I am more concerned about the non-functional but (to me, at least) similarly bothersome design quirk of these iPhones and some other modern phones: rounded corners that mask the display edges. I worry rounded corners may not disappear any time soon because there's little technical reason for them to exist; the rounded corners are aesthetic. For me, I prefer the appearance of phones with shorter corner radii—sharper lines—such as the Razer. But the popular preference for large-radii corners is undeniable (e.g., Twitter's conversion from square to circular avatars).

I just want a plain rectangular display, thank you.

It's super long-winded (like many things from gawker) but essentially, the photos are black around the notch specifically to hide it.

I think it will go away eventually, but then I said that about the camera bump too (another terrible design choice).