How big is the MacBook notch? How to measure it in Swift, with real numbers

Reading the notch size from NSScreen

Every notched built-in display reports two auxiliary areas: the strips of menu bar to the left and right of the camera housing. Subtract the right edge of the left area from the left edge of the right area and you have the notch width. safeAreaInsets.top gives the height. On a display without a notch, such as an external monitor or a MacBook Air from before 2022, both auxiliary areas are nil and the top inset is 0.

import AppKit

for screen in NSScreen.screens {
    guard let left = screen.auxiliaryTopLeftArea,
          let right = screen.auxiliaryTopRightArea else {
        print("(screen.localizedName): no notch")
        continue
    }
    let width = right.minX - left.maxX
    let height = screen.safeAreaInsets.top
    print("(screen.localizedName): notch (width) x (height) pt")
}

Measured values

• 14-inch MacBook Pro, M1 Pro, 2021 (MacBookPro18,3), default scaling 1512 x 982 points (3024 x 1964 pixels): notch 185 x 32 points, with 663 points of menu bar to its left and 664 to its right.
• An external display (MSI MAG342CQR, 3440 x 1440) on the same Mac: no auxiliary areas and a top inset of 0, so no notch.
• Have another notched Mac? Run the snippet above and email the output with your model and display setting to aqib199800@gmail.com, and I'll add it to this list with credit.

Things that trip people up

• Points are not fixed. Choosing More Space or Larger Text in System Settings, Displays changes the screen size in points, and the notch size in points changes with it. Read the values when the screen parameters change (NSApplication.didChangeScreenParametersNotification).
• NSScreen.main is the screen with the key window, not necessarily the built-in one. Loop over NSScreen.screens and pick the screen whose auxiliary areas are not nil.
• Don't keep a list of notched models. Checking the auxiliary areas works on every current and future notched Mac, and returns nothing on Macs without one.
• When the menu bar is hidden or an app is in full screen, the notch area is still there; your window just has no menu bar around it.

Questions

How wide is the MacBook notch?

185 points on a 14-inch MacBook Pro (M1 Pro, 2021) at its default 1512 x 982 point scaling, measured with NSScreen. In points it changes with the scaled resolution you choose.

How do I detect the notch in a macOS app?

Check NSScreen.auxiliaryTopLeftArea and auxiliaryTopRightArea, available since macOS 12. If both exist, the screen has a notch; the gap between them is its width and safeAreaInsets.top its height.

Which apps use the MacBook notch?

Notch apps draw a panel that drops out of it. Notchet keeps your clipboard history there and DisplayShift opens from it when you plug in a monitor; others show music controls or notes.