Apple Reveals 'Scale to Fit' Setting to Prevent a Mac App's Menu Bar Items From Being Hidden Under Notch

Apple today shared a new support document that explains how users can ensure that an app's menu bar items do not appear hidden behind the notch, or the "camera housing" as Apple calls it, on the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.

scale to fit notch setting macos
In the support document, Apple says users can turn on "scale to fit below built-in camera" for an app to adjust the active area of the display, ensuring that the app's menu bar items appear below the notch and are always visible.

Menu bar items appearing hidden behind the notch was demonstrated by Quinn Nelson, host of the YouTube channel Snazzy Labs.

To turn on "scale to fit below built-in camera" for an app on the new MacBook Pro models, open the Finder app and click on Applications in the sidebar. Then, right click on the desired app and select "Get Info." In the Info window that opens, check off the "scale to fit below built-in camera" box and the display will automatically adjust when the app is open.

The setting was demonstrated in a tweet by Joseph Angelo Todaro, a design advocate for Sketch.


Apple notes that developers can update their app to work better with the notch, in which case the "scale to fit below built-in camera" setting no longer appears.

Related Roundup: MacBook Pro
Buyer's Guide: MacBook Pro (Buy Now)
Related Forum: MacBook Pro

Popular Stories

iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

iPhone 18 Pro Features Leaked in New Report, Including Under-Screen Face ID

Tuesday December 16, 2025 8:44 am PST by
Next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will be equipped with under-screen Face ID, and the front camera will be moved to the top-left corner of the screen, according to a new report from The Information's Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu. As a result of these changes, the report said the iPhone 18 Pro models will not have a pill-shaped Dynamic Island cutout at the top of the screen....
Apple Logo Top Half

Early iOS 26 Software Leak Uncovers Dozens of Upcoming Apple Features

Monday December 15, 2025 3:05 pm PST by
Software from an iPhone prototype running an early build of iOS 26 leaked last week, giving us a glimpse at future Apple devices and iOS features. We recapped device codenames in our prior article, and now we have a list of some of the most notable feature flags that were found in the software code. In some cases, it's obvious what the feature flags are referring to, while some are more...
iOS 26

iOS 26.3 Beta 1 Features: What's New So Far

Monday December 15, 2025 4:23 pm PST by
Apple is testing iOS 26.3, the next version of iOS 26 that will launch around January. Since iOS 26.3's testing is happening over the holidays, it is a smaller update with fewer features than we've seen in prior betas. We've rounded up what's new so far, and we'll add to our list with subsequent betas if we come across any other features. Transfer to Android Apple is making it simpler...
apple beta 26 lineup

Apple Leak Confirms Work on Foldable iPhone, AirTag 2, and Dozens More Devices

Monday December 15, 2025 2:05 pm PST by
Last week, details about unreleased Apple devices and future iOS features were shared by Macworld. This week, we learned where the information came from, plus we have more findings from the leak. As it turns out, an Apple prototype device running an early build of iOS 26 was sold, and the person who bought it shared the software. The OS has a version number of 23A5234w, and the first...
apple music chatgpt

ChatGPT's Apple Music Integration Is Now Live

Wednesday December 17, 2025 3:50 pm PST by
There's now a dedicated Apple Music app for ChatGPT, which allows ChatGPT to make music recommendations and build playlists. Apple Music can be added to ChatGPT through the Settings section in the Mac app, website, or iOS app. Apple Music is listed under the apps option, and connecting to it requires signing in with your Apple Account for authorization purposes. ChatGPT can be used to...
apple iphone air battery pack

Apple Aims to Boost Popularity of iPhone Air 2 in Two Ways

Tuesday December 16, 2025 11:06 am PST by
We have been covering iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 17e, and iPhone Fold details from The Information's report about future iPhone models, and next up is the iPhone Air 2. The report says that Apple aims to make the iPhone Air 2 more attractive in two ways. First, Apple is apparently considering adding a second rear camera to the device, which would resolve a key limitation. The current iPhone...
maxresdefault

Apple Developing iMac Pro With M5 Max Chip

Tuesday December 16, 2025 7:30 am PST by
Apple is developing a high-end iMac featuring the M5 Max chip, according to information from leaked internal software. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The finding comes from leaked kernel debug kit files used by Apple engineers. These kernel debug kit files enumerate unreleased Apple hardware by internal identifiers, such as codenames and platform names, and they...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Leak Reveals Foldable iPhone Details

Monday December 15, 2025 9:09 am PST by
The first foldable iPhone will feature a series of design and hardware firsts for Apple, according to details shared by the Weibo leaker known as Digital Chat Station. According to a new post, via machine translation, Apple is developing what the leaker describes as a "wide foldable" device, a term used to refer to a horizontally oriented, book-style foldable with a large internal display....
apple beta 26 lineup

Apple's 2026 and 2027 Product Roadmap: Foldable iPhone, iPhone 18 Pro, M5 Macs, and More

Tuesday December 16, 2025 4:42 pm PST by
There has been a whirlwind of rumors over the last few days, sourced from leaked internal software designed for the iPhone and the Mac, and news sites like The Information. Below, we have a quick recap of everything we've heard this week, which serves as a guide to Apple's product plans in 2026 and beyond. We've organized the info by likely release date, though there are some products that...

Top Rated Comments

WilliamG Avatar
54 months ago

Did you notice that “scale to fit” restores the bezels of the previous generation MBP on the left and right side as well (not just the top of the screen)? This is how it maintains the aspect ratio. It is literally scaling down the whole screen
Yep. This is literally the worst possible solution.
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
El Szomorito Avatar
54 months ago
Lol, a terrible solution to a problem we didn't had before. Nice job.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
timerickson Avatar
54 months ago
The video shows the entire screen shrinking at the same aspect ratio, bizarre. I would have expected the menubar to simply slide down the same number of pixels as the notch is tall, making it the same total aspect ratio as previous MBPs

This is going to be annoying for pixel critical work that designers (and artists, etc) do, as it's no longer a perfect 2x multiple PPI (for the default scale resolution, at least). Scaling the entire screen down a bit means you're no longer integer scaling the display.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Superhappytree Avatar
54 months ago
When you have to have settings, dark modes and apps to appease the notch and yet you have floods of people on here defending it as “great design, well done Apple”.

It’s a massive design fail that interferes with UX and UI.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
semaja2 Avatar
54 months ago
Why not just give an option for the system to ignore the notch area, and simply put the menu bar below the notch…

Essentially maintaining the scale but just making the screen shorter?
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macpot Avatar
54 months ago
Notch gonna lie, that is amazing!

It makes every one happy, bezel lovers will find themself at home now.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)