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Personally I think the barrier to a touch panel on a Mac isn't so much the cost of the hardware but the choices they would need to make about the user interface.

I think it could make sense if we are talking full screen apps with large UI elements but most of OS X is not like that and a finite pointing device like a mouse just works better.

If we look at Windows 8 Microsoft saw this problem as their tablets with a normal interface (2003-2011 era tablets running XP to Windows 7) did not sell well. So when they came to revisit this segment after Apple had broken through with the iPad they introduced Metro. Large UI elements, huge boxes for your fingers. But of course Windows users have largely rejected Metro they plainly hate it on Desktop systems and Laptops that lack touch screen input for the time being.

So the question becomes is Apple willing to follow Microsoft by adding a different interface to OS X or are they going to say we already have the iPad lets not waste energy trying to turn OS X in to iOS.

I have to ask, what's the ingredient you use to make your posts so awesome?
 
Whenever the topic of touch and the Mac comes up that's when I hope Apple makes a 13" iPad. It would satisfy a lot of people who want touch Macs, which I think is a terrible idea for all the reasons stated above.
 
Whenever the topic of touch and the Mac comes up that's when I hope Apple makes a 13" iPad. It would satisfy a lot of people who want touch Macs, which I think is a terrible idea for all the reasons stated above.

Some people cringe at the idea of a 13-inch iPad, but I think it could be extremely useful for a particular market. Much like how the 128GB iPad is. Any larger than 13 is crazy, though.
 
All of the counter-arguments I hear are emotional in nature. "I don't want it," or "I won't use it," or "It'll make my screen dirty." Uh, okay, don't use it then, right?

Only MS is dumb enough to try to force people to use touch. It's going to be a secondary input method available if and when you want it, and out of your way when you don't.

I'm confident in this simply because there is no downside. Costs and thickness increases are negligible, and only going to get better over time. Tell the iPhone 5 it's too thick because of its touch circuitry, or the $250 (to manufacture) iPad that touch is making it too expensive. They'll get even thinner and cheaper because the vast majority of the good quality displays made these days are already touch screens.

OS X is ready today, assuming you don't expect touch to be good at everything the OS does. I expect Apple to wait until they have more robust solutions anyway (and what those solutions are is an extremely interesting discussion on its own, but that would totally derail the thread).
 
I don't need a computer to read some word file. If so, I would had bought an Ipad.

Just try to imagine myself the experience of trying to touch a tiny subscript or exponent in a long equation written using scientific workplace.
Or trying to select a single or few pixel to be modified using Adobe Lightroom or Adobe Photoshop. How bug should I make a single pixel to be able to select it in a retina disply using my finger?
And, uau, manage Stata using touch.

From a software point of view, the fact is that you cannot add touch to an OS not designed for that (see win7 for example) while designing an OS for touch means that you miss a lot of usability with a conventional (and much more effective and precise) mouse (ex win8, one of the reasons why I'm moving to apple).

From an hardware point of view, a touch monitor is less durable and requires much more care: I spend a lot of money to buy a retina display to have it always dirt, or to have to clean in advance my hands before using it?

Now imagine that you give a lecture and that you want to illustrate something. So far I had to use a second projector (if available) or a whiteboard (if available) or even print the slides.
On the graphics front, did you try selecting/masking areas with the mouse or even some drawing? That's what an active digitizer is good for.

By the way, "scientific" workplace should be replaced with the original LaTeX; as for Stata (Economics, isn't it?) I would dump that one, too.
 
All of the counter-arguments I hear are emotional in nature. "I don't want it," or "I won't use it," or "It'll make my screen dirty." Uh, okay, don't use it then, right?

I have a hard time imagining a design team using that as any kind of rationale to do anything significant.
 
Some people cringe at the idea of a 13-inch iPad, but I think it could be extremely useful for a particular market. Much like how the 128GB iPad is. Any larger than 13 is crazy, though.

Well we all know companies love their profits. Most products Apple have are designed for selling to mass markets (maybe besides the Mac Pro). A 13" iPad would be a very niche product and only useful for a certain market.
 
A 13" iPad would be a very niche product and only useful for a certain market.
Much less niche than you think -- I suspect there is a substantial market for a 13" iPad.

