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Is touch based MacBook Pro coming ?

S

soamz

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 20, 2010
705
8
Orissa, India
I'm using my 2009 MacBook Pro 13 inch with a SSD and it works great!

But I just love retina display , so was looking to buy the 15 inch retina 16GB version.
But I'm thinking , if I should wait for the touch based MacBook Pro or not ?

What do you suggest ?
Is the touch based MacBook Pro retina coming this year or next ?
 
The touch-based Retina MBP came out last year. Indeed, touch-based Macs have been available for ages. That's what the trackpad does. Even more so with the multitouch trackpads Apple have been using for the last few years.

High ranking personnel from Apple (ie the Big Steve in the sky) have been on record saying that large vertical touch screens (ie notebooks and desktops, but not phones and tablets) are unergonomic, and stupid. The chances of Apple making touch screen MBPs, MBas, iMacs, or TB Displays any time soon are pretty much zero.

So no, a touch-SCREEN based MBP is not coming this year, or the next, or the next.
 
I hope not. There is nothing intuitive or ergonomic about a touch screen notebook.

A large, tabletop type pro machine could be interesting, but a vertical touch screen is pointless.
 
It's inevitable, but in the immediate future? No.

I believe it's coming someday. Many will disagree, but it's all opinion and speculation either way. Definitely not this year and probably not next. Obviously someone considered it at some point, which is how we ended up with launchpad.

My argument is generally that we're very soon going to reach a point where most screens will be built as touch displays simply by default due to the increasingly reduced cost of the technology. I think you'd find that the vast majority of LCD panels manufactured are touch displays, and this is bringing the costs down to the absurdly cheap range.

Not to mention the entire generations of people Apple has now raised on touch interface. There's going to come a time when the idea of a screen that doesn't take touch interface is considered strange, regardless of how useful/less it actually is in the majority of consumer devices. Touch is a form of interface that is not going away regardless of how us serious computer users feel about it.
 
Not sure I can see a reason for it.

I have an old touchscreen netbook and to be honest even though it was small enough that I hold it one handed or very close to me on my lap it was uncomfortable and unnatural to use the touch screen.

I found one very limited case for a game it was excellent for but normal usable in a desktop environment I couldn't see much point for me.

I guess the thing that could help swing it is the success of Win 8 in the long term, there's a lot of affordable and also expensive touch screen laptops coming out and if Win 8 turns out to be a hit (I'm not convinced it will) then maybe Apple will have to think twice.

Plus if you want to use an Apple product and touch the screen that's what an iPad is for. Desktop/Laptops aren't really the right products atm for them.
 
When touchscreens come to Macs it will most likely be slightly different and more comfortably user friendly than current Windows designs. The Apple way of adding a touchscreen to a laptop.

Then Samsung will come out with their version of the Apple version, followed a little but later by almost every other manufacturer.

Such is the circle of tech.
 
Or, perhaps Apple will skip the touch intrface and go directly to the next big step in Ui after touch - the voice?
 
Nee412 said:
When touchscreens come to Macs it will most likely be slightly different and more comfortably user friendly than current Windows designs. The Apple way of adding a touchscreen to a laptop.
Click to expand...
I know this will come as a blow to the rabid, glassy-eyed fans but even Apple can't defy gravity and prevent "gorilla arm".

If you want a the power of an ultrabook with the ease of a tablet (gestures) then the MBA 11" already exists.
 
Krazy Bill said:
I know this will come as a blow to the rabid, glassy-eyed fans but even Apple can't defy gravity and prevent "gorilla arm".

If you want a the power of an ultrabook with the ease of a tablet (gestures) then the MBA 11" already exists.
Click to expand...

Wait a sec, I'm a rabid, glassy-eyed Apple fan, but I'm glad Apple acknowledges gorilla arm! I despise the current touch screen-notebook paradigm so wonderfully demonstrated with Windows 8! :D
 
Atomic Walrus said:
It's inevitable, but in the immediate future? No.

