What is the notch on a MacBook?

The notch Published 4 November 2026

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The notch is the black cutout at the top centre of the display on some MacBooks. It holds the camera, and the screen wraps around it so the display can reach higher on the lid than a plain bezel allows. Macs with a notch use the area on either side of it for the menu bar.

What Apple calls it

Apple’s own pages avoid the word “notch”. Its support article about apps that clash with the cutout calls it the “camera housing” and says it applies to a MacBook Air with a Liquid Retina display or a MacBook Pro with a Liquid Retina XDR display. The tech specs pages say the display has “rounded corners at the top”. The October 2021 press release for the 14 inch and 16 inch MacBook Pro says the display “extends up around the camera”. Everyone else, including this site, says notch.

What you see in daily use

The menu bar runs along the top, split in two by the cutout. App menus such as File and Edit sit on the left. Status icons such as the clock and WiFi sit on the right.
A black shape sits in the middle, and nothing on screen is drawn inside it.
Apple’s Menu Bar settings include an option to hide and show the menu bar automatically, which changes how much of the top edge you see around the cutout.

What the notch is not

It is not a touch area, a sensor strip you can configure or a software setting. Software cannot remove it. Apps can only draw around it, below it or on top of it, which is what notch apps do. Our guide to the MacBook notch covers the side effects, and what is a notch app explains the apps.

Which Macs have it

Only some MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models. See which MacBooks have a notch for the models Apple names, and why Macs have a notch for the reason. The camera behind it is covered in does the notch have a camera.

NotchStar is a notch app. Its Home tab opens from the notch on hover, and on a Mac without a cutout it draws a small floating pill in the same place.

Quick answers.

What does Apple call the notch?

Apple's support article calls it the camera housing. Its tech specs say the display has rounded corners at the top, and its 2021 press release says the display extends up around the camera.

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Can I turn the notch off?

No. It is part of the screen hardware. You can change how it looks or move one app below it, which the hide the notch page explains.

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Keep reading.

The MacBook notch explained: What the notch is, which MacBooks have it, why menu bar icons disappear behind it, and the options for working around or making use of it.
Does the MacBook notch have a camera and sensors?: Yes, the notch holds the camera. What Apple lists for it, where the green light is, and how to see which apps can use the camera.
Why do MacBooks have a notch?: Apple added a camera cutout to the MacBook display in 2021 so the screen could reach closer to the edges. What Apple said and what it did not say.
What is a notch app? A plain English guide: A notch app turns the dead space around the MacBook notch into a tiny control center. Here is how they work, what they do and what to watch for.

Put your notch to work.

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