Apple introduced the new MacBook Pro models with a quirky new design choice: notch on the display. While people have gotten used to the notch on the iPhone, people will get used to the notch on the MacBook Pro. However, it was an unexpected move and the notch does not necessarily add technologies such as FaceID to the Mac laptop.
The argument made by Apple suggests that by adding a notch at the top, the screen on the new MacBook Pro models gets taller. As a result, users get to see more content vertically: an aspect ratio that is becoming more popular in the productivity devices market. However, the company could have also placed a much smaller notch compared to the apparently visible notch on the new 14” MacBook Pro and 16” MacBook Pro.
We’ve actually made the display taller so you still have, like on the 16 inch a notebook, you still have a 16-inch active area on the diagonal in that 16 by 10 inch window, and we just grew the display up through from there and put the menubar there.
We just kind of moved it up and out of the way, so a it’s a really smart way to give you more space for your content – and when you’re in full-screen mode, like you said, you have that 16 by 10 window and it looks great. It’s seamless.
Some argue that the decision to add a notch on the MacBook Pro was also partly to make the design of the Mac unique. The notch on the iPhone makes the device stand out from the crowd with a design that is easily recognizable. While many Android phones have had notches, the majority of the manufacturers have moved onto punch-hole camera cutout design.
Shruti Haldea, Pro Mac Product Line Manager, Apple
The notch on the MacBook Pro serves a purpose but it also seems to be a design choice.