They tried something like that with the Touchbar on the MacBook Pro.. and it's no longer a thing. A foldable like that might sell to people who are easily distracted but I refuse to buy something that requires me to type on a flat surface that I have to look at in order to see if I'm hitting the right button. Talk about a workflow killer. There is a reason that the F and J keys have bumps on them.
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Foldable MacBooks: Six Things to Know About Apple's Future Plans
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No I mean like still have a keyboard but instead of printed letters, have little screens on each cap that can display whatever
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Interrupting workflow to force the user to look at the keyboard is a no-no. Hard pass. But it would be excellent for keeping children occupied.
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You literally wouldn’t have to look at the keyboard because it’s still physical keys… add in the fact that you could change the language of your keyboard or customize it to your liking it would speed up one’s workflow
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nope. you can do what you want to do on the Magic Trackpad but way better.
I do it because I was forced to. a lot of apps (YouTube TV in particular) had trouble detecting click+drag with the cursor on the iPad (ex: swipe down to dismiss the current TV stream). And other times, app is expecting a pinch but I only had access to a bluetooth mouse and not the trackpad.
otherwise I only use the trackpad which is superior.
sure, if I'm sitting in on my computer and this coworker wants me to go back a webpage but I refuse, he's going to instinctively reach out and tap the back button which will be incredibly annoying to me.
How does this fit the need of many pros? Why doesn't Apple put ANY amount of effort in the actual pro market with the Mac Pro. I am so sick of Apple's treatment of their desktop line and their true pro market.
What does this product do that the Macbook Pro currently CANNOT do AT ALL?
Meanwhile, there are hundreds of things a correct Mac Pro can do that the current joke of a Mac Pro cannot do.
Ah, my misunderstanding.. that might not be bad. I've used custom video editing decks like that. But, I would never buy a keyboard like that because the tech raises the price unnecessarily.
I wasn't talking about what one can do, but about what feels natural to most people in an era where most screens are touch screens.
There’s actually demand for this and Apple wouldn’t be the first one to come out with this kind of device. Asus came out with a foldable laptop last year but it was as expensive as this one is projected to be. The price is definitely prohibitive, so it wouldn’t sell in large numbers. Asus this year revised their design into a two-window version known as the ZenBook Duo 2024 where a keyboard can magnetically attach to the bottom screen to look like an ordinary laptop. Remove the Bluetooth keyboard that normally attaches via pogo pins like the iPad’s Magic Keyboard and it becomes a dual screen laptop with two 3K OLED screens that can be oriented in quite a few ways. It is selling out everywhere with a dirt cheap starting price of $1499 with a higher resolution panel and better CPU/RAM at $1699, half the price of their true foldable. Lenovo actually came first on that design with their Yogabook i9, but it had a $2000 starting price and last year’s Intel CPU (14th generation Meteor Lake Intel for the ZenBook versus last year’s 13’th gen in the Yogabook).
Asus has been experimenting with dual screen laptops for quite a while, going back several years with a half-screen above the keyboard version that was also called the ZenBook Duo. They’ve been revising the design quite a bit every year and still are. The newest version is a hit, so yes there is quite a bit of demand for dual screen laptops.
A lot of people would buy an Apple version if it were cheap enough. At $3499 or so, it would not be a high volume product. But that’s usually what you see on first revisions like the Vision Pro. While I agree with the sentiment it won’t sell in huge numbers, that’s purely due to price, not a lack of interest. Ten years from now, I wouldn’t be surprised if a large majority of laptops are like that. The tech just needs maturity and enough time to get cheaper.
Here’s this year’s version where they brought the price down significantly, though it’s obviously not a foldable. But it’s the only kind of affordable you can get with current technology and prices.
You do realise this isn’t a real product don’t you?
Name one thing a pro photographer or videographer cannot do on the MacBook Pro, that they could only do on a more beefed up machine.
Apple cannot care that people get so emotional about individual wants. Why would they when it’s out of their control? If people are going to make individual demands like you have (without even using a specific request other than 'more pro') you’ll end up getting a Homer Simpson car.
What does your version of More Pro even mean?
US20220342450A1 - Foldable cover and display for an electronic device - Google Patents
Electronic devices including a display layer and a cover layer including a foldable region are disclosed herein. The display layer and the cover layer are configured to be moved between a folded configuration and an unfolded configuration by bending the cover layer along the foldable region...
patents.google.com
US20220342458A1 - Electronic Devices With Flexible Displays And Hinges - Google Patents
An electronic device may have a flexible display that overlaps an axis. The display may be supported by a housing. The housing may have first and second portions that rotate relative to each other about the axis. The housing may be placed in an unfolded configuration to support the display in a...
patents.google.com
US20230049811A1 - Hinges for Folding Display Devices - Google Patents
A foldable display device may have housing portions coupled by a hinge. The hinge may have a series of interconnected links. The links may be formed from interdigitated fingers in a friction clutch. The fingers or other portions of the links may be provided with crescent-shaped slots that...
patents.google.com
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having a physical keyboard on a smartphone feels very natural, yet we don't have it anymore.
that doesn't make sense
your argument: "someone thinks touchscreens feels very natural, therefore no going back"
but someone thinks physical keyboards on phones feel very natural, but it's been one upped by removing it.