Apple Says It Has No Plans for Solely ARM-Based or Touchscreen Macs

[Born Again]

how innovative.

It would be neat if there was some innovation on the ipad to make it more of a notebook replacement.

 

[Mindcrime]

touchscreens on notebooks are so ubiquitous now. The detachables are a huge seller for us (HP) - those are the units that are like the Surface Pro, a tablet connected to a soft keyboard

 

[thealkimist]

I like this uncharacteristic honesty from Apple. I've got both a MBP and a small Asus I use for astrophotography which is a touch screen foldable laptop. In the end I don't think touch on a screen is super duper useful overall. Handy at times but not providing great utility.

Yup, that's essentially Apple's argument. Touch screen on a computer doesn't really give you that much.

 

[keysofanxiety]

Happy to kill the idea of touchscreen Macs for the umpteenth time.

But no ARM is a bit of a surprise. It would ensure Apple had complete control over their own hardware and software. An ecosystem with their own hardware pipelines, so they're not reliant on third parties. Perfect OS optimisation. Plus MS are releasing W10 for ARM chips (rumour has it they've compiled a pretty efficient x86 emulation) so it wouldn't exactly be a step back.

Again, surprising, but they possibly don't want to offend Intel if they're looking for new chips.

<crazy "I called it here first conspiracy"> Possibly Apple & MS are quietly in cahoots about migrating to ARM and then will release everything within weeks of each other, chopping off Intel for their own hardware lines without prior warning. Surface Pros with Apple A-series chips.

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

Which, of course, means that release is 1-3 years away.

 

[iObama]

Unless they very heavily mix iOS and macOS, ARM makes no sense at this stage of the game. It's fairly obvious to me that the personal computer as we know it is not the future of computing. An architecture change for a platform a) whose future is questionable and b) that has a relatively minor install base would almost ensure its demise.

While Mac sales are increasing, Apple's products are not evolving. Things won't stay like this forever. Apple is resting on its laurels -- and it doesn't care, as Macs make up an almost insignificant portion of their revenue.

I'm really worried about this company. They'll stay afloat, absolutely. They're the biggest company in the world. But they're becoming unrecognizable as the brand that millions came to know and love. It makes me sad.

/rant

 

[thealkimist]

touchscreens on notebooks are so ubiquitous now. The detachables are a huge seller for us (HP) - those are the units that are like the Surface Pro, a tablet connected to a soft keyboard

Appeal to the masses. Ubiquity doesn't mean it's a good idea.

 

[jadot]

For now, it appears the closest we will get to a touchscreen or ARM-based Mac is the latest MacBook Pro, which has a Touch Bar powered by an ARM-based T1 chip as a companion processor. Apple has said one thing and later reversed course in the past, however, so the company's roadmap could change in the future.

This seems rather suggestive as if a touch desktop from Apple is what people want, and Apple is against the ropes on defending the decision not to implement it. I couldn't care any less about having touch on an iMac. It would ruin workstation computing for loads (if not all) of creatives.

I can see a case for a tablet/cintiq/stylus solution for graphics and retouching etc, and yes, I can imagine that Apple might one day come up with a standalone device specifically for this like the Cintiq. You could argue that the iPad pro is pretty much there when you factor in apps like Astropad - I now use this setup instead of my Wacom for retouching and editing photography and it works close to seamlessly. Give it a couple of years and that could be the standard, but direct touch without a stylus can do one.

 

[polterbyte]

I use a Dell all-in-one at work that has a touchscreen. I dont use it much but its nice to have as I sometimes use it when scrolling a PDF or doing pinch to zoom. Its not catastrophically bad as apple makes it out to be...

Its not something you will use often but its nice to have an option.

Both uses you suggest—scrolling and pinching—are expertly achieved with the touchpad. The way I see it, Wintel machines only introduced touch screens because their touchpads are so horribly designed and implemented.

 

[mi7chy]

No problem. We can buy the awesome Surface Studio and Surface Book.

 

[NIKKG]

Surprised on the no ARM macs bit, I always dreamt of an ARM based fanless macbook air with amazing battery life and a cheaper entry price.

You can get a fanless intel M3/5/7 cpu in a computer. I had the Surface Pro 4 m3 version and it was fanless and pretty fast. I got another Dell tablet pc that is also fanless and its pretty fast too.

 

[Mindcrime]

Appeal to the masses. Ubiquity doesn't mean it's a good idea.

Appealing to the masses is how you make money, though.

 

[Rogifan]

Why do people want ARM Macs? What is the benefit?

 

[TheShadowKnows!]

I bet this was the reason for the delayed Mac Pro. Apple thought they could introduce a Mac Pro ARM but the project was not a success.

Maybe. But just maybe, although personally I do not think so.

My view: Apple is building ultra high-performance GPUs in house. As companion to iNTEL CISC processors, not ARM RISC alternatives.

