Touchscreen MacBook Pro to Be 'Touch-Friendly, Not Touch-First'

[Lounge vibes 05]

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.

No, not necessarily.
Also, any “gorilla arm” arguments go out the window the second the magic keyboard for the iPad was introduced.
The magic keyboard does not have a 360 hinge, when the iPad is connected to the magic keyboard, guess what? If you ever want to use the touchscreen, you reach up. And it works.

 

[needsomecoffee]

Without a 360 hinge a touchscreen looses soooo much value. If this rumor is true, very sorry for all the folks that could have really benefited from this type of device. Really disappointed if it is just standard MacBook with a touch screen. I've got quite a few original "Think Different" posters in storage. Need to look at them again for some inspiration. Thx, NSC.

Suggestion: Ubuntu an a Thinkpad Yoga runs great. Ignore the many, many naysaying nabobs of negativity re: touchscreens. The Yoga with Unbuntu is a revelation unless you never need pad-like uses.

Edit: Just saw Lenovo's new Yoga concept. Whoa!!! Sorry Apple, that is real innovation:

 

[jakey rolling]

You think that produces anxiety?

And yet there are a lot of people wishing the Windows Phone came back.

The touch-interface of Windows 8 was actually very good, as long as you were using a tablet and interacted with the computer primarily via touch. The problem was that few people ever did.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Steve already said no touch screen Macs. What he meant was. No. Touch. Screen. Macs.

Steve also said no video iPod.

Steve Jobs says it again: no video iPod - Engadget

We really don't want to believe him, but in yesterday's press conference for the first anniversary of the iTunes Music Store Steve Jobs insisted that there isn't a video iPod in the works: Mr. Jobs addressed the issue of video on iPods when asked by Mike Wendland of the Detroit Free Press...

www.engadget.com

You know what that means? No. Video. iPo…

…oops.
Seriously, Steve Jobs was the most flip-flop man in tech, the guy was famous for saying one thing, saying it again, absolutely insisting on it… And then doing the absolute opposite thing and presenting it as his original idea.
The video iPod, a bookstore and eReader, official support for third-party applications on the iPhone, all things he not only said wouldn’t happen but also publicly poopooed on several occasions, only to turn around and do those exact things.
Sure, he once said in 2010 that he would not introduce a touchscreen Mac. That was 2010, this is 2026.
In that exact same quarterly earnings call, he also said Apple would never introduce a 7 inch iPad, before he Greenlit the development of the iPad mini just three months later.

 

[Tim Jobs the 2nd]

Did anyone expect it to be touch first? All touchscreen laptops are touch friendly not touch first AFAIK

 

[jakey rolling]

"Touch-friendly, not touch-first" - in other words, exactly the model Windows has been using since Windows 10 came out 11 years ago (after attempting a "touch-first" style with Win 8 years before).

This whole discussion of whether Apple should come out with touchscreen computers is hilariously old. Just for context, the first computer my children ever interacted with was an HP All-in-one with a 23" 1080p touch screen. They were five and six years-old respectively and they loved playing Fruit Ninja on the large screen.

Both children are adults now. Damn I feel old.

 

[judgeFire]

In addition to scroll and zoom, touch can be really good for sliders and other value inputs, like x/y axis input.

This was something that the Touch Bar actually did well, like swiping color gradients to find a hue or altering sound filtering etc.

 

[macbookj0e]

Ergonomically a laptop is not a comfortable device to use for touch for any medium to long period of time, especially if it’s on a desk.

Arm ache fatigue will be real pretty quickly.

 

[TVreporter]

Coming in the fall …the new iMac Touch!!

(Arm brace extenders sold separately)

 

[macbookj0e]

Coming in the fall …the new iMac Touch!!

(Arm brace extenders sold separately)

“The new Apple iCast Pro for those looking for maximum productivity using Mac touchscreens.”

 

[Xade]

Why do people have such trouble understanding that young people expect to be able to touch screens when they feel like it?

The market is not all about you and your preferences/biases until the end of time.

Sometimes young people need to be told they don't get what they always want! Society would probably be a lot better if they were told no occasionally!

 

[ibran]

Why do people have such trouble understanding that young people expect to be able to touch screens when they feel like it?

The market is not all about you and your preferences/biases until the end of time.

Why do people have such trouble understanding that designing an interface for both pointer and touch-based inputs involves compromise that makes the experience worse for both?

 

[Schnort]

What "Steve Jobs said..." should never be taken as gospel. The man was a marketer and would say anything to fluff his product vs. "the others."

If the Apple product didn't have <X>, it was "absolutely unnecessary and a detriment to the world and we'll never add it", until they did, then it was "a first at Apple, truly groundbreaking innovation".

 

[Mr_Ed]

Why do people have such trouble understanding that young people expect to be able to touch screens when they feel like it?

The market is not all about you and your preferences/biases until the end of time.

I know that was not your intent but frankly, I think this comment paints “young people” in an undeservedly bad light. I say this as a father of a teenager.

From what I’ve seen, they are not “expecting to touch” everything, or in any way limited when confronted by different input paradigms. On the contrary, they have no problems using whatever is available and are discerning enough to recognize “the right tool for the job” when they see it.