The size of the current iPad is one of the reasons I don't own one (my wife does). I want/appreciate display real estate, and a 13" would be perfect for carrying around in my briefcase without the bulk/weight of a 13" laptop. As a content-consumption device, 13" would be ideal for my (and I believe a lot of others') needs.
 
I honestly think you don't understand the risks of man-in-the-middle attacks on this security/authentication subsystem. Connecting the Touch ID sensor to the device validating the print with USB/TB/wireless is, honestly, a stupid idea. I can think of about 8 different ways that would be instantly undermining the integrity of this validation mechanism. Making the location of the Touch ID sensor "more convenient" is throwing out the baby with the bath water.

I accually [sic] do.

Really? You really think you understand the risks of man-in-the-middle attacks for your proposed fingerprint authentication? Show us.

What, IYHO, are the top 10 risks in putting the Touch ID sensor for the Mac Pro in the keyboard?

BTW: you understand the terrible risks with Disney's fingerprint validation system, right? Search for "knuckle" in that Security Now! transcript.

Please explain to me how a man in the middle attack on the example i gave, where all the handling of the fingerprint where done on a chip inside the keyboard (just like on the iphone).

Your "proposal" is waaaaay too half-baked for anyone to comment on it. If you want specific feedback, you need to make a specific proposal. If you're talking about containing the entire validation mechanism inside of the keyboard, an obvious problem is that you have introduced a completely separate computation device into the system -- something that would have to have its own processor, display, UI, etc. But your two-sentence description is really way too vague to even comment on.

The "it" that Apple would be doing is putting Touch ID authentication on all of their computers -- and having integrated support in the OS and Safari to manage logins to websites (for starters).

So first you telling me that there are sooo many ways to exploit a keyboard with a fingerprint scanner. And 1 sec later you are seriously saying that OS and Safari should get access to fingerprint scanning.Really?

Bingo. Having the shortest possible path between the Touch ID scanner and the validation circuitry is the best possible way to ensure that the validation process is atomic.

Before we can continue this discussion, you really need to demonstrate you understand the risks in what you're proposing: What, IYHO, are the top 10 risks in putting the Touch ID sensor for the Mac Pro in the keyboard?

I can't tell at this point if you have fundamental literacy in what the risks are...

The only way to do that in any safe way at all, is to treat it with a special chip (or integrated in the cpu) just like on the iPhone.

Bingo again. That supports my argument why the Mac Pro would be a good first Mac to implement such things.

And since you need that anyway it would be much more convenient to have it on your keyboard.

If MitM attacks cannot be thwarted, then convenience of your [vague] proposal is irrelevant.

...but we can't even tell at this point if you understand the risks your ideas add. You need to address my "top 10 risks" question.

I am totally with you on the "iUnits" and the laptops Apple provide.
But to include it on the stationary computers is just bonkers and just wont happen. Its a STUPID idea really.
Using a fingerprint scanner is all about conveniency and security. And no one will use it if the scanner is out of arms length. Its much more easy to type in your password.

If you search on USB keyboard with fingerprint scanner or or Bluetooth keyboard with fingerprint scanner, you'll find plenty of people who have provided PC scanners that are that is within arm's length.

BTW: on the iPhone 5S, users are free to not use the Touch ID scanner. Any solution Apple provides on Macs would obviously provide the same fluidity for validation.

In case you haven't noticed, Apple gets ridiculed for most everything they do or don't do. Here's a video of someone ridiculing Apple back in 2007:
YouTube: video
Yeah cos this is the same situation....

Whoever said it was the same situation? :confused: You told us:

I think Apple would be seriously ridiculed if they put one on the Mac Pro.

My point: someone will always ridicule AAPL for each and every one of its decisions -- especially product changes where the paradigm is altered. Your "seriously ridiculed" comment was purely specious in this discussion, and it would be purely specious in any discussion about Apple's product choices. Your prediction that the general public would "ridicule" a validation subsystem that provided robust reliable service is pure speculation. AFAICT, we've never ever seen a validation system that actually worked well on any consumer products; any such speculation would be decidedly premature.

But a computer. You normally sit by for longer periods. You don't need to unlock them as often as you have to with phones.

We have no idea how you came to that conclusion.

