Phil Schiller Says Apple Tested and Rejected Touch Screen Macs, Finding It 'Absurd' on a Desktop

[thealkimist]

Hahaha you DO realise the device above is made by Wacom right?

This is a market that has to spend money on a Mac or other computer plus $2700 on a drawing tablet, and Microsoft has made an all in one for a LOT less outlay. That's why people feel Microsoft is gunning after the market Apple has ignored.

Yes, that's why I said this may hurt Wacom way more than Apple, at least in the short term.

The Surface Studio will appeal mostly to digital concept artists, car designers, and other professional types where drawing is the main component. That is a very tiny percentage of the market.

 

[Carlanga]

iPhone charging? Like this:

http://www.apple.com/shop/product/MK0X2AM/A/usb-c-to-lightning-cable-1-m?afid=p238|srbXGZDuM-dc_mtid_1870765e38482_pcrid_52243316890_&cid=aos-us-kwgo-pla-btb-slid--product-MK0X2AM/A

Search time: 0.5 secs.

Connecting to "Pro" equipment? Well, that depends on the interface the Pro Equipment has, now doesn't it? But I'll tell you what: With 80 Gbps of raw I/O bandwidth (pretty much TWICE as much as any other laptop!), and an internet-full of adapters and cables to get from USB-C to WHATEVER YOU WANT cheaply and easily, it isn't even a problem.

For instance, I can turn EACH of those USB-C connectors into FOUR USB 3.0 connectors, EACH running full-tilt 5 Gbps. And we still have THREE Ports left...

Same with FireWire, Ethernet, HDMI, Audio I/O, External Graphics Cards, etc etc. USB-C/TB 3 can be easily and inexpensively "broken out" to ALL those things, many of them SIMULTANEOUSLY.

For example, here's the truly amazing amount of I/O you can do with ONE USB-C/TB 3 Port on the new MBP:

https://eshop.macsales.com/preorder/owc-thunderbolt-3-dock/

So don't you worry about "lack of ports" or "Pro connectivity" with the new MBP. It's got that part DOWN.

Lmao that is a cable dude. The whole point of the post is cable less not cable type

 

[thealkimist]

FYI I'm a seasoned graphic designer. And our company utilizes Macs and PCs.

You didn't answer the question.

 

[Mavelous]

Poor Phil thinks the Desktop is 'absurd'

 

[gaximus]

But then you have to look down at the Touchbar and away from the screen. You can touch type with a tactile keyboard, but touch emoji?

Glancing down to touch something is much easier than Moving your hand from the keyboard to the screen. Then most people will look back at the keyboard anyway to get there hands in the correct places. I know a lot of people I work with, including me, that glance at the keyboard from time to time.

 

[niun]

Oh boy, and all for only 3x the price of an iMac! Now you can juggle a half dozen interfaces!

I know right... Such a pain in the backside to have a puck and pen when drawing and a keyboard and mouse when coding.

You seem to forget that to do the same on an iMac you'd need a Wacom tablet and pen.. Lotta desk space for those.

 

[satchmo]

You are SO wrong!

Here's an Apple Patent from SIX YEARS AGO:

http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2010/08/the-mother-lode-welcome-to-the-imac-touch.html

Remind you of anything we've been discussing here?

Yes I'm aware of that patent.

So doing nothing for 6 years is not having your head in the sand?

Who knows, they may revisit this design, but it'll just look like copying MS.

 

[Michael Goff]

Probably doesn't scale all that well on a 27” display at any rate.

UWP apps seem to scale quite well, actually.

 

[Abazigal]

UWP apps seem to scale quite well, actually.

This I will have to see for myself, because I have yet to handle a windows tablet UI that I thought was fluid and intuitive.

 

[Michael Goff]

Maybe fanboys would but a lot of people here see through the gimmicks and are quite vocal about it on these forums.
[doublepost=1479155466][/doublepost]

Oh boy, and all for only 3x the price of an iMac! Now you can juggle a half dozen interfaces!

It isn't 3x the price of an iMac with a graphics card. And the one you get on the iMac is crap.
[doublepost=1479169670][/doublepost]

This I will have to see for myself, because I have yet to handle a windows tablet UI that I thought was fluid and intuitive.

Having used iOS, OS X, Android, and Windows 10? Windows 10 was the most intuitive to me. Obviously your mileage may vary.

 

[Sedulous]

I know right... Such a pain in the backside to have a puck and pen when drawing and a keyboard and mouse when coding.

You seem to forget that to do the same on an iMac you'd need a Wacom tablet and pen.. Lotta desk space for those.

So everyone who buys an iMac should have to buy a touchscreen as well?

 

[cmwade77]

Honestly, I have used many laptops with touchscreens and I have to say that they are absurd. The only ones that it makes sense for are the ones that can be detached from the keyboard to become a tablet and even then they are clunky, even with Windows 10.

As for USB-C, that is one that I agree with Apple, it needed to happen and needed to happen now. Why? Because that is the way portable devices are headed and by Apple doing this now, it will ensure that accessory manufactures jump on board now.

Additionally, it makes charging substantially easier, as USB-C is a universal standard, meaning you can even use battery packs to charge your Macbook Pro without some cobbled together adapter.

 

[ignatius345]

Take your grammar elsewhere. It has no place here.

Umm. It's not "my" grammar, my friend, it's the English language. Last I checked, people at least try to use the right words for things in editorial copy. I'm not calling out a commenter here, I'm calling out a (supposedly) professional writer, who should know better. If you don't care about such things, that's fine -- but don't pretend your ignorance is a virtue.

 

[organisum]

delete

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

The Surface Pro is a smash hit yet Apple is acting like they haven't noticed that either.