My son spends as much time on iPhone/iPad as anyone but when he wants to get homework/projects done, he heads straight for his desktop computer. He was taught to type in middle school and leverages that skill constantly in high school, where a lot of coursework is delivered electronically. We’ve actually talked about the various devices he uses and from his perspective, touchscreens slow him down. He would rather get his work done quickly so he can get back to the stuff he does for fun on the touch devices 😁

 

[turbineseaplane]

Like every touchscreen laptop in existence then?

No, this one will be totally different and feature "breakthrough innovation" that only Apple™️ can provide.

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

No, this one will be totally different and feature "breakthrough innovation" that only Apple™️ can provide.

100% more touchier than the best selling window notebook?

 

[turbineseaplane]

100% more touchier than the best selling window notebook?

"Liquid Neural Fusion Haptic Touch"

Never before seen breathtaking, breakthrough, innovation.

 

[Sandstorm]

I still find it hard to believe this rumor. Adding limited touch to MacBooks is useless, nobody is asking for that.

This is exactly what I want: a Mac-first experience with light touch augmentation. I use both a MacBook Pro and an iPad Pro. When my iPad is paired with a keyboard case, I want it to feel more like a Mac. At the same time, when I’m using my MacBook Pro, I often wish I could do some of the touch interactions that are currently only available on the iPad.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Ergonomically a laptop is not a comfortable device to use for touch for any medium to long period of time, especially if it’s on a desk.

Arm ache fatigue will be real pretty quickly.

Why is this true with a MacBook with a touchscreen, but it’s not true for an iPad with a magic keyboard?
Oh, that’s right, because it’s irrelevant.
Yes, holding your arm up for minutes or hours at a time will get tiring, but absolutely no one is suggesting you do that. Even touchscreen first users won’t be doing that, it’s a ridiculous argument.
The touchscreen makes sense for quick interactions where direct manipulation can speed up workflow and/or familiarity is introduced.
Scrolling, dragging and dropping, any quick on screen interaction where you don’t want to fiddle around with the mouse, one tap or flick is all that is required.
Absolutely no one is suggesting that you sit there for six hours or whatever and use the touch screen exclusively.

 

[macbookj0e]

Why is this true with a MacBook with a touchscreen, but it’s not true for an iPad with a magic keyboard?
Oh, that’s right, because it’s irrelevant.
Yes, holding your arm up for minutes or hours at a time will get tiring, but absolutely no one is suggesting you do that. Even touchscreen first users won’t be doing that, it’s a ridiculous argument.
The touchscreen makes sense for quick interactions where direct manipulation can speed up workflow and/or familiarity is introduced.
Scrolling, dragging and dropping, any quick on screen interaction where you don’t want to fiddle around with the mouse, one tap or flick is all that is required.
Absolutely no one is suggesting that you sit there for six hours or whatever and use the touch screen exclusively.

Ok dude chill out was just saying a laptop is not the ideal machine ergonomically for touch.

Peace!

 

[jlc1978]

To be expected. Until touch screen is everywhere and it has been several years, you can't assume everyone has a touch screen. Also, they are not going to be putting in the effort needed to substantially redesign macOS so soon after Tahoe. It will be minimal effort and feel like a side project for at least a few years.

Makes sense, and unless touch screen MacBooks don't cost much more to encourage adoption, It's likely to stay that way for a while. Then tehre is the issue of getting developers on board to implement features.

Limited touch implementation also makes sense from a user perspective, buttons, scrolling and other taks you might do on a track pad would translate well. Using a Mac like an iPad, not so well.

There's people who would get excited if the Macbook Pro would feel more like an iPad? I want the iPad to feel more like a Macbook.

While I get teh sentiment, I'm not convinced it's a good idea. Trying to make one device cover two different use cases is likely to result in a device that does neither well.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Sometimes young people need to be told they don't get what they always want! Society would probably be a lot better if they were told no occasionally!

The irony is that the people who most frequently reach up to touch my laptops screen and expect it to be touch capable… are mostly all older. People who were around for Windows 95/98/XP, but have gotten so used to the modern tablet smartphone interaction paradigm that they just *expect* things to work that way. Most of the younger people I know are into keyboard and mouse or controller based gaming PCs.
It’s a very much more complicated situation than “young people dumb need tap tap thing to make thing work”. It’s just a massive indication that even almost 20 years later, there are still massive ripples being felt from the introduction of the iPhone and iPad that even affect people who were very comfortable using traditional PCs 20+ years ago.

 

[Fumblerooskie]

The market will decide, regardless of the brilliant wisdom and prognostications of social media experts.

 

[turbineseaplane]

The market will decide, regardless of the brilliant wisdom and prognostications of social media experts.

Yep! Just like with the Vision Pro and the iPhone Air.
Totally agree. The market will tell us all we need to know.

 

[Brother Cavil]

Every touchscreen on Mac post is full of tiresome get off my lawn nonsense. Let’s look at the facts:

1. You don’t have to use the touch screen! Wow. Imagine that?! There’s still a trackpad. You can still use a mouse.

2. macOS on iPad. Wah wah wah. But ergonomics! Gee Einstein, what’s the difference between an iPad with a keyboard and a MacBook with a touch screen? Same ergonomics. Untold millions use iPads every day on a stand with a keyboard. And there’s no epidemic of shoulder injuries.

So many of these replies are just unbelievably lame.