Optimization and Apple ingenuity

[Porkchop Sandwich]

I would very much like for the Apple pen that my lovely wife owns to be usable on Apple Trackpads. It would be wonderful if it was usable on the fixed TP that is installed on the MBP, and it would be fantastic if it was also usable on the peripheral TP’s on those days I’m feeling squirrley and a little bit rebellious.

Sometimes I feel like a nut, and sometimes I don’t.

I for one, hold no interest whatsoever in a touch screen on a MBP, but wouldn’t this be a nice usage for the Apple pen and a fine example of optimization in unison with the newfangled touch bar?

Any rumors of this ever cross the wires?

 

[Brookzy]

While there have been no rumours I am aware of that are exactly as you describe, there have been rumours that Apple are working on making the iPad Pro - and the Apple Pencil - work better with Macs. In other words, as you describe, except that the Pencil's input to the Mac will be via an iPad Pro.

This rumour was inflamed recently by the Mac Pro interview, and I've copied the relevant bit here.

Question:

Ina Fried (Axios): You mentioned touch. When Microsoft showed off the Surface Studio, a lot of people were like wow, Microsoft’s out there looking at the next generation of creative pros.’ Is there a segment of creative pros that you think do want something that can tilt down and they can use a stylus with? You guys have always said you’re going to focus on a few things. But do you think this segment of creative people exists? Or is it just not of interest in general?

Answer:

Craig Federighi: I would say that talking to some of those same people in video production, illustration and so forth, they are very excited with the iPad in that context. The iPad Pro, the Pencil, seem to have really hit the mark with that audience. And they are not saying: ‘why can’t I do that on my Mac Pro?’ They’re really excited to take advantage of it on the iPad. So that’s absolutely an area where we want to continue to make the iPad more and more capable.

We all certainly use both [Macs and iPads], so we’re really focused on making them work well together, because we think in many tasks, that’s actually the best solution. So all of our customers should feel free to buy multiple products [laughter]. We encourage that.

 

[Porkchop Sandwich]

Thank you for the links and the information. Although the aforementioned lovely bride enjoys her iPad Pro, I just cannot warm up to it outside of note-taking. That said, integration of the iPad across platforms certainly opens up interesting possibilities so I’ll look forward to this coming to fruition. Still though, the usability of the pen through the TP sure seems to make a ton of sense…maybe Apple has determined that the cost of the functional TP is one that the market will not bear due to hardware costs..who knows.

Thanks once again for posting the links.

 

[SDColorado]

Apple was granted a patent, about a year ago, that suggests that a future, more sophisticated version of the pencil, may be in the works for use with a trackpad and iMac. But whether or not anything comes of that in the near future or if it will translate to a Macbook Pro design is anyone's guess.

In any case, it probably won't be the current pencil

 

[Porkchop Sandwich]

Thank you SD - as it appears you are already aware..it is an act of folly to read much into the granting of, or acquisition of, a patent for an outfit as large as Apple. Rather par for course if you know what I mean. Nonetheless, that's interesting to know and hopefully this will come to fruition in the near future.

Also, thank you for modestly correcting my mischaracterization of the Apple Pencil that I erroneously referred to as a pen.

 

[SDColorado]

Thank you SD - as it appears you are already aware..it is an act of folly to read much into the granting of, or acquisition of, a patent for an outfit as large as Apple. Rather par for course if you know what I mean. Nonetheless, that's interesting to know and hopefully this will come to fruition in the near future.

Also, thank you for modestly correcting my mischaracterization of the Apple Pencil that I erroneously referred to as a pen.

Yes, that patent was filed in 2014 and it may never amount to anything more than a passing interest.

The closest device to what you are describing that is available now and also to what might someday be an Apple Pencil capable touch pad, might be the Wacom Intuos Pro S, but at 12.6 x 8.2 x 0.5, small is only relative to the larger models.

A pencil compatible trackpad would be a welcome feature.