In an attempt to address complaints of early MacBook Pro owners, Apple has published a support document explaining how users can make an app’s menu bar appear below the notch of the newly-launched 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
Hide Notch on New M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pro
In case you are out of the loop, it all started when YouTuber Quinn Nelson tweeted videos where the menubar items of certain apps went behind the notch. In addition, there are some inconsistencies with the mouse pointer’s behavior when you take it near the notch. Apple has now published a support post with a workaround to hide the notch while using misbehaving apps.
“If app controls or menu bar items appear blocked or hidden behind the camera housing, you can turn on “Scale to fit below built-in camera” for the app to adjust the active area of your display. This ensures the menu bar and app windows appear below the built-in camera on your Mac and are always visible,” explains Apple.
As Apple details in its support post, you should first close the misbehaving app and locate it. You can click on “Applications” in the Finder sidebar to locate the app. Once you are there, select the app, click File -> Get Info, and choose the new “Scale to fit below built-in camera” from the Info window.
After turning on this option for an app, MacBook will automatically scale down the display to fit below the notch. And well, you will have a massive top bezel on your MacBook Pro once again! Notably, all apps that share the same workspace will appear below the camera until you quit the scaled app. Apple seems to have also added a subtle transition animation when you are switching between modes and you can check the feature in action below:
While this isn’t a permanent fix, it should give developers at Apple time to optimize macOS Monterey to better interact with the notch. If you have picked up a new 14-inch or 16-inch MacBook Pro, how are you liking the notch? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
