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CheckMag | Lenovo - check, HP and Dell - cross: How many laptop makers joined Apple in embracing the notch?

Lenovo's ThinkBook 13x G4 is a great example of a laptop sporting a reverse notch (Image source: Notebookcheck)
Lenovo's ThinkBook 13x G4 is a great example of a laptop sporting a reverse notch (Image source: Notebookcheck)
Of the last 80 laptops tested by Notebookcheck, 27 have a notch; 21 out of those 27 come from Lenovo. Most of the established notebook makers such as HP and Dell seemingly have little enthusiasm for this visual design feature that Apple brought to the market in 2021. Update: Headline edited in response to comments on X.
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06:56 AM GMT, August 28, 2024 update: This article originally had a headline that may have seemed offensive to certain readers. Apologies for that. No edits have been made to the item's contents; these follow below.

Phones as well as tablets have been sporting display notches for several years now. With laptops, things are much, much different; when Apple brought the first few MacBooks featuring a display notch to the market in 2021, it probably half-expected many laptop makers to follow suit.

That did not actually happen. The design feature was met with very limited excitement as there was (and still is) little practical use for it. Some users seem to outright hate display notches, and electronics makers take notice. Of the last 80 laptops reviewed by Notebookcheck as of August 27, 2024, 0 models come with an actual notch. No. Instead of merely ordering a batch of custom notched displays like Apple did, several companies decided to put a bit of a creative spin on the idea.

The Schenker XMG Evo 15 M24 and its tiny little reverse notch (Image source: Notebookcheck)
The Schenker XMG Evo 15 M24 and its tiny little reverse notch (Image source: Notebookcheck)

At Lenovo, they really appreciate the reverse notch concept. Of the last 24 Lenovo laptops tested by us, 21 feature a reverse notch. The notch is normally used to house a camera, stereo microphones and (optionally) an IR face recognition module. Schenker/XMG also ranks highly with 5 notched laptops out of a total of 7.

The complete breakdown by company follows below.

  • Acer: 2 laptops with no notch
  • Asus: 10 laptops with no notch, 1 laptop with a reverse notch
  • Dell & Alienware: 10 laptops with no notch
  • Durabook: 1 laptop with no notch
  • Getac: 1 laptop with no notch
  • GPD: 1 laptop with no notch
  • HP: 8 laptops with no notch
  • Huawei: 2 laptops with no notch
  • Framework: 1 laptop with no notch
  • Lenovo: 3 laptops with no notch, 21 laptops with a reverse notch
  • LG: 2 laptops with no notch
  • Medion: 3 laptops with no notch
  • Microsoft: 1 laptop with no notch
  • Razer: 1 laptop with no notch
  • RedMagic: 1 laptop with no notch
  • Samsung: 2 laptops with no notch
  • Schenker/XMG: 2 laptops with no notch, 5 laptops with a reverse notch
  • Tulpar: 1 laptop with no notch
  • Xiaomi: 2 laptops with no notch


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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2024 08 > Lenovo - check, HP and Dell - cross: How many laptop makers joined Apple in embracing the notch?
Sergey Tarasov, 2024-08-27 (Update: 2024-08-30)