The new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros both feature a notch, a first for the Mac. Given we've never had a notch on a Mac, there are some questions over how macOS handles the notch, and more specifically, how the mouse pointer does.
The predicament about how the mouse pointer handles the notch has been a question floated across Twitter and Reddit over the last 24 hours or so since the new MacBook Pro's announcement. An animation posted on Reddit portrayed two main possibilities, one in which the mouse pointer travels behind the notch, being invisible to the user. The other option showcased the mouse pointer traveling around the notch.
The new MacBook Pros will begin arriving next week, but thankfully, we don't have to wait that long to get an answer. Linda Dong, an Apple designer, has confirmed on Twitter that the macOS pointer travels behind the notch, allowing users to essentially hide the mouse pointer from view.
This behavior will come in handy, fundamentally making the notch a hiding place for the mouse pointer. This may come in good use, for example, when users want to more easily hide the mouse pointer while they watch a video.
Apple is taking steps to make the notch less of an annoyance for most customers in day-to-day use. When macOS apps are in full-screen mode, Apple adds an artificial black bar to the top of the display that hides the notch. Developers can, however, opt to allow their apps to make full use of the entire screen real estate, notch included. Learn more about the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros in our comprehensive roundup.
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Design
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I can see many advantages to hiding the mouse behind the notch. But now I have to wonder, will screenshots show the notch, or reveal the hidden space behind it?
I have an even better question. Did they make the notch this big on purpose, so that they can shrink it in two years and call it innovation or because they originally wanted to put more sensors behind it and do they still plan to introduce FaceID on the Mac in the future? ?
Right now we have a big ugly notch with no real purpose! ?
