Taking stock: is [almost] everyone wrong about the notch?

[Jet_ski]

Ever since the iPhone X came out, we have been constantly blasted by vloggers, journalists, YouTube personalities, and even some big companies that the notch is the worst and any day now, it is going to disappear. But now that I’ve seen the iPhone 11 and Pixel 4 rumors, I really disagree with all that. Let me explain. Not that you asked!!

 

When I saw the final iPhone 11 my first thoughts were that “Apple is holding back the new design for next release” or “maybe Apple engineers aren’t that capable after all.” More disappointment followed when I visited the iPhone 11 webpage and noticed that the notch is nowhere to be seen; the marketing material actively hides it. Are they trying to mislead people?!

 

But then I see Pixel 4 renders and it comes with the notch too! So why do Apple and Google agree on a design element everyone is yapping about? Samsung’s screen punch hole design is actually useless, because that part of the screen can’t actually show anything useful and their giving up massive functionalities like face unlock and good front camera.

 

Considering Apple’s and Google’s design choices, I think the technology is much further away from a notch-less design than the notch-less hype machine wants us to believe. After all, the anti-notch started by a bunch of YouTubers who aren’t engineers and were trying to look smart.

[GOTSpectrum]

But there are already examples of under screen cameras I believe...

[5x5]

The notch servers no practical purpose other than bragging rights for higher screen to body ratio. Fact is, most everyone would benefit from a slightly thicker top bezel and no notch.

 

As for your thoughts, apple engineering is wholly incompetent. I would have thought the lawsuits and broken MacBook, iPad and iPhone models over the past 4 years was evidence enough.

[TomvanWijnen]

One of the many reasons I didn't get a new phone earlier is the stupid notch trend. Tumours need to be treated in a hospital, not casually plopped onto phones. The OnePlus 7 Pro and Xiaomi Redmi K20 Pro therefore were great phones for me and my mother. I'll take anything that makes notches go away, please.

 

As to why the iPhone 11 and the Pixel 4 have them, no clue. There unfortunately are many people who accept them as normal and are willing to deal with having a bite taken from their phone. It makes me sad every time I see a phone with a notch.

[kelvinhall05]

Notches are stupid. Who cares about 4mm of bezel? Imo the Pixel 3's bezels are the sweet spot.

[jiyeon]

I would rather take heavy bezels than a notch. I don't care that the notch there allows more screen real estate when there's a giant bump inside the screen itself.

[Zando_]

Logical bezels are nicer but the notch gets an overly bad rap, it's only slightly bothersome in the extremely rare instance you have a video or something that's actually in widescreen, and then you zoom it in to fill the entire screen, and then have something you want to see under the notch. Usually it's fine and for normal phone stuff like scrolling and some games and stuff it's hardly noticeable. I've used my iPhone X with one since April last year with no real issue. Main difference from my 6 Plus is that getting to the control panel/notification center is easier and I like the swipe to home better than a button now (this is good), and the screen is slightly smaller for watching videos due to the aspect ratio (this isn't as good but not terrible).

[Gegger]

i actually like the iphone 8 and earlier designs with the thiccc top and bottom bezels, i like having a physical home button, though androidswipe up menu thing is better.

notches are shit, i can't stand them, i'd rather a hole punch camera so i can actually see things

[Jet_ski]

6 hours ago, GOTSpectrum said:

But there are already examples of under screen cameras I believe...

Yes but they come with significant compromises including no front facing sensor and poor camera quality.

 

5 hours ago, Gegger said:

i actually like the iphone 8 and earlier designs with the thiccc top and bottom bezels, i like having a physical home button, though androidswipe up menu thing is better.

notches are shit, i can't stand them, i'd rather a hole punch camera so i can actually see things

The notch needs to be better incorporated into the software which I think iOS 13 does a fair bit. Android is kinda all over the place because of different notch designs.

 

6 hours ago, TomvanWijnen said:

One of the many reasons I didn't get a new phone earlier is the stupid notch trend. Tumours need to be treated in a hospital, not casually plopped onto phones. The OnePlus 7 Pro and Xiaomi Redmi K20 Pro therefore were great phones for me and my mother. I'll take anything that makes notches go away, please.

 

As to why the iPhone 11 and the Pixel 4 have them, no clue. There unfortunately are many people who accept them as normal and are willing to deal with having a bite taken from their phone. It makes me sad every time I see a phone with a notch.

I thought the same about the notch until I used FaceID for a whole. Now using a fingerprint to unlock my phone feels like a such a drag. If you get a little tase of the convenience of face unlock, you’ll feel ok about the notch.

 

6 hours ago, kelvinhall05 said:

Notches are stupid. Who cares about 4mm of bezel? Imo the Pixel 3's bezels are the sweet spot.

So true.

[TomvanWijnen]

4 hours ago, Jet_ski said:

I thought the same about the notch until I used FaceID for a whole. Now using a fingerprint to unlock my phone feels like a such a drag. If you get a little tase of the convenience of face unlock, you’ll feel ok about the notch.

I have it set so that I can use my fingerprint to unlock my phone, but have it always be free to unlock when it's connected to my watch, which is practically always, so I never need to use my fingerprint and can always just swipe up to open. No need for it to be locked all the time in my opinion, it's not like I just give it to other people or anything.

[jiyeon]

17 hours ago, Gegger said:

i actually like the iphone 8 and earlier designs with the thiccc top and bottom bezels, i like having a physical home button

Reason I got an iPhone 8 over an iPhone X, I refused to live with a notch and preferred the beautiful front of the iPhone 8, despite how dated it now looks to some.

Also just that I prefer TouchID over FaceID.

[Donut417]

I have an iPhone XR and I barely even notice it. It just became normal to me. To be honest I could care less either way if the notch is there or not. 

[Zodiark1593]

On 9/13/2019 at 4:14 PM, GOTSpectrum said:

But there are already examples of under screen cameras I believe...

Quality of the imaging is said to be compromised somewhat when placed under the screen. In Apple's case, they have FaceID to consider. Use of the notch is an understandable decision, though probably not much liked by both critics and among engineering (I really don't see engineers being terribly pleased with using a notch unless other option's aren't yet viable without compromise).

[IAmAndre]

On 9/13/2019 at 11:20 PM, TomvanWijnen said:

There unfortunately are many people who accept them as normal and are willing to deal with having a bite taken from their phone.

Unfortunately Apple defines what's "normal" for many people.

[IAmAndre]

23 hours ago, huilun02 said:

Laughs in Mi 9T

Beaten by a $300 device

I'm probably buying it next month  Right now I'm considering getting the K20 pro variant.

[Soppro]

I always thought people expecting a full redesign of the iPhone with no notch to be stupid. They've stuck with this design for 3 generations not only because FaceID tech is currently infeasible to put under the display (this is the main reason why notch-less iPhones aren't coming anytime soon) but also because how iconic the design is. When you see this picture you can only think of the iPhone:

 

Such is why they stuck with the previous rectangular design for so long.