When the MacBook Pro 2021 was unveiled last week, fans could hardly hide their excitement at seeing Apple's new top-of-the-line laptop with an SD card slot and MagSafe. One design aspect, however, was not always welcomed.

The last-minute rumors alone had many people worried: why would Apple include such a controversial design feature in the MacBook Pro just as the notch was reportedly being removed from the iPhone 14 Pro?

Well, we now have a partial answer, albeit one that takes a very positive view of things.

"What we did is we actually made the display taller," explained Shruti Haldea, Apple's Pro Mac product line manager, on the Same Brain podcast.

"Like a 16-inch notebook, you have a 16.0-inch active area on the diagonal of a 16:10-inch window.

"We moved the menu bar to the top so it doesn't get in the way. In full screen mode, the window is 16:10. It's seamless."

On the one hand, I personally agree with this: the macOS menu bar hides the notch well, especially when the system is set to dark mode (as in the photo above). Also, comparing the new MacBook Pro side-by-side with the old MacBook Pro, the screen area appears to be larger than expected, given the relative footprints.

At the same time, however, it is hard to take such excuses seriously when they fail to acknowledge that this is not a flawless option. Apple has clearly done enough research to know that the notch is not always loved. A more plausible response would be, "It looks great... Seamless." would be closer to "I know this isn't ideal, but it's the best option available."

There is also the unanswered question of why Apple needs a notch, a necessary evil for Face ID on the iPhone, but given that the new MacBook Pro does not support face unlock, why couldn't Apple include something smaller Why couldn't they? Dell's XPS 15 has slim bezels and could have included a webcam. Sure, it's pretty crude at 720p, but it's certainly not noticeable, and the MacBook Pros' new webcam is dramatically better.

Apple will no doubt claim that the space the new camera occupies is to avoid such disappointing images during meetings. Whether the improved performance justifies the design cost is up to those considering whether to spend $1,999 or more.