Apple explains why new MacBook Pro has a smartphone-like notch and why Touch Bar is gone
Last week Apple unveiled the new MacBook Pro laptop, which has changed significantly in appearance, getting a smartphone-like notch and losing its Touch Bar. Why - explained by Apple representatives.
Why?
Perhaps the main surprise was the appearance of the notch in MacBook Pro, because rumors about it were leaked only shortly before the official presentation. Many have already criticized this redesign, and no wonder: Apple has long been kicked for notches in smartphones, and instead of abandoning them, it added a notch also in the laptop.
But Shruti Haldea, Mac product line manager and one of the presenters at last week's Apple event, is convinced of the opposite. He called it a "clever way" to give users more workspace. The fact is that the menu bar has "moved" to the top of the screen, to that very notch, and the bezels around the display have been greatly reduced. Their thickness is only 3.5 mm: the edges on the left and right became 24% thinner than in the previous generation, and the upper frame due to the cutout was reduced by 60%.
Apple is also betting on some macOS software features, including a dark mode, to minimize the prominence of the notch. Similar to many smartphones, the notch can be hidden by simply adding a black border to the top of the display.
Another innovation was the replacement of the Touch Bar with good old fashioned manual keys. This decision was explained by Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of global marketing:
"There is no doubt that our customers using the MacBook Pro like the tactile feel of the function keys, and that is why we made this decision"
For Touch Bar and old design fans, MacBook Pro on SoC M1 and more still remain.