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Craig Federighi Talks Bringing iOS Apps to macOS, Reiterates No Plans for Touchscreen Macs

"We really feel that the ergonomics of using a Mac are that your hands are rested on a surface, and that lifting your arm up to poke a screen is a pretty fatiguing thing to do," he said.

THEN EXPLAIN THE ERGONOMICS OF THE SMART KEYBOARD ON THE IPAD PRO CRAIG.

Pointer support would fundamentally change the iPad Pro + Smart Keyboard combo for the better.
 
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redheeler said:
I honestly applaud Apple for doing the correct approach by keeping MacOS / iOS separate while providing incentive for developers to port their iOS apps over to the Mac.
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Agreed! One point though. Seems to me that it would be easy (though not 'free') to include the Ax chip in all Macs and run iOS as a sub-system. Voila! No porting necessary. Just a translation layer.
 
Cougarcat said:
The iPad with a keyboard has the same ergonomics.
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And that's precisely the reason why I didn't buy the keyboard cover for my iPad.
That's an accessory. I personally believe using the keyboard would make the iPad experience a lot worse. In fact, I usually strip my iPad of its smart cover just for the size / weight reduction.
 
Glmnet1 said:
"Even though the apps are effectively being shared between operating systems, Federighi emphasized that your Mac won't start behaving like an iPhone. "It's still macOS, you still have the Terminal, you can still attach four monitors to it, you can still hook up external drives," he said."

Good!
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Yeah but they already went too far for my taste. There was a time you could be editing multiple playlists in separate windows while using the desktop app iTunes... drag and drop from your library, option-shuffle (with a visual re-ordering shown) to get something looked like an arrangement you'd enjoy, etc. Wake me when they bring that back and I'll feel more reassured.

What Craig's talking about (and did someone have to remind him to throw something in about Terminal?) is more like gadgetry than programming. Oooh, I can hook up four monitors to watch a one-window app with assorted dropdowns on its menu.. why do i feel like I just hooked up four monitors to a phone?

A laptop/desktop is one thing and a mobile handheld another. They are apples to oranges and should be kept that way. As a dev company if you want to port something, hire the lads and lassies to do it already. Support the economy. The customers, we're out here.
 
CerebralX said:
Good. I've got two friends who own touch screen windows laptops (XPS 13 and HP some model I don't remember). They both never use it and when you do use it, it leaves dirty finger prints and makes the screen wobble. It's useless on a laptop. Leave it for tablets and phones.
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I have a touchscreen Dell laptop for work and the screen doesn't wobble or show dirty fingerprints that much when it's on but yeah I only use the touchscreen feature say once or twice a month. Not enough use to justify a need for it but i guess its cool to have just in case.
 
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"We really feel that the ergonomics of using a Mac are that your hands are rested on a surface, and that lifting your arm up to poke a screen is a pretty fatiguing thing to do," he said.​

I'm happy to hear Apple reiterating this. It's not a new narrative but it's one that by now, I would have assumed they changed direction on. Every PC Maker increases their MSRP / ASP by including touch screens despite, personally, I see no reason for this. These aren't 2-in-1 machines, they aren't tablets, they're windows 10 with a touch screen and most people use the touch screen for scrolling and that's in mostly because the majority of windows trackpads are utter garbage.

I hope Apple continues to not package in touch screens...no of course people will say "just don't use the touch screen" sure but I think if they added a touch interface to a Mac, they'd make UI changes to improve the consumer experience. I don't want the UI I use with a mouse to adapt to fingers.
 
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Like Craig, I think that touchscreen Macs would be a stupid idea. However, Wacom has made a living off of pen-enabled displays like the Cintiq. Apple Pencil and the iMac would make a great combo and would prevent designers from having to drop a ton of extra cash for a Wacom. Microsoft actually had a cool idea with the Surface Studio, however, who wants to deal with Windows?! Yuck!
 
sdwaltz said:
"We really feel that the ergonomics of using a Mac are that your hands are rested on a surface, and that lifting your arm up to poke a screen is a pretty fatiguing thing to do," he said.

