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Iintl t1_j40h7fn wrote

Reply to comment by Screaming_Emu in Apple Reportedly Working on Touchscreen Macs, Including MacBook Pro by Avieshek

Psst… you can buy a touchscreen laptop and not use the touchscreen. Mind blowing, right?

(And before someone goes “why include a touchscreen then?”, it’s because consumers now have MORE options to interact with their laptop. You can choose to not use it, or you can use it if you think it helps.)

Edit: the sentiments in this thread reminds me of Steve “Who wants a touchscreen phone without a keyboard” Ballmer. Just because prior attempts were lacklustre doesn’t mean Apple can’t pull off a well-executed version, nor does it mean that touchscreen laptops are useless. The sales of iPad Pro + Magic Keyboard proves that touchscreen laptops are useful, as long as the software is designed for touch interaction

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[deleted] t1_j40i3wn wrote

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medfreak t1_j40ysk6 wrote

What's worse is they also make certain elements in the UI deliberately "touch friendly" that could impair a K+M experience.

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Iintl t1_j41uv4a wrote

Think you’re describing Windows. Like I said, there’s nothing preventing Apple from designing it well and seamlessly blending touch interfaces with regular mouse & keyboard. In fact, Apple is probably the only manufacturer in the world that I would trust 100% to deliver technology in a meaningful and useful manner (butterfly keyboard & touchbar notwithstanding)

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knobber_jobbler t1_j418su1 wrote

I had a Dell XPS15 for work in 2015 back and that had a touch screen. I didn't use it all that much but it worked great. And no smudges

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MrMark77 t1_j41a4et wrote

I don't want to pay for something I'm not going to use. Of course there are uses for touch screen on a laptop that people may have, but for most people, it's more effort to use a touch screen than a mouse or trackpad, etc.

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AMaterialGuy t1_j41p2sj wrote

Touch Bar on my 2017 MBP... :(

Touch Bars have existed for decades. However, I never saw one replace the F keys. And guess what? Half the time when I boot my Touch Bar doesn't. No amount of terminal wizardry fixes it, it simply refuses to start.

I'm totally with you about not wanting some stupid gimmick that we get charged for.

Apple is wasting R&D and engineering time on this.

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Iintl t1_j41vcvm wrote

The touchbar was bad because it was replacing physical keys with something worse. Adding touchscreen doesn’t replace anything nor does it remove functionality, it simply adds a new feature.

And I’m sure there’ll still be traditional non-touch optimised UI as well, to cater to existing Macs without touchscreens (and the Mac Mini/Studio/Pro who will probably never have touchscreens) . It’s not like an Intel to Apple Silicon transition where Intel is getting totally abandoned and obsoleted

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AMaterialGuy t1_j42027l wrote

I'm not so sure that theyll have separate UIs.

Apple's MacBook pros and iOS devices have been converging, and MacOS dock is pretty clearly designed for touch screens. I almost never use it to access apps since spotlight is way quicker and more convenient. Same goes for my iPhone - I no longer look for the app icon, I just search and open it from there.

As far as touch screen or no touch screen, I don't care as long as they're still producing high quality computers connected to their ecosystem, but they really could put engineering effort more useful places - such as improving testing and quality of their operating systems, making more robust hardware (they've been getting there with their phones, to the point where they literally advertised the iPhone 13 as able to handle a fall from a table), and countless other things.

Honestly, apple needs to be leading the way with conversion from electronics to optics. I led some of that research in the 20-teens and we have long been at a point where we could be replacing plenty of "bulkier" electrical components with optical ones.

That would be a way better use of their brain capital and workforce than adding a touch screen.

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obedclimber t1_j41v61v wrote

It’s just that the people that use MacBook Pros are not the people that want gimics like touchscreens (remember the touchbar?). Touchscreen laptops are hard to use for an extended period of time because your shoulders get tired. Steve Jobs said that years ago and everyone here knows it.

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Iintl t1_j41x6of wrote

Steve Jobs also said that the iPhone 4 was the perfect size and that nobody would buy a larger phone. Guess we all know how that played out

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