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Why does Apple still insist on such large bezels when the industry is shifting away from those for displays? Rather than potentially usable display area we hav

Why does Apple still insist on such large bezels when the industry is shifting away from those for displays? Rather than potentially usable display area we have more large bezels, yet again. Take the 12" Mac for instance - Apple had no problem shrinking the bottom half of the computer yet retained the large bezels, whereas they could've utilized the area to place a larger display panel in while retaining the same footprint. The resulting incongruence looks odd IMO. Mockup of what I think the display should look like: https://i.imgur.com/BypLsSl.jpg https://i.imgur.com/BypLsSl.jpg

fiatpandas 10y ago
You may like that scheme from a functional standpoint, but Apple would never produce something like that. From a design standpoint, it looks bad when you place a sharp corner so close to the screen fillet. The extra breathing room feels much better. They may reduce the bezel in the future, but IMO that would be done in the midst of a MB redesign.
- TazeTSchnitzel 10y ago
  At the very least, the bezel should be at least as wide as the corner radius.
- redial 10y ago
  > Apple would never produce something like that Famous last words. The titanium powerbook had very small bezels for its time (2001), and I remember Steve Jobs when introducing it claiming that at the edge the cursor was almost gonna fall off. Of course this doesn't mean they'll do it again, but they certainly experimented with the idea before.
  - jackvalentine 10y ago
    Yep and the powerbook has a much... sharper? external corner (https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/OluAXYWRtcY3jVxu.large https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/OluAXYWRtcY3jVxu.l...) and still a way larger bezel than the above mockup.
andrewmcwatters 10y ago
because that looks disgusting
tqkxzugoaupvwqr 10y ago
I’ve been wondering about this for a long time, too. They could cram a 14" screen into a 13" casing. So much wasted screen space. The only theory I could come up with: They do not want reduce bezel size because this potentially closes the door for making the laptop lid thinner. As we all know by now, thinness has top priority at Apple. A super thin lid means there cannot be support structure and connectors behind the screen, they must be placed around it. But you cannot place it around it if there is no bezel to hide it beneath. If the Apple MacBook hardware guys read this: I’d rather have the current laptop lid thickness and no bezels than a paper thin lid with the current large ugly bezels.
mmagin 10y ago
Do you want to crack the display the first time you bang the corner against something hard? It takes some space to protect such a big piece of LCD.
- FireBeyond 10y ago
  "Edge 2 Edge" displays have been common for the last two years, yet I haven't heard of this as some endemic problem.

fiatpandas 10y ago

You may like that scheme from a functional standpoint, but Apple would never produce something like that. From a design standpoint, it looks bad when you place a sharp corner so close to the screen fillet. The extra breathing room feels much better. They may reduce the bezel in the future, but IMO that would be done in the midst of a MB redesign.

TazeTSchnitzel 10y ago
At the very least, the bezel should be at least as wide as the corner radius.
redial 10y ago
> Apple would never produce something like that Famous last words. The titanium powerbook had very small bezels for its time (2001), and I remember Steve Jobs when introducing it claiming that at the edge the cursor was almost gonna fall off. Of course this doesn't mean they'll do it again, but they certainly experimented with the idea before.
- jackvalentine 10y ago
  Yep and the powerbook has a much... sharper? external corner (https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/OluAXYWRtcY3jVxu.large https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/OluAXYWRtcY3jVxu.l...) and still a way larger bezel than the above mockup.

andrewmcwatters 10y ago

because that looks disgusting

tqkxzugoaupvwqr 10y ago

I’ve been wondering about this for a long time, too. They could cram a 14" screen into a 13" casing. So much wasted screen space. The only theory I could come up with: They do not want reduce bezel size because this potentially closes the door for making the laptop lid thinner. As we all know by now, thinness has top priority at Apple. A super thin lid means there cannot be support structure and connectors behind the screen, they must be placed around it. But you cannot place it around it if there is no bezel to hide it beneath. If the Apple MacBook hardware guys read this: I’d rather have the current laptop lid thickness and no bezels than a paper thin lid with the current large ugly bezels.

mmagin 10y ago

Do you want to crack the display the first time you bang the corner against something hard? It takes some space to protect such a big piece of LCD.

FireBeyond 10y ago
"Edge 2 Edge" displays have been common for the last two years, yet I haven't heard of this as some endemic problem.