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Touchscreen MacBook Pro to Be 'Touch-Friendly, Not Touch-First'
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cjsuk
macrumors 68000
They better not do a windows and screw the UI up to make bits of it "touch friendly".
If they do that it'll push me over the edge entirely onto Linux. I'm already about 50% there.
If they do that it'll push me over the edge entirely onto Linux. I'm already about 50% there.
I have been asking for that for nine years, so speak for yourself.
Gotta love when someone has to come in like “it’s useless, it’s bad, Steve Jobs would never, Tim crook, wah wah wah”…
Without thinking of the dozens of accessibility benefits, the hundreds of new applications that can be built, and the millions of phone and tablet first consumers who would feel *quite a bit more* at home with a touchscreen as a secondary input.
loby
macrumors 68020
I hope that don't include this on every Mac and just have a separate Mac for touch screen.
If not...they better have a "turn off" option.
Compote
macrumors 6502
I should use that line in my bio on Grindr.
And it’s not just young people.
My (older) relatives have become so accustomed to touchscreens that the Mac not having one is a genuine shock every time they use one.
There are also people who struggle for many many reasons with the indirect manipulation of objects via the trackpad, but still would prefer the benefits of macOS.
This so much. I have seen so many Gen Z'ers touch the screen by reflex.
The important thing that they have to make sure, and hopefully they learn from the touch bar, that it's a laptop interface first, and touch is an added bonus and not a key fundamental feature that dictates the way of using the machine. We can still choose to not use touch, but it's useful when it's there.
contacos
macrumors 603
So just like all the other laptops with a touch screen available today.
Powerbooky
macrumors demi-god
I've been using a Mac for decades now and an iPad for a year. Combine that with some other trying to use touch PC's and there's one thing clear: there's practically no application that works perfect for both touch and traditional keyboard/mouse use.
Yes, drawing (with or without pencil) is fine on an iPad/touch screen, but many other tasks still work better with mouse IMHO. In fact, at work we have some touch screens to control some of the video equipment... it had caused more operational errors than using a traditional mouse.
IMO, this feels like the “Touch Bar” all over again, which is to say useless and close to being an anti-feature.
ginkobiloba
macrumors 6502a
What the people you mentioned want, is not a half-baked solution. They want a real usable touch device running MacOS. This is not it. Something like an iPad that runs full MacOs, not a MacBook with limited touch where you need to keep your arm in the air until you get shoulder injuries.
Despite what younger people may "expect", one can never have as much precision as with a mouse and a pointer, unless perhaps you are using a stylus.
Mr_Ed
macrumors 65816
“Touch-friendly” sounds like a politically correct way to describe the creepy uncle at the family reunion. 🤣
Seriously, though, putting all that support for alternate presentation/controls based on input method is probably not trivial. Will it actually be worth it if only a small portion of users useor want a touchscreen laptop?
And would that mean additional OS bloat for everyone?
Seriously, though, putting all that support for alternate presentation/controls based on input method is probably not trivial. Will it actually be worth it if only a small portion of users useor want a touchscreen laptop?
And would that mean additional OS bloat for everyone?
Non-Euclidean
macrumors 6502a
Steve already said no touch screen Macs. What he meant was. No. Touch. Screen. Macs.
It's not just young people. My partner (who is 60 and an IT director) has a HP laptop with touch screen and she loves it. Unfortunately she also tries to touch the screen of my MacBook when she's using it.
A lot of people who post here seem to think that if they don't like something then no one else should like it either. I used to think that was just immaturity but I've heard that it can be a sign of autism, so I won't judge them too harshly for it.
Which is exactly why Apple has said “screw it, take both”.
It started with the Magic Keyboard for iPad, and as far as I know, it has been a massive success.
And now it’s spreading to the Mac line.
It's obvious that Apple is becoming more and more mainstream and idealists are leaving the company. Features are added for no reason other than to make a device more feature rich, with or without any read value added.
I hope I'm wrong, though.
I hope I'm wrong, though.
Mrkevinfinnerty
macrumors 68040
Like every touchscreen laptop in existence then?
Mrkevinfinnerty
macrumors 68040
Already happened, launchpad looks like something off an iPad in Tahoe
Jason2000
macrumors 6502
I've owned several touchscreen Windows laptops and Chromebooks, and I rarely used the touchscreen functionality. I don't see the need for it unless the device can fold into a tablet. Given that others seem to like the idea, having it as an option isn't the worst thing, I suppose.
Pupi
macrumors 6502
That was purposefully built hardware with added complexity, that's why it got cancelled. And it did replace something, the function keys row which many people missed.
This is just ordering from the supplier a display that has a touch layer like probably 70% of displays built nowadays. Just adds, removes nothing.