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For a long time, the company Apple was considered a trendsetter and popularizer of technologies and design solutions that other manufacturers could not implement. For many years, Steve Jobs' company remained a generator of role models. Apple created another controversial sophistication, a storm of discussion and criticism began on the network, and then clones of these controversial decisions appeared on the market, and it all sold well.
Over time, it seemed that the magic Apple was weakening, that the Cupertinians were losing the palm and turning from a leader into a catch-up. Despite this, many competitors by inertia continued to blindly copy controversial innovations.
And then iPhone X came out.
Immediately after its release, the device collected a lot of unflattering epithets and offensive nicknames, the most persistent of which is 'monobrow'. However, even here Apple did not become the first. Think of the Essential Phone introduced a few months earlier. Despite the fact that the solution applied in Andy Rubin's smartphone looks different, it does not become less secondary in iPhone. Also a cutout in the screen for external sensors (camera).
Criticism, criticism and derogatory epithets.
Now let's take a look at MWC 2018. And it's not even about the Chinese of the second and third echelons. We are talking about manufacturers that are or claim to be called A-brands.
Asus ZenPhone 5.
Guess three times which phone design is copied to Asus?
The following example, although it was not announced at MWC, information leaked to the network during this very exhibition – Huawei P20. Spy photos show us the already familiar monobrow.
In addition, a video appeared allegedly from a secret room, where selected journalists were shown the next generation of flagships from LG – G7.
Do you think the Chinese flagship killers from One Plus resisted the temptation to bang up their yet-to-be-announced OnePlus 6? If the leaks do not lie, then the desire to get into the jet turned out to be stronger than common sense.
There will not be enough fingers to list third-tier manufacturers from the Middle Kingdom. There are both nameless 'Uncle Liao' factories and more well-known in narrow circles contenders for the title 'you can take'.
It turned out that Apple has not lost its former grip and continues to make massive decisions that others could not do. You can have different attitudes towards the apple company and its products, but it should be admitted that Apple can still.
And now, without emotion, let's try to figure out whether such a delicacy has practical meaning.
To begin with, we should admit that the cutout at the top of the screen is a fact and a massive decision. So much so that even Google will make software support for such screens in the next update Android.
This solution also makes practical sense – the useful area of the screen is increased, where you can display notifications and display of service information, thereby saving space on the main part of the display, without resorting to hiding the status bar.
An unobvious plus – there is no need to drill holes for the speaker grill, for example, which makes the glass less fragile due to the absence of a thin jumper, unlike a conventional phone without a cutout.
Instead of a conclusion
To date, there are many complaints and remarks about how exactly such a solution is used, but there is no doubt that the cutout will be used, and ultimately it will either die out as unnecessary, or become massive and self-evident, as it was in its time happened with NanoSIM cards and a two-way charger plug.
In fact, there are many opponents and admirers of this decision. The former are mostly traditionally from among the fans Android, the latter, naturally from the users iOS.
The funny thing is that both sides are right, since there is no dispute about tastes. But already now we can say with confidence that Apple once again managed to roll out to the market and make a massive solution that others could not do. Considering what you saw at MWC and the emerging trend towards widespread cutting of displays, how do you assess the need for such a solution? Do you like this vector of design development, and will you buy yourself a device with a monobrow? Share your opinion in the comments and let's debate on this topic.