I believe it's coming someday. Many will disagree, but it's all opinion and speculation either way. Definitely not this year and probably not next. Obviously someone considered it at some point, which is how we ended up with launchpad.

My argument is generally that we're very soon going to reach a point where most screens will be built as touch displays simply by default due to the increasingly reduced cost of the technology. I think you'd find that the vast majority of LCD panels manufactured are touch displays, and this is bringing the costs down to the absurdly cheap range.

Not to mention the entire generations of people Apple has now raised on touch interface. There's going to come a time when the idea of a screen that doesn't take touch interface is considered strange, regardless of how useful/less it actually is in the majority of consumer devices. Touch is a form of interface that is not going away regardless of how us serious computer users feel about it.
Click to expand...

You know, people said similar things about 3d technology. Where is it now?
 
GSPice said:
Wait a sec, I'm a rabid, glassy-eyed Apple fan,
Click to expand...

Yes, but you look good with glassy eyes! :D

but I'm glad Apple acknowledges gorilla arm! I despise the current touch screen-notebook paradigm so wonderfully demonstrated with Windows 8! :D
Click to expand...
I used a samsung ultrabook for an hour once... the display folds completely back for use in your lap as a tablet. It chapped my thighs and I'm also sterile. :eek:
 
Krazy Bill said:
Yes, but you look good with glassy eyes! :D

I used a samsung ultrabook for an hour once... the display folds completely back for use in your lap as a tablet. It chapped my thighs and I'm also sterile. :eek:
Click to expand...

rofl.. seriously its as if these companies take two good things, then think that putting them together must be better. :eek:

Like a peanut butter and jelly hot dog. :D
 
adildacoolset said:
You know, people said similar things about 3d technology. Where is it now?
Click to expand...

Only idiots said that about 3D. It's purely an entertainment technology with no productivity benefits. Touch interface is the primary computer interface these days, especially for the younger generation. I don't think we're looking at a future of mouse and keyboard interfaces for smartphones and tablets, so touch is definitely here to stay.
 
I think the thing that people miss is that touch is only valuable on a laptop as a secondary input method, not a primary. The OS shouldn't be redesigned around touch, touch functionality should simply be implemented for situations where it might be useful. The ability to scroll a web page or go back/forward using simple on-screen gestures could have a use in some cases for some users, but redesigning the OS with touch as a primary input is a terrible idea for the reasons already covered (mostly the ergonomic reason).

I just don't see any of these as valid reasons to leave it out as a secondary input option if it's a near zero cost feature (basically already true) with no adverse effects on battery life, screen quality, or user experience for people who don't want to use it.

In fact (I said this before when the argument came up) I only see emotional reactions on the negative side: Fear that tablets and smartphones will eventually destroy the traditional computer, and the idea that resisting touch interface somehow protects us from that future. I don't personally believe in a tablets-only future so I'm not exactly worried. I'm also fairly certain MS's experiment will fail massively, proving that touch should never be a PRIMARY interface for a laptop.
 
Krazy Bill said:
I know this will come as a blow to the rabid, glassy-eyed fans but even Apple can't defy gravity and prevent "gorilla arm".

If you want a the power of an ultrabook with the ease of a tablet (gestures) then the MBA 11" already exists.
Click to expand...

Not a rabid glassy-eyed Apple fan. Just making an observation on past product releases. I highly if Apple were to introduce touch screen tech to there Mac lines it would be as simple as making the current screens touchscreen.

That would be nothing more than an uncomfortable gimmick and a waste of an input method.

I'm not a product designer so I don't know what Apple would (and probably will) do, but I expect it would be at least comfortable to use.
 
the topic has already been beaten to death numerous times.

If you want touch screen buy an iPad.

OSx is not designed for touch screen input. Can you seriously imagine a 27" iMac and then having to reach out and constantly touch the screen to get anything done?
 
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