ 2020 anyway and I don't think they will shrink the bezels on laptops that much then.

If they do they can still leave enough space above on the screen to cramp the camera in while doing a much smaller bezel overall.

If Samsung can do a small bezel on top for a 1080p front camera on their phones then I'm sure Apple could do the same for their laptops. It would already be like 70% slimmer then and if they shrink it on the sides to almost non existent it would be already a lot.

 

[Falhófnir]

Oh come on while the XPS is a good machine in general the camera placement is awful. Seeing as most people don’t use their laptop on a desk where the screen is at eye level then it’s almost always basically looking up your nose.

A Bezel, a camera notch or at the bottom are all equally as bad options so Apple may as well stick with the bezel until embedding a camera under the sceeen becomes a viable tech to include

A lot of people do use laptops on a desk, and certainly if you're going to be face timing or skyping it usually wouldn't be too much of a hassle to move there. I wasn't saying it was preferable to normal placement, my point was if it was between bottom bezel placement or a notch, I'd prefer them to put it under the screen. Personally I hope they keep the top bezel big enough for it to stay there, ultra slim bezels aren't all that appealing to me on a notebook. I don't think its all that big enough a feature most people would even care to be honest with you.

 

[AssassuN]

Lol did I really predict this? 😆

 

[Beau10]

Wow amazing. Also don't remember predicting 14"/16" above.