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Am I the only one who doesn't care for a touch screen Mac?

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Seanm87

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Oct 10, 2014
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I have a MacBook Air for personal use and a HP spectre from my employers for work. I'll be honest I literally never use the touch screen on it. I don't see the point. Once you learn the trackpad gestures there is no reason to raise your arms over the keyboard and touch the screen. I actually agree with apple on this one, seems to be put there for the sake of it nothing more.

Why the clamour from so many people for touch screen Macs?
 
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'so many people'? where did that come from?

either way, this is apple... they'll do whatever they choose to do. but doesn't seem imminent; hence the touch bar.

i wouldn't worry about it (ie we can cross that bridge when...). but honestly, i haven't heard or read much clamoring for a touchscreen mac.
 
Seanm87 said:
I have a MacBook Air for personal use and a HP spectre from my employers for work. I'll be honest I literally never use the touch screen on it. I don't see the point. Once you learn the trackpad gestures there is no reason to raise your arms over the keyboard and touch the screen. I actually agree with apple on this one, seems to be put there for the sake of it nothing more.

Why the clamour from so many people for touch screen Macs?
Click to expand...
i got ipad mini for touch, i got iphone to touch.. but i do hate mouse magic to touch..
 
I’d never use a touchscreen desktop computer.
I barely use my iPad Pro.

there may be a point where I would have to purchase an iMac that has a touchscreen built in but she wouldn’t get used. Probably even less than the touch bar. So, not a fan of holding my arm in front of me to touch the very small points on a retina monitor. I can’t see many others actively utilizing it either.
 
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fisherking said:
'so many people'? where did that come from?

either way, this is apple... they'll do whatever they choose to do. but doesn't seem imminent; hence the touch bar.

i wouldn't worry about it (ie we can cross that bridge when...). but honestly, i haven't heard or read much clamoring for a touchscreen mac.
Click to expand...

A lot of reviews of the MacBook Air mentioned and questioned why apple still doesn't have a touch screen on the Mac

about 3 minutes

about 1:25

seems to be clamoured for a lot in this forum too
 
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Seanm87 said:
I have a MacBook Air for personal use and a HP spectre from my employers for work. I'll be honest I literally never use the touch screen on it. I don't see the point. Once you learn the trackpad gestures there is no reason to raise your arms over the keyboard and touch the screen. I actually agree with apple on this one, seems to be put there for the sake of it nothing more.

Why the clamour from so many people for touch screen Macs?
Click to expand...
Same with me. Feels super awkward and gimmicky.

I can see using it if people are walking around offices needing to check things off boxes (like a surface), but I don't not understand why I would want it in desktop mode at all.
 
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I think it would be contingent in how useful Apple would make touch screens, as far as communicating with the OS and apps. With iOS, they have shown that touch screens can work and feel absolutely natural. If they simply stick to the current MacOs with touch - then no.
 
Bazza1 said:
I think it would be contingent in how useful Apple would make touch screens, as far as communicating with the OS and apps. With iOS, they have shown that touch screens can work and feel absolutely natural. If they simply stick to the current MacOs with touch - then no.
Click to expand...

Sure, but iOS devices aren't typically used with the screen facing the user like a desktop or laptop is.

No software design will overcome the ergonomic issues.
 
People from different generations think differently. Don't be surprised when people who haven't already banked many thousands of hours using traditional computers warp the market in ways you or I might not like.
 
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frou said:
People from different generations think differently. Don't be surprised when people who haven't already banked many thousands of hours using traditional computers warp the market in ways you or I might not like.
Click to expand...

Has Gen Z developed wrists that don't hurt when held at awkward angles?

C'mon.
 
frou said:
People from different generations think differently. Don't be surprised when people who haven't already banked many thousands of hours using traditional computers warp the market in ways you or I might not like.
Click to expand...
haha lol.. i need keyboard for ipad mini good one and mouse.. if in bed yeah ,but if desk or outside keyboard and mouse much better
 
26139 said:
Has Gen Z developed wrists that don't hurt when held at awkward angles?
Click to expand...
Almost every traditional desktop computer user still uses a straight-as-a-board keyboard (rather than split/curved) and non-vertical mouse, so they're not particularly concerned with wrist ergonomics either.
 
It's kind of funny, but I love my previous iPad and now iPad Pro but as soon as I added the new magic keyboard I stopped touching the screen except for tasks I can't figure out how to do from the keyboard and trackpad (and when I remove the iPad from the keyboard, of course). But then I'm a keyboard junkie coming from Macs and PCs for decades where I never had to move my fingers from the keyboard up to a screen, it's just not a natural motion for me. I think there's merit in the desire for a touch screen being a generational thing and for specific tasks, like drawing, that I don't perform.
 
anson42 said:
It's kind of funny, but I love my previous iPad and now iPad Pro but as soon as I added the new magic keyboard I stopped touching the screen except for tasks I can't figure out how to do from the keyboard and trackpad (and when I remove the iPad from the keyboard, of course). But then I'm a keyboard junkie coming from Macs and PCs for decades where I never had to move my fingers from the keyboard up to a screen, it's just not a natural motion for me. I think there's merit in the desire for a touch screen being a generational thing and for specific tasks, like drawing, that I don't perform.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm sure there's a contingent of Mac users who still don't see the value of a trackpad or mouse when there's perfectly good keyboard keys and shortcuts to use. These far more efficient than having to lift your fingers from keyboard to operate these devices! 😋
 
I too had a touch screen Windows laptop for work and never found it all that efficient/useful.

Doesn't bother me if Apple does not develop a touch screen Mac though I'm sure some might prefer having that capability.
 
Id like to see an MacPad come out. An iPad type device for MacOS, similar to the surface. I would buy that in a minute.
 
There are moments when a touch screen is useful, especially if you're an artist.

I had a touch screen-enabled Lenovo laptop computer, which was useful because the trackpad wasn't as good as it should have been, but trying to use a 14 inch (somewhat light) computer as a tablet didn't work well.
 
I've been using touch-screen devices daily for more than 10 years now. I own an iPhone, an iPad, a MacBook Air and an iMac and use all of them on a daily basis. I never felt the desire to touch the screen of my MacBook or iMac to interact with it. Not even once in my life.

I don't know how it's possible that every tech opinionist around the web seems to perceive Macs (especially laptops) are lagging behind the competition because they lack a touch screen, or at least that a touch screen would be beneficial in some cases.

To me having a touch screen on a Mac is total nonsense.
 
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No care for a touch screen laptop/Mac here either.

I have a MBP16 for home use.
Work purchased me a Dell XPS 13 last week, for general work use. I didn't even realise it had a touch screen until I went to wipe a bit of dust off of the screen! lol. Tried it out for a moment, and now gone back to normal use. Wil probably never touch it again!
 
Wouldn’t the half-way house for this be to use a Mac desktop/laptop as is today, with an iPad connected via their sidecar facility?
 
No, you are not the only one who does not like touch screen. I have been using computer screens since the early 70s and frequently wipe the annoying fingerprints off my iPad screen. In the old days, it was really rude to touch someone else screen while pointing as many of us were more than a bit anal at keeping our screens pristine.

A touch screen could perhaps be useful to draw directly on the screen with a stylus, but I do not do that sort of thing frequently. Otherwise, I would never do it, either.
 
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