The notch is here to stay, even if iPhone 14 drops it

Ah, Mr. Notch. He's been around for a while, first becoming an international celebrity when he made the cover of the iPhone X.

Okay, the iPhone isn't a magazine and the notch isn't actually a person, but we can definitely treat it as one of those celebs that no one really likes, yet they're everywhere anyway.

By many accounts, the upcoming iPhone 14 will finally be dropping the notch in favor of cutouts for its front camera and Face ID sensors.

But unfortunately for us who dislike having a notch on our devices, the iPhone 14 won't mark the end of it, not at all. The thing is actually here to stay, and is in fact just now starting to make its appearance on some of our other devices, besides phones…

Notched laptops are just starting

Apple's iPhone 13 is not its only device with a notch right now. The latest MacBook Pro 14 and 16-inch models both boast a rather iPhone-like notch, cutting into the top center of their displays.

Was this just Apple adopting an iconic design feature from its iPhone, on its flagship MacBooks? Perhaps, but it's way more likely that the company just has no better option to go with right now, in order for its new Pro laptops to have super slim bezels around the screen, yet also a front camera.

That camera has to go somewhere after all, yet the bezels are too thin for it to fit inside, so… a notch it is!

But the Cupertino company with the healthy fruit logo isn't the only one whose laptops now have notches, in fact – Windows PC makers beat it to the punch by making reverse-notch laptops.

For example, if you're on the market for a gaming laptop right now, you'll probably stumble upon the Lenovo Legion 7 and its reverse notch, which looks like this:



Now that's just another way to make space for a front camera while trying to have slim bezels. Is it better than the standard notch we're all familiar with? It's up to you to decide.

The Lenovo Ideapad 3, ThinkPad Z16, several modern HP laptops, and more, from various manufacturers, all now include a notch. Yes, you probably didn't even notice it, but the notch is slowly creeping onto your laptops.

And until under-display cameras get good enough, we should certainly expect many upcoming laptops to continue getting either standard or reverse notches for their front cameras.

That's what we get for striving for super-thin bezels. But there's another device, besides laptops, that's ahead of the curve when it comes to striving for those…

Notched tablets are just starting

In our recent review of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra we weren't even mad about the lack of a headphone jack or the fact that, yes – this tablet has a MacBook Pro-like notch. And the reason for that is simple – it's just so thin, with bezels so tiny, that there's no space for either a headphone jack or its dual front cameras to fit. So for the latter – Samsung decided to include a notch.

And just like with laptops, we can reasonably expect upcoming flagship tablets to start adopting a notch, as the bezels around their displays continue to get smaller and smaller, to the point that there's no longer space for a front camera in there.

Phones with a teardrop notch are going strong

Once they were everywhere, now teardrop notches are more reserved for budget phones, but ultimately – they're not going to disappear anytime soon either.

In fact, just recently we previewed one such upcoming teardrop-notch phone – the Samsung Galaxy A33 5G.

Budget phones are an insanely profitable (and overcrowded) market, and it's safe to say those won't be moving on to holepunch cameras, let alone under-display ones anytime soon. Since, of course – just having a teardrop notch is cheaper to manufacture.



From budget offerings by Samsung, through Motorolas and Xiaomis under $250 – some of the best budget phones right now sport a teardrop notch. And although this isn't a new trend for phones, like notches are for tablets and laptops, we should expect it to remain alive for at least another few years.

What do you think about notches on laptops, tablets and phones?

There we have it – the harsh truth that we'll be living in a notch-filled world for at least a couple more years, if not longer. Unless, of course, under-display cameras improve quickly, drop in price, and start getting adopted on phones, tablets and laptops soon enough. It'll happen eventually, for sure, but soon – probably not.

In any case, what do you think about all this? Are you cool with a notch on your laptop, tablet or phone? Cast a vote below and share your thoughts in the comments section!