No it's not. Sales numbers at the Microsoft Stores and big retailers like Best Buy are certainly not showing it as any type of "smash hit". Just because some journalists like it doesn't mean people are buying them like crazy.

Microsoft sold 1.1 million Surface Pros in Q1 2016. Apple sold 16.1 million iPads in the same time.

 

[deijmaster]

I guess it all depends on the form factor. The way microsoft did the slate, looks like it could also apply to Apple's products, if they chose to go that way.

So right... when I read such comments from big tech companies and leaders, I can only quote the famous word of Blackberry in 2007... and boy are they easy to find on the web...

Mike Lazaridis on the iPhone in November 2007: "Try typing a web key on a touchscreen on an Apple iPhone, that's a real challenge. You cannot see what you type"...

Making grand comments on what others are doing is always funny a few years later. Far from being a Microsoft fan, I must say the way Microsoft did is tremendous, sorry but it is.

Phil, I think this is your Blackberry moment. Move forward, innovate and not with the Apple watch please. Look at your products and make real changes, not ports, adapters and mini screens. Stop thinking what Steve would think... Say to your self, would our users love this?

Finally, I just want to add a little something... I can still remember when my young son asked me... "Dad, why can't I touch the screen on a Mac and do things?".

 

[BootsWalking]

No it's not. Sales numbers at the Microsoft Stores and big retailers like Best Buy are certainly not showing it as any type of "smash hit". Just because some journalists like it doesn't mean people are buying them like crazy.

Microsoft sold 1.1 million Surface Pros in Q1 2016. Apple sold 16.1 million iPads in the same time.

You're comparing a media-consumption tablet to a much more expensive full-computer tablet. You might as well compare iPad sales to Macbook Pro sales as it would be just as irrelevant. Here are sales figures for the Surface:

http://pocketnow.com/2016/02/03/microsoft-surface-sales-numbers-q4-2015-whole-year
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ewanspence/2016/10/23/microsoft-surface-book-success-continues/

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

You're comparing a media-consumption tablet to a much more expensive full-computer tablet. You might as well compare iPad sales to Macbook Pro sales as it would be just as irrelevant. Here are sales figures for the Surface:

http://pocketnow.com/2016/02/03/microsoft-surface-sales-numbers-q4-2015-whole-year
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ewanspence/2016/10/23/microsoft-surface-book-success-continues/

Those are still snoozetacular numbers. No one would call that a "smash hit" as you have.

 

[califlorida]

Being an Audio guy all Apple needs to do is look at the Slate Raven and they'd have it all figured out. I was really hoping for an eventual partnership and updated iMac

 

[wikiverse]

if schiller said it, then 'it must be true'

in the mean time microsoft just released a gorgeous touch screen / pen enabled 28" computer that apple should have released

apple is behaving like when blackberry said customers loved their phones with a physical keyboard

apple will be bankrupt or sold very soon

I don't think they will go bankrupt, but parts of the business may be sold off in the future.

You're correct though. This kind of thinking and product strategy is the start of the sad death-spiral for a lot of companies. It can be a slow decline. We saw it with defunct companies like Kodak (Digital cinema will never replace film), Nokia & Blackberry (People want a physical keyboard), and Blockbuster (We won't buy NetFlix).

Even Canon are having a bad time with the 5D4 because people found better video/stills options in Sony and Blackmagic.

Apple got out of the Pro market, so a concept like the Surface Studio is not something they could come up with.

 

[smallcoffee]

Which is why the Mac Pro has just TB ports right? Oh wait…...

For now. The next update it likely won't.

 

[ugahairydawgs]

They aren't innovating much in iOS for iPads either, so I think they're just lazy and satisfied with the money coming from the iPhone sales.

There's not a ton of innovation left in the phone market and tablets are a shrinking market. They can work on form factors and features, but I think the innovation will be dedicated to emerging product categories, such as the car project and augmented reality.

 

[Verita]

if schiller said it, then 'it must be true'

in the mean time microsoft just released a gorgeous touch screen / pen enabled 28" computer that apple should have released

apple is behaving like when blackberry said customers loved their phones with a physical keyboard

apple will be bankrupt or sold very soon

This has got to be the funniest prognostication I've ever seen. Do you realize how much cash Apple is sitting on? Do you want to hold your breath until they go bankrupt?

 

[MartiNZ]

You mean they one that starts at $3,000, was introduced by an oily car salesman who looked to be from the show Jersey Shore, the machine you've reviewed and tested extensively and is for a niche user base? The iMac starts at 1/3 its cost btw.

The 27" iMac, to make it vaguely comparable, starts at $NZ2,999. The Surface Studio starts at $US3,000 and while details aren't available in NZ yet, I BET they won't have the crazy price hikes beyond exchange rate that Apple does. It is pretty crazy that people can argue Apple based on price now though, never would have seen that coming

And yeah pretty clear that Apple doesn't understand typical use cases anymore. Once you go touch, you can't go back, no matter what the form factor. I find myself wanting to touch my work desktop screens all the time, because Windows 8 and 10 make it such a good way of getting around. The shortcomings are in OS X at this point, not the concept of a touchscreen.

 

[lazyrighteye]

You mean like THIS? :


http://www.artlebedev.com/optimus/tactus/

I'm with you; but if Apple turned their keyboard into something like the Tactus, you'd never hear the end of the screaming.

Wow. I knew my suggestion was far from revolutionary/unique to me... But that Tactus device looks interesting. And yes, you'd likely never hear he end of it here. Which means Apple will likely do something like it. Ha.

Thanks for the link. Cheers!