Given that, I don’t see how they lose the notch without losing everything but the camera. Tone and light sensors need some distance from the illuminated display, and the status LED is wired to the camera power to show you definitively when the camera is powered on. That LED has to stand out at any time.
Even without Face ID, the notch houses more than just the camera. “David Pogue posted an image on Twitter, which seems to be the new MacBook Pro’s camera module. In that, we see a 1080p camera, TrueTone sensor, ambient light sensor, and a camera status LED.” https://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple-MacBook-Pro-s-notch-houses-more-than-just-a-1080p-camera.574456.0.html
Given that, I don’t see how they lose the notch without losing everything but the camera. Tone and light sensors need some distance from the illuminated display, and the status LED is wired to the camera power to show you definitively when the camera is powered on. That LED has to stand out at any time.