THEN EXPLAIN THE ERGONOMICS OF THE SMART KEYBOARD ON THE IPAD PRO CRAIG.

Pointer support would fundamentally change the iPad Pro + Smart Keyboard combo for the better.
Click to expand...

It’s an iPad that gives you the option to type things on a keyboard. Get over it, buy a laptop if you so desperately need a pointer and mouse support.
 
 will easily keep its promise of never adding a touchscreen to a Mac. That’s because the Mac will be deprecated within the next 10 years when the software availability for the iPad reaches critical mass. At that point, Universal apps will have been running on both macOS and iOS and tvOS, scaling themselves automatically based on what hardware is available. iPads will be enlarged to 15” and 23” for desktop use. Trackpad/mouse support and other standard USB/Bluetooth peripherals will be the final piece to fall into place, allowing the next gen iPad to be a full and completely functional replacement for the Mac.
 
I can see the iPad (or iPhone) becoming an adjunct display to the Mac. So you'd be able to use the iPad as, essentially, a secondary touch-screen that sits on your desk to do things with it - for example with the Apple pencil, other touch usage, or cursor movements using it as a large, moveable touchpad.
 
sdwaltz said:
"We really feel that the ergonomics of using a Mac are that your hands are rested on a surface, and that lifting your arm up to poke a screen is a pretty fatiguing thing to do," he said.

THEN EXPLAIN THE ERGONOMICS OF THE SMART KEYBOARD ON THE IPAD PRO CRAIG.

Pointer support would fundamentally change the iPad Pro + Smart Keyboard combo for the better.
Click to expand...
Then you're just making it a laptop aren't you?
 
Cougarcat said:
Fortnite already has a macOS version, Craig.

I don’t care about touchscreen macs either, but I also don’t get the fatigue argument. The iPad with a keyboard has the same ergonomics. And that LEGO AR demo looked way more fatiguing.
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ipad’s keyboard eliminates the trackpad from the cover which allows the user to bring the ipad closer (which is why there’s an ugly flap lump when folded up). having it closer requires less work for tapping on the vertical screen.

AR is a different thing. there arent any good alternatives to holding a touch screen (yet anyways, which is why we hear rumors of apple glass or whatever). a touch laptop’s alternative method of input is the mouse/trackpad, so why would you touch a vertical screen over using an included mouse/trackpad?
 
How about a MacBook where you can detach the screen and use it as a touchscreen that still runs macOS?
 
shiseiryu1 said:
Microsoft actually had a cool idea with the Surface Studio, however, who wants to deal with Windows?! Yuck!
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Windows 10 isn't that bad. I never thought I'd say this but it's quite good.

That being said, the Surface Studio is gorgeous and if it wern't for the anemic specs and sky high price it would be awesome.

The sad part is Apple was 3/4 the way there with the iLamp iMac. Throw in an actual design team (IOW not Jony) and resurrect that design and it could be a serious competitor. Sadly they will piss that away too.
 
What Apple is doing to the Mac is destroying it, so please, end MacOS here, so that it’s not hurt even more, and then just port Xcode to the iPad Pro, and you’ll have the kind of ecosystem you want without making more nonsense in your Mac product line.
 
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Made In Machines said:
Clearly hasn't seen 2-in-1 laptops or the surface book designs? They manage to solve all 'ergonomic issues'. Have you seen the new Asus with a touchscreen pad? They all leave your touch bar effort in the dust. Talking about ergonomics - how are your keyboard lawsuits going?
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have used one, ended up using the trackpad and never really used the touchscreen. vertical touchscreens are useless. also tried using Filezilla in tablet mode, it was frustrating since i couldn’t tap on those small buttons. had to go back to laptop mode to use filezilla
 
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