MacOS Sonoma menubar size on MBP 14"

Try System Settings ➜ Accessibility ➜ Display ➜ Menu Bar Size.

Make sure its set to "Default", rather than "Large".

For me, I originally had the same observation. But this turned out to be related to the fact that the menu bar was now white instead of black like I was used to in dark mode. I had to go into wallpapers and select black as color for the new "Sonoma Horizon" wallpaper being thrust upon us.

Props to this thread for pointing that out. MacOS Sonoma Menu bar color - Apple Community

Changing wallpaper to solid black color:

... helps a little:

Now menu bar is blending with the laptop case and with the notch (camera area). Also it removes the separator and background of apps. Visually menu bar is flying above the opened app and enlarged height is less annoying:

But yes the problem is still here and it is really annoying. After update to Sonoma menu bar has become too big. It is 38px to be precise:

Changing menu bar size to default only changes fonts size. It doesn't affect icons, hovering rectangles or any other geometry in the menu. So I don't think it will ever change the menu bar height.

I used to hide menu bar completely off the screen. Then I had to start living with it when notch appeared. Now it is getting bigger.

Personally, I tried all the suggestions and absolutely nothing worked on my MBP 14 M3 Pro (currently 14.3.1); my menu bar is about 1/3 taller than my previous MBP that didn't have a notch. The ONLY thing that helped in my case was hiding the menu bar; this finally allowed me to use the space under the notch. When I mouse-up and the menu bar slides into view, it covers the top 7 or 8 pixels of my open windows, but at least I can now move program and finder windows directly below the notch without the dumb menu bar padding that apple programmed into the OS below the notch.

I too wish there was a solution such as a third-party tool, or simple setting adjustment, but I've gone through ALL of them and can't get any to work on a 14" with the notch.

Just got a 14.2" MBP as an "upgrade" to my previous Touch Bar MBP. I assumed the notch would be well-managed in Sonoma but I was SO wrong. On my old MBP running Sonoma, the menu bar is super-compact, measuring about 48 pixels in height. on the new 14.2" I measure 76 pixels! It felt like I was suddenly using a preschool computer. The extra "buffer" below the notch is about 12 or 13 pixels and you can't move windows into that space... however I found one solution: enabling "hide menu bar always" lets you move windows up against the notch and get back that missing height, then when you mouse-up, the menu bar slides over the top of the window. If this works, then why isn't there an option in settings to control the menu bar height!?!?

So confused/disappointed; I'm taking my new MacBook back for a refund and will keep the old one with the nice, tight menu bar which doesn't steal space from my apps.

I am still having the same problem, on MBP 14" M2 PRO, sonoma 14.2.1. Interestingly, the top bar seems large on the internal screen, but external WQHD monitor has the normal small top bar as before I installed sonoma.

The only solution that makes it disappear is to set black wallpaper on the internal screen. Dissapointing...

Try toggling to Large then back to Default and see if that forces it to be correct.

Just to add, make sure you update to Sonoma 14.1 if you haven't already.

Please run Etrecheck and post its full report here. Use the "additional text" button and paste the report into the text box.

If you go to System Settings > Displays. Is yours set to Default?

Thanks Leroy, I had the same problem too, and changing the resolution to "default" did it for me. I'm now a happy camper!!

Stanislav_Kot wrote:

Hi!

After upgrade to MacOs Sonoma my menu bar became larger like about 1.5x.

<etrecheck>

Here is my report

I still do not see the menu bar issue— however

<cleanmymac> one of the worst

Uninstall all third party apps that are Cleaners/Optimizers/VPN/Anti-Virus

all known to cause issues on the macOS

Stanislav_Kot wrote:

Hi!

After upgrade to MacOs Sonoma my menu bar became larger like about 1.5x. Tried to change font size (add more space button), tried different resolutions and found out that for some resolutions the menubar size is ok, but the screen size changes from fullscreen to some additional black lines on the upper and lower screen sizes, so menubar moves under the webcam island.

According to the reddit threads, looks like not only me got this issue, but here is not solution for it there.

Maybe someone here can help me with that?

See if this does it —

if not see this thread—

how to make menu bar smaller on macOS Mon… - Apple Community

ref: Change Accessibility settings on Mac - Apple Support

The top menu height now is bigger than previously and I have a black area below my camera space. The green square shows the approximate camera's area. So there is the black line under the camera now, and previously the top menu had the same height with the green square (notch).

I tryed to play with settings, changed the menu bar size to Default, etc, but nothing helps