Once a purchasing ecosystem is in place, why to you presume that one would need validation more or less frequently on Mac computers than on iOS devices?

Remember: you need to persuade us you are literate about the risks of MitM attacks. What, IYHO, are the top 10 risks in putting the Touch ID sensor for the Mac Pro in the keyboard?
 
Once a purchasing ecosystem is in place, why to you presume that one would need validation more or less frequently on Mac computers than on iOS devices?

Sorry to jump in, but I think the argument on this point was that an iPhone is constantly being used and put away several times an hour, whereas this happens much less frequently with a laptop or desktop. The latter are more typically in use less frequently, but for longer periods of time. In other words, the comment was less about the purchasing ecosystem and more about the simple act of locking/unlocking the device.

Ultimately, I'm inclined to agree with you: with Touch ID technology in place and working smoothly, it's not hard to, in movie trailer parlance, "imagine a world" in which a fingerprint sensor is built in to virtually every security-reliant electronic device. Seems like a logical progression, like it or not.
 
Someone give me a sanity check. The only reasons Apple did not release Haswell rMBPs in June was:

1) CPU production/availability
2) Retina production/availability
3) They wanted to unleash an epic surprise in October
4) They wanted to make us cry with epic mediocrity in October

1) is obviously correct. 2), 3), and 4) are not even plausible. TB2 and Mavericks are (barely) plausible, but very unlikely reasons why the Haswell MBPs are not yet shipping. It's the CPUs.
 
An expensive, primary feature that is ignorable and not useful?

This is why there won't be a touch screen Macbook.

Oh there will be, eventually. You can bank on it. What will make it useful is if you can sign documents on it. I know there's apps that sign docs for you, or you can print it, sign it, scan it back into your computer, but it's a hassle. I just want to be able to sign on the screen and be done with it.
 
Apple Store Down for me (UK) - New Products? :confused:

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Oh there will be, eventually. You can bank on it. What will make it useful is if you can sign documents on it. I know there's apps that sign docs for you, or you can print it, sign it, scan it back into your computer, but it's a hassle. I just want to be able to sign on the screen and be done with it.

Sure, let me just lean way over my desk and sign this document here...
 
Apple store is down also here in Italy but the Iphone 5S will not be available here until december as far as I know (just newspapers, not interested in it).

However Apple.com/it works so no new updates....
 
Apple store is down also here in Italy but the Iphone 5S will not be available here until december as far as I know (just newspapers, not interested in it).

However Apple.com/it works so no new updates....

You wrong. Apple didn't say iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C will be available in Italy in December. Instead Apply said 100 countries will have iPhone 5S & 5S within December. Italy probably could receive iPhone even in October, November or in the end December. So let's wait for...
 
If this happen, I will buy the actual generation.

I need a computer to work, not to play.

Touchscreen is useless in a computer, and windows 8 is useless as working OS.

PS: really hope for 256GB, but do not expect it

I've never understood why anyone would want a touchscreen in their computer. It strains the forearms, wrists, and shoulders. You can develop arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome. I've read up a bit about this:D
 
I've never understood why anyone would want a touchscreen in their computer. It strains the forearms, wrists, and shoulders. You can develop arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome. I've read up a bit about this:D

I also think it's among the stupider gimmicks around these days, and very "un-Apple" in the way that it forces a user to reach across a keyboard at an awkward angle to use it.

In my opinion we're much more likely to see iPads become powerful enough to rival/replace laptops altogether (i.e. in a few years) than we are to see an MBP morph into a sort of hybrid iPad.
 
Store back up for me - nothing new, although I've just noticed shipping times for the entire MBP range have slipped from 'within 24 hours' to '1-2 business days' - hopefully this indicates something is coming soon! :mad:
 
Store back up for me - nothing new, although I've just noticed shipping times for the entire MBP range have slipped from 'within 24 hours' to '1-2 business days' - hopefully this indicates something is coming soon! :mad:

Well, it does literally indicate that MBPs are coming--up to one day later than before. ;)
 
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Store back up for me - nothing new, although I've just noticed shipping times for the entire MBP range have slipped from 'within 24 hours' to '1-2 business days' - hopefully this indicates something is coming soon! :mad:

So are the Airs too...
 
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