Essential considered a pop-up camera instead of a notch

Essential first introduced us to our current notch-riddled reality, but maybe all these notches could have been avoided. Maybe, instead, we all could have had pop-up selfie cameras, like the one Vivo showed off at Mobile World Congress last week.

Essential CEO Andy Rubin replied to a tweet a few days ago about that Vivo Apex concept phone by pointing to an Essential-owned patent for a similar pop-up camera. It filed it years ago. The company had considered foregoing the notch for a mechanical, pop-up camera! I want this world to exist... if only Apple hadn’t incorporated a notch into the iPhone X.

Now I can understand why Rubin and his company decided against the camera. I imagine fixing a broken pop-up camera would be a nightmare, and I also imagine these cameras could snap off. The notch is protective and safe for your selfie cam, even if you hate how it looks. Accept the embrace of the notch.