The point is only video is stuck in a 16:9 world because of TV. In every other aspect of using a phone besides video watching you're using the whole screen.
Are you saying the primary use of your phone is video watching?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
The notch disease is spreading
- Thread starter jamezr
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Are you saying the primary use of your phone is video watching?
Media consumption makes up for 80% of what most people use their smartphones for, that's why you get Big, Bezeless, Sharp and colourful OLED screens with HDR support and stereo speakers to go along. If you deny that well then in that case an iPhone 2G would be sufficient for you I guess. It doesn't matter how the video is stuck, if you have a big screen you want the whole video to fill it and not to crop it.
The S9+ cuts a lot off the screen, but there isn't a large black notch slicing off the side. It just seems like a waste of space to me.
lol...see I don't get that you DON'T like the bezels with the same color as the phone body......
You know what they say about beauty...
Then the notch......if you can hide it....why have it all? Then I don't get you Apple guys.....Apple says you should have a notch and you just blindly follow what they tell you you want
Lol, I miss the pretty blue bezels my Note 7 had. Few people understand me.lol...see I don't get that you DON'T like the bezels with the same color as the phone body......
You know what they say about beauty...
Then the notch......if you can hide it....why have it all? Then I don't get you Apple guys.....Apple says you should have a notch and you just blindly follow what they tell you you want
At this point, the biggest factor in whether the notch goes away is whether all the Android sets copy it. I think part of Apple leaning into the notch was to create a new iPhone branding with the loss of the home button, but if it's going to get slapped on every cheap set that's coming out it loses any distinctive branding application.
This isn't happening. You can't change the laws of physics, and no matter how great your ISP and software, the biggest basic part of getting a good image from a camera is a large lens. That's why Apple resigned themselves to a camera bump (even on the thicker iPhone X) rather than keeping them flush on thinner phones.
Can you stick the camera behind the display itself? That remains to be seen. But you can't actually make the lens microscopic unless you want a terrible camera with all current imaging tech today and the near future.
Last edited:
I agree that is was not due to technical specifics....it was to set the phone apart from the rest.
Then all these stupid Android OEMs started to copy it.
lol...see I don't get that you DON'T like the bezels with the same color as the phone body......
You know what they say about beauty...
Then the notch......if you can hide it....why have it all? Then I don't get you Apple guys.....Apple says you should have a notch and you just blindly follow what they tell you you want
Well, the answer to why have it at all is to save on screen real estate by moving the status bar up there. I don't dislike having a full top bezel at all, at least if it's minimal, but I see it as wasted space. Samsung does a good job, for example, but then they ruin it with the bottom bezel. The iPhone X really blew everything else out of the water in terms of aesthetics IMO. As for hiding it, I was only saying there is a solution for Android users. Me, I would never hide it.
But you are right, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This is mostly an aesthetics thing, and everyone will have individual preferences. I just think that in terms of efficiency phone makers realize a notch is more efficient. In terms of aesthetics I am on the other side with other issues, such as a 18:9 or 19:9 ratio. I think it's awful, although the argument for it is it may be more efficient for one handed use (ignoring the vertical use), but that also has a functional detriment of reducing the screen size. At least the notch doesn't have any detrimental side effects at all other than just not being everyone's cup of tea.
i would argue it is not more efficient. It is all about saving display size and reducing cost for Apple.
The notch reduces functionality. It reduces the amount of very useful information that can be displayed at the top of the screen like Bluetooth battery percentage in actual numbers, Alarm clock notification icon.screen orientation and location.
I buy iPhones for their great user experience. I like my iPhone 8 plus a allot. I don't want a notch just to differentiate it from other phones or to save money by using a smaller display size screen.
I would rather have useful information displayed at the top and have the display 02 larger.
Look at this picture I posted earlier in the thread between and iPhone X and my 8 Plus.
The 8 plus has more useful information displayed that adds to a better user experience.
Just ignore the bezels...i know how much they bother you. You can reduce bezel size and still have a great screen to body ratio without having a notch. Look at the Samsung phones....
i would argue it is not more efficient. It is all about saving display size and reducing cost for Apple.
The notch reduces functionality. It reduces the amount of very useful information that can be displayed at the top of the screen like Bluetooth battery percentage in actual numbers, Alarm clock notification icon.screen orientation and location.
I buy iPhones for their great user experience. I like my iPhone 8 plus a allot. I don't want a notch just to differentiate it from other phones or to save money by using a smaller display size screen.
I would rather have useful information displayed at the top and have the display 02 larger.
Look at this picture I posted earlier in the thread between and iPhone X and my 8 Plus.
The 8 plus has more useful information displayed that adds to a better user experience.
Just ignore the bezels...i know how much they bother you. You can reduce bezel size and still have a great screen to body ratio without having a notch. Look at the Samsung phones....
Yeah, I definitely don't disagree and excellent point. The status bar has been certainly dumbed down to fit in the notches. My own personal complaint is the loss of the battery percentage. I don't know that I'd compare a plus to the x as there is a noticeable loss of horizontal screen space on the X, but I don't imagine a non plus 8 would look much different in terms of the status bar.