This will be the differentiator and the reason for the long delay to the introduction of the new-gen Mac Pros. This view is aligned with the recent news where Apple will drop UK's Imagination Technologies in two years time.

That is where Apple will shine with pro computing: assisting the heavy loads of compute and graphics loads of AR/3D real-time rendering.

 

[Rogifan]

Times change. Look at iPad. Blank statements like that are often proven incorrect.

That was a sales tactic to convenience people they didn't need a stylus.. SJ was good at sales / marketing tactics.

No, Steve Jobs was referring to a stylus being required to navigate the UI, not an optional writing/drawing instrument.

 

[Zaft]

What if there were two identical MacBooks, one with touchscreen and one without, and the touchscreen version cost +$200. Would you buy that version just for the "nice to have" option? What's the price point where it's worth it? Just curious.

Personally, I think it'd be easier for them to rework iOS on the iPad Pro into a suitable hybrid than it would be to rework OSX into a suitable hybrid.

Well for a macbook the trackpad is a better option. I am talking about desktops where its a mice and a keyboard.

If we were to edit your comment and replace macbook with iMac my answer would be I would not pay $200 more.
But the thing is these windows machines are not really costing that much more than non models. Its almost standard on a lot of them.

 

[thealkimist]

Appealing to the masses is how you make money, though.

Now you're equivocating. You were referring specifically to what's on the market - whether or not it is actually a big benefit for consumers is a completely different topic.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Personally, I hope both of these rumors are true (for my own tastes anyway).

The whole ARM CPU argument ignores the terrific benefit of Bootcamp (or Parallels & similar on Bootcamp) for those who use their Macs as work computers. We still can't do everything in MacOS and there are times when one just needs to be able to run Windows. I find it particularly useful to be able to boot into either system natively within ONE laptop. Sure an ARM-based Windows emulator is probably possible but native is generally more advantageous than any emulator.

Lots of people post this want seemingly revolving around Apple controlling more of their Mac evolution, being able to save the billings to Intel and so on. When I think about that though, I keep coming back to how would it be good for us consumers? Apple probably wouldn't give us the savings, just about all software beyond Apple's own would probably need months or years to develop new versions (perhaps without a Rosetta this time), etc. We already have a day's battery life WITH Intel processors. How much more do we need there?

If the desire is about being able to run iOS apps on Macs, why not an iOS layer using either the iOS emulator or perhaps even adding an A chip inside to run like an iOS app coprocessor to the main Intel CPU?

I'm less passionate about the touchscreen-on-Macs want but am confident I would not want it myself. If it ever comes to pass, I hope it's just an option to serve those who do want it, rather than essential to use as it is on iDevices. I believe many of us overestimate the utility of using a touchscreen Mac on a desktop but if some really desire it, building an option for it would be good for them.

 

[KALLT]

Touch screen Macs would be nice. You don't have to use the touch screen all the time. It is certainly faster than using a mouse or trackpad.

It is most certainly not certain. Using a mouse of trackpad gives much more precision with very little movement of your hand and fingers. On a touch-screen-based desktop computer, you will have to move your arm as well and this is slower.

Touch screens work best when your fingers are already on the screen and the screen is not too large, hence iPhones and iPads. Touch controls cannot be the primary method of interaction on a desktop computer over mouse and keyboard. They are supporting controls and very situational. Even Microsoft recognises this is the Surface Pro, thus the pitch towards artists.

 

[MH01]

Trust me, I work in marketing ....

 

[lkrupp]

touchscreens on notebooks are so ubiquitous now. The detachables are a huge seller for us (HP) - those are the units that are like the Surface Pro, a tablet connected to a soft keyboard

The only reason MacRumors trolls tout touchscreen is because it’s something Apple doesn’t do. I bought my wife a top end HP laptop for her Bernina sewing machine embroidery design software. Neither of us use the touchscreen... ever. And care to provide any evidence that touchscreens are ubiquitous? It’s a gimmick... and so is the touch bar on the Mac Pros.

 

[dominiongamma]

"If you see a stylus, they blew it.” -Steve Jobs, 2010

And jobs was wrong on a lot of ideas, recall ping? Totally his idea.

 

[GabrielMoro]

I'd absolutely love to able to draw on my Mac's screen, with all of the powerful apps and functions we don't get on an iPad. I'd ditch my Wacom and simplify my workflow. But they act like having the OPTION of touchscreen is the same as HAVING to use it. Its quite delusional.

 

[BeSweeet]

IMO, Windows does touch pretty well and is convenient to have. Provide the ability and let users decide how to use the devices they paid for.

Macs will one day be the only computers without touchscreens. Only then will they change.

But they act like having the OPTION of touchscreen is the same as HAVING to use it. Its quite delusional.

Exactly this. For those who don't care about touch, the experience is no different than it's always been.

 

[xgman]

and I seem to remember Apple saying that a 3.5" iphone was big enough too. never say never...