Dynamic Island for MacBook Pro
Apple's Dynamic Island is only on the new OLED MacBook Pro. On every other 14" and 16" MacBook Pro, Notchy turns the black camera notch into a native Dynamic Island for music, files, timers and HUDs. Try it free for 7 days.
Setting up your MacBook Pro Notch
- 1Install Notchy
Download the Notchy DMG (7-day free trial) or install via Brew Cask. It is fully compiled for Apple silicon (M1 through M5, including Pro and Max chips) and legacy Intel processors.
- 2Auto notch detection
Launch the app. Notchy queries the system for active screen bounds, locating your exact 14-inch or 16-inch camera notch positioning.
- 3Command your notch
Your MacBook Pro notch is now an interactive powerhouse. Expand it for scrubbing Spotify/Apple Music, dropping files, viewing calendar schedules, and connects AirPods in 1 tap.
120Hz ProMotion Ready
Your MacBook Pro has one of the most advanced displays on the planet. To match its 120Hz refresh rates and peak HDR brightness, your utilities must be fast.
Notchy is a universal app, native on Apple silicon. Island transitions, Now Playing expansions and volume HUDs animate at your display's full ProMotion rate.
Which MacBook Pro has Apple's Dynamic Island?
Only the new one. On October 28, 2026, Apple announced the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR display, with M5 Pro or M5 Max, a touchscreen and a Dynamic Island that holds Live Activities and Siri in macOS 27. It ships from November 6, 2026, starting at $2,899.
The island comes with that new display, so the 14" and 16" MacBook Pro you already own keeps its camera notch — Apple's announcement mentions no update that changes that. Notchy closes the gap: it wraps the notch you have in a fluid Dynamic Island today, without buying new hardware.
Everything Notchy does, in one app
- Fluid Dynamic Island animations on the Mac notch
- Command palette (⌃⌥K) — every action one keystroke away
- Knock — double-tap a modifier key to open the notch
- AI usage tracker (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Copilot)
- Detach any tab into a menu-bar popover
- Now Playing music controls (Apple Music & Spotify)
- Time-synced karaoke lyrics under the notch
- Mac clipboard history shelf (password-manager safe)
- Searchable clipboard — filter by text, file name, or OCR'd words
- On-device OCR — copy a screenshot, get its text (Apple Vision)
- Window snapping — drag a window to the notch to tile it
- App Launcher — pin apps to the notch, open with one tap
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- Text snippets — TextExpander-style pastes from the ⌘K palette
- One-tap screen capture to clipboard + shelf
- Color eyedropper — sample any pixel, hex auto-copied
- System-wide mic mute for every meeting app at once
- Keystroke HUD for demos & screencasts (secure-input safe)
- Keyboard cleaning lock with countdown island (⌘⎋ unlocks)
- Menu-bar icon hiding — Bartender-style separator & chevron
- Live CPU / memory / network stats flyout
- Custom islands through the local developer API (off by default)
- iPhone-style call island — Answer/Decline FaceTime on the notch
- Notch Terminal — real VT100/xterm shell in a PTY, its own tab
- Camera Guard — alert (or block) when any app opens your camera
- Caps Lock HUD — brief island on every toggle
- Full Charge island with adjustable threshold + low-battery sound
- Alt HUD styles — edge-pinned bar or circular gauge off the notch
- Audio-reactive Now Playing visualizer (real FFT of system audio)
- Custom closed-notch idle animation — drop in your own Lottie JSON
- Drag-and-drop file drop shelf — persists across relaunches
- Zip & unzip files right from the shelf
- Image converter (HEIC, PNG, JPEG, TIFF, PDF) + video → GIF
- Run Apple Shortcuts with one tap
- Screenshots auto-staged on the shelf, ready to drag
- Download finished alerts with Reveal in Finder
- USB drive mount island with one-tap Eject
- Apple Reminders quick capture & due list
- macOS Pomodoro notch timer & stopwatch — streaks + 7-day chart
- Resizable expanded panel (width & height, live preview)
- System HUDs (volume, brightness, battery)
- Audio output switcher (speakers, AirPods, monitor)
- AirPods connection manager & battery
- Magic Mouse, Keyboard & Trackpad battery + low-battery alerts
- Quick notes & Calendar widgets
- Camera Mirror (check your appearance)
- Keep Awake (caffeine toggle)
- Teleprompter (Cuely) for Zoom calls
- Focus-aware alerts & native haptic feedback
- Lock screen widgets & hide-the-notch mode
- 134 languages, fully localized
- Native SwiftUI, tuned for Apple silicon
MacBook Pro Notch FAQ
Does the Dynamic Island support the MacBook Pro 14" and 16"?
Yes. Notchy is built to perfectly frame the larger camera notch on both the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, spanning M1 Pro/Max, M2 Pro/Max, M3 Pro/Max, M4 Pro/Max and M5 models.
Is there a performance penalty on ProMotion displays?
No. Notchy is a native SwiftUI app and animates at your display's ProMotion refresh rate, up to 120Hz, using near-zero CPU while the notch is collapsed.
How does Notchy compare to NotchNook on a MacBook Pro?
Both put live controls in the notch. Notchy is a native SwiftUI app that uses near-zero CPU at idle, adds tools like Face Unlock, clipboard history and AI usage tracking, and costs a one-time $24.99 with a 7-day free trial. See the full side-by-side on the Notchy vs NotchNook page.
Which MacBook Pro has a Dynamic Island?
Only the new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR display with M5 Pro or M5 Max. Apple announced it on October 28, 2026; it ships from November 6, 2026, starting at $2,899, with macOS 27 and a touchscreen. Every earlier 14" and 16" MacBook Pro has a camera notch instead, and Apple's announcement mentions no update that brings the island to them. Notchy gives your existing MacBook Pro notch a Dynamic Island today.