I will argue against myself further in that within Apple's developer guidelines you can't have any app (other than background) outside of a defined area, which excludes the notch and also is virtually the same size as a non plus 7/8 screen.
But I still think in theory it is more efficient, it's just that in implementation Apple did a piss poor job of making it efficient. In your picture it's obvious on the X they could have made the status bar text smaller and higher up. Of course we all know that Apple's MO is to dumb things down, even when dumbing things down actually makes them MORE complicated, like trying to freakin see what your battery percentage is at.
But some apps do take advantage of the extra screen space, although that this is actually an advantage is questionable. Take a look at the waze app where you can see stuff behind the notch, hmm I wonder doesn't this go against Apple's dev guidelines? Anyhow you can see a little more behind there, yeah it's questionable how functional it is, but I can still read things back there.
Great points!!
Anyway I think the way to go is to have a choice. Have a hardware notch, but then in settings you can choose to black out the entire bezel and move the status bar down.
Attachments
What I’m saying is that these new rounds of enlongated smartphones WILL crop content in full screen mode. The X’s aspect ration would result in content being cut even if the notch wasn’t there.
People on here have got obsessed with bezels since the X came out. I don’t even think about them or notice them on my current phone.
Media consumption doesn't mean videos in landscape though.
My smartphone use is 95% Portrait mode, so the little video I watch in landscape (& not cropped/full screen) isn't impeded by a notch.
I didn't buy a notched smartphone to watch videos. That doesn't mean an iPhone 2G would suffice...
So you’re talking about your own usage and I’m talking about mine and of all my friends and colleagues around my age do with their phones.
We're all different & can't really speak for the majority. Dismissing a view of a subjective topic is pretty pointless.
Respect to Vivo for a decent attempt at progression.Here is a great body to display ratio phone with no notch....
Vivo Apex
Not sure about the camera thing though
Unfortunately, today's 'selfie' market won't take a liking to a popup front camera which will most likely be of lower quality than your standard flagship phone variety.
Me too. Age dictates usage & many around me use their smartphones in Portrait mode. Neither of us are wrong, so it's pointless to dismiss either way.
lol...see I don't get that you DON'T like the bezels with the same color as the phone body......
You know what they say about beauty...
Then the notch......if you can hide it....why have it all? Then I don't get you Apple guys.....Apple says you should have a notch and you just blindly follow what they tell you you want
So you didn’t blindly follow the bezels? Apple said you had to have them,6,7,8
Ok fair enough for a Plus user.i would argue it is not more efficient. It is all about saving display size and reducing cost for Apple.
The notch reduces functionality. It reduces the amount of very useful information that can be displayed at the top of the screen like Bluetooth battery percentage in actual numbers, Alarm clock notification icon.screen orientation and location.
I buy iPhones for their great user experience. I like my iPhone 8 plus a allot. I don't want a notch just to differentiate it from other phones or to save money by using a smaller display size screen.
I would rather have useful information displayed at the top and have the display 02 larger.
Look at this picture I posted earlier in the thread between and iPhone X and my 8 Plus.
The 8 plus has more useful information displayed that adds to a better user experience.
Just ignore the bezels...i know how much they bother you. You can reduce bezel size and still have a great screen to body ratio without having a notch. Look at the Samsung phones....
Non-plus users though, appreciate the increased screen size. We're not all drooling with our tongues out, forking out money for anything Apple dishes up. Personally, if I couldn't save ~$600 on my work staff plan, I wouldn't have spent the RRP on the X, & I've been vocal in my hopes that sales weren't high for this ridiculously expensive phone.
The missing Status Bar info isn't a huge deal for many. We get the notch is a compromise. It takes away, but it gives a much better user experience overall, for non-plus users.
The notch will shrink & then disappear. It's not here to stay forever. For now though, if you're mainly a Portrait user of a non-plus iPhone, then the X is natural & great progression to the eventual edge to edge screen end-game.
So you didn’t blindly follow the bezels? Apple said you had to have them,6,7,8
Not sure what you mean exactly. But I bought all those phones. I actually like my 8 Plus even though it has big bezels.
Sorry..... not convinced a notch that removes functionality improves overall user experience. Then it doesn’t matter what phone it is.... plus or non plus. Removing functionality is generally a bad idea and does not enhance the user experience.
Ummm to be completely honest apples iPhone x customers have made a lot more effort in explaining why the notch is there than Apple actually has lol.
I mean does Apple even advertise a “notch”?
It's a personal thing. What one regards as an important feature, others don't.
For me, a bigger screen was the main reason I upgraded iPhones in the past. With the 6 form factor, it reached a size that was practical & big enough for me. So all that was needed, was a bigger screen in the same sized device...that's the X.
Status Bar info can hide in the Control Centre for the next year or so, whilst I enjoy the rest of the X & its many other benefits.
Easier said than done, when, for the equivalent screen size, the form factor increases with bezels. It changes the whole device.