Which Macs have a notch? Every model, and how to check yours
The notch is on the 14 and 16 inch MacBook Pro from late 2021 and the MacBook Air from the M2 model on. Which Macs don't have one, and how to check yours.
Only MacBooks have a notch, and only the newer ones. The 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro have one from the first models in late 2021 onward. The MacBook Air has one from the 13-inch M2 model of 2022, and the 15-inch MacBook Air has had one since it first appeared in 2023.
Everything else has no notch: the iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio and Mac Pro, the 13-inch MacBook Pro (even the M2 version from 2022), the M1 MacBook Air and every Intel MacBook. Below is the full picture, the two models people most often mix up, and a few quick ways to check the Mac in front of you.
The Macs with a notch
The notch is a cutout at the top center of the screen that holds the camera (what the notch is, and why it is there). It arrived with a redesign of the MacBook Pro, and Apple then carried the same idea over to the MacBook Air.
| Model | First model with a notch | Built-in resolution of that first model |
|---|---|---|
| MacBook Pro 14-inch | M1 Pro and M1 Max, late 2021 | 3024 by 1964 |
| MacBook Pro 16-inch | M1 Pro and M1 Max, late 2021 | 3456 by 2234 |
| MacBook Air 13-inch | M2, mid 2022 | 2560 by 1664 |
| MacBook Air 15-inch | M2, mid 2023 | 2880 by 1864 |
Every later version of those four has kept the notch so far. For the MacBook Pro that means the M2 Pro and M2 Max models of early 2023, the M3 family later that year, the M4 family in 2024 and the models since. For the MacBook Air it means the M3 and M4 generations and anything newer.
Apple redesigns its laptops every few years, and a future model could move the camera or change the shape. If you are looking at a MacBook released after this was written, check Apple's own product photos or tech specs for that exact model rather than assuming.
The two MacBooks people mix up
Most confusion comes from two machines that were on sale at the same time as notched models.
The 13-inch MacBook Pro
Apple kept selling a 13-inch MacBook Pro alongside the 14-inch and 16-inch models, and it got an M2 chip in 2022. It looks like an older MacBook Pro because it is one, design-wise: thicker borders around the screen, the camera in the border above it, a Touch Bar above the keyboard and no notch. If a listing says "MacBook Pro 2022", check the screen size. A 13-inch model has no notch; a 14-inch or 16-inch model does.
The M1 MacBook Air
The M1 MacBook Air from late 2020 has the older wedge shape, thicker borders and no notch. It stayed on sale for a good while after the M2 model arrived, so plenty of people bought one new well after 2022. If your MacBook Air tapers from back to front, it is almost certainly an M1 or an Intel model, and there is no notch.
Macs without a notch
The rest of the lineup has no notch, for one of two reasons.
- No built-in screen. The Mac mini, Mac Studio and Mac Pro plug into a display, so there is nothing to cut into. Apple's own Studio Display and Pro Display XDR have no notch either, and neither does any other external monitor.
- A border with room for the camera. The 24-inch iMac has a slim border around its screen, and the camera sits in the border above the picture. The same is true of older iMacs and every MacBook made before the 2021 redesign.
There is one more case worth knowing about. A notched MacBook working with its lid closed on an external display has a notch, but you can't see it. All your work is on the external screen, and its menu bar runs straight across the top.
How to check your own Mac
If you are sitting at the Mac, the quickest test is to look. But the notch is black and it can vanish into a dark menu bar, so here are a few surer ways.
Look at the top of the screen with the lid open
Switch to Light appearance for a moment in System Settings > Appearance, with a light wallpaper behind the menu bar. On a notched Mac, a black shape with rounded corners dips down from the top edge in the middle of the menu bar, and the menu bar items stop short on either side of it. Look at the frame, too: a notched MacBook has a very thin border all the way around the screen, with the camera inside the cutout rather than in the border.
About This Mac
Choose Apple menu > About This Mac. On recent versions of macOS the window shows the model name and, under it, the screen size and year, for example "14-inch, 2021". Match that against the table above. A MacBook Pro listed as 13-inch has no notch, whatever the year.
System Information or Terminal
System Information (hold Option and choose Apple menu > System Information) lists your built-in display under Graphics/Displays. You can get the same list in Terminal:
system_profiler SPDisplaysDataType
Look for the display whose type starts with "Built-in" and read its resolution, then compare it with the table above. The resolution is itself a clue. A standard laptop screen of this kind has a 16 by 10 shape, and on a notched Mac the screen is a little taller than that, because Apple added the strip that runs either side of the camera. The M1 MacBook Air's screen is 2560 by 1600; the M2 model is 2560 by 1664, and those extra rows are where the menu bar sits beside the notch.
What having a notch means day to day
Many people stop noticing the notch within days. It sits in the menu bar, above your windows, and full screen apps and videos show a black band at the top instead of drawing behind it. Full screen apps on a notched MacBook explains that band and the menu bar that slides down over it.
The one real quirk is the menu bar. The camera takes a fixed chunk out of the middle, so there is less room on the right for status icons, and macOS hides the ones that don't fit. If icons have gone missing on your Mac, this guide to menu bar icons hidden behind the notch covers how to get them back.
Notchpals with or without a notch
Notchpals was built around the notch. Its characters live there, coming out for a reminder about water, posture, your eyes or bedtime, then sliding back out of sight. Boo, for example, is a shy ghost who looks after Sleep: it comes by in the hour before your bedtime, and again if you are still at the Mac after it. Poke one while it is out and you get a reply.
BooEep! Oh! You poked me... um, hi. Did you need something?
The table above doesn't decide whether you can use it, though. Notchpals runs on any Mac with macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon or Intel. On an iMac, a Mac mini or an M1 MacBook Air, it makes a notch of its own, a black island at the top center of the main display, and the characters peek out of that. The same goes for a notched MacBook working with its lid closed. If the MacBook is open next to another display, the characters stick to the MacBook's notch, even when the other display is set as the main one.
So the answer to "which Macs have a notch" matters for the menu bar, for full screen video and for curiosity, not for whether a character can visit you at the top of the screen.
More on the notch
The notchA notch for Macs without one: how Notchpals works on any MacNo notch on your iMac, Mac mini or external display? Notchpals draws a black island at the top of the main display. How it works, and which screen it picks.
The notchCan you hide the notch on a MacBook? Ways to make it disappearYou can't switch the notch off, but you can make it fade: a black band in your wallpaper, full screen apps, one Finder setting, and a little time.- The notchFull screen apps on a notched MacBook: the black band explainedIn full screen, a notched MacBook blacks out the strip beside the notch and hides the menu bar. Why it happens, what you can change, and what video looks like.