Comment by pompino
5 months ago
It's the majority opinion, infact Apple also believes that the notch is a compromise. Apple has been trying to develop the under-screen webcam tech. They just don't have the technical capability to eliminate it. When Apple and others finally eliminate the notch it will be heralded as the best thing ever.
Few will realize how Apple milked you twice - once to accept the horrible design (that they created), and again to accept how wonderful they are for eliminating the problem.
All designs involve compromise. That doesn’t mean that those designs are bad, just that they are taking into account factors which are in opposition. Factors such as size, capacity, function, and legibility are examples of the kinds of oppositional factors that designs often need to take into account.
The MacBook notch is a clever design that increases the size of the screen without increasing the size of the overall case. There are some, relatively minor, downsides.
1. Some applications have an unusual number of menu items. The system takes this into account and renders those menu items to the right of the notch. In many cases, those are the less often used menu items “Window” and “Help” so the impact is lower.
2. When there are large numbers of app icons in the menubar, they may not all fit and some are truncated. This has always been a problem with that feature and many people have solved this by using utilities such as Bartender that hide extra app icons and move them to secondary panels.
3. There is an additional visual element on the screen. Many people quickly learn to ignore the notch and soon forget that it is there. For those who are bothered by it, there are a couple of simple ways to reduce the visibility of it. One method is to change the resolution of the screen so that all content appears below the notch. The downside of that solution is that there is less screen area. Another method is to use a utility to turn the menubar black. This makes the notch blend into the menubar so that it is much less visible.
Do you agree that there is good and bad design? Furthermore, I don't see what is wrong in criticizing bad design when the Vendor also acknowledges that it's bad and they're rushing to fix it. This isn't software where you can just run an update. No, you have to re-buy the machines to get the fixed design.
I do believe that there is bad design and Apple occasionally falls prey to it. Design that is not suited to purpose, like the late-2010s keyboards, is bad design. Design that is intentionally anti-human (anti-loitering architecture, HP printer locks, etc.) is bad design.
The notch is not bad design: it is a design compromise. In reality the presence of the notch increases the overall screen space with the reduced bezel. That electronics wizardry and physics do not currently permit under-screen high definition cameras means that you need bezel space for it. That Apple managed to get it to be ~35mm x ~9mm is impressive. On every other laptop in the world with a webcam at the top, that ~9mm is required forehead on the laptop, meaning at least a ~9mm bezel.
And Apple is not rushing to replace this. After all, we've had three generations of Apple laptops released with the notch. Sure, if/when they prove they can do a quality under-screen camera, they will update this (after they update the iPhone family). But calling this "bad design" is suggesting that you could do better.
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Unless you've actually conducted a survey, you don't know how many people feel like you do. I get that you hate it, but I personally haven't noticed the notch in day to day use ever -- I've been using an M1 in light mode since it came out.
I am not saying its the most pressing design feature that disqualifies a purchase. I just don't get the push-back when pointing out obvious flaws.
I think the push-back is largely due to you ascribing your own preferences/opinions to the “majority” user base without any supporting data.
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I don't see anyone saying the notch on a laptop is a "good" thing that they bought the laptop to get, just people who bought a laptop for other reasons justifying why an imperfect screen shape wasn't enough to make them regret the purchase. They're not being "milked" in any way I can see.
Compare phones, where manufacturers have actually created a narrative that camera cutouts are a desirable feature. Maybe people who bought new phones because they like the cutout design are getting milked twice.
Its an MBA thing. Engineers and nerds would never support it.
https://www.google.com/search?q=apple+incremental+innovation
I'm saving up to replace my personal intel MBP with a new one partially because using my work MBP I really appreciate that little bit of extra screen space. In regular use I hardly notice the notch, sometimes I'll even have fun watching my cursor jump back and forth when it gets close to one side of it.