The MacBook was presented last week and with it its share of criticism because of a notch which – according to some – is useless. This week, the subject took on more importance when a user among many others noticed that the intruder poses a problem with applications, not optimized according to this new ergonomics. Judge for yourself, in the video below (turn down the volume):
WHO DESIGNED THIS ?! 😂 pic.twitter.com/ADVqmfdqV2
– Quinn Nelson (@SnazzyQ) October 26, 2021
As you can see, the behavior of the interface with the notch is very surprising. Even completely unpredictable. Depending on the case, we can see that:
- apps fit perfectly around the notch
- the mouse goes under
- the mouse is forced to bypass it
- apps display content behind the notch, making certain menus unusable
- the top of the display turns black in order to find a semblance of a full screen experience
- menus are intelligently rearranged around the notch
- etc
First solution from Apple
Apple fortunately imagined a fallback solution for developers who do not take into account the notch in their code. This resizes the image so as to “make disappear” the notch, but on demand. To qualify, here is the procedure (in English), of course only for macOS Monterey:
Good news for notch haters! If you’ve got an app (or apps) with menus that collide with the notch, just Get Info on the app, and enable “Scale to fit below built-in camera”.
While the app is running (even in the bg), your display is scaled.#Apple # M1Pro # M1Max # MacBookPro2021 pic.twitter.com/nlGqkFkXAH
– Joseph from Sketch (@Jatodaro) October 27, 2021
Good to know: if a publisher has updated their app so that it correctly takes into account the notch, then this option is no longer displayed. It is therefore to be hoped that no technical problem is involved, so beta versions are therefore discouraged.
An original alternative
Otherwise, the TopNotch app allows you to do the same thing but trusting a third-party developer. Up to you !
The service is compatible with all wallpapers, and even allows rounded corners to appear if the user wishes. Everything works in the background and also supports a working environment with multiple monitors.
