Apple 3 years later : Now our macbook supports touch screen and it enables the user to use the macbook in the ways that never have been possible before😂😂
Now that we know this, Apple would probably just roll out a touch feature and quietly release a MacBook with touch screen and indirectly talk about it through new features.
Every single MacOS UI update from the last 3 years have been about making elements bigger, more spaced out and less dense. Very touch friendly. Apple even made an entirely new cross-plataform UI framework, Swift UI, where every control supports multi-input mode (pointer + touch). These changes are not very visible for non-developers, but they have been going on for years. For anyone watching the underlying of Apple's software, it's very obvious that Macs will get touchscreens soon.
@@cameronf3343 Yes, MacOS is almost ready for touch. No one is sure of what Apple will do of course. But when they spent so much time building support for it (a new UI framework is no trivial thing), it's hard to imagine it's going to waste. IMH, I don't think it'll kill the iPad, it's a very different form factor. And art on the iPad requires the pencil anyway, which is not the same as touch.
That doesn’t make sense. They would still make a profit regardless. The person looking to spend 300 on an iPad is not the same customer looking to spend 2000 on a MacBook.
I had a touch screen laptop but hardly used the feature. I went on to a MacBook and didn’t feel I missed the touch screen. I use a iPad for most of my leisure work. For my serious stuff I use a laptop. I find the Touch Bar convenient even though others despise it. It works well for me.
Sincerely I think if Apple added touch to the Mac, I don't think it will canibalize the iPad sales that much, they'd have to just price them more competitively
They wouldn't change the pricing if they did this. The iPhone's pretty incremental annual version update cycle affects their bottom line more than iPad/MacBook combination purchases.
If my MacBook has a touch screen, I probably would not use it that much. It would be kinda cool at first but I would probably find it a bit too gimmicky.
@@benjaminmartin3212 Touch screens or pen features are only useful on a laptop if the laptop transforms into an ergonomic position; like tent or tablet mode. Otherwise, using touch screens and pen features tend to be uncomfortable to use resulting in not much use in those features. Since Apple is currently not designing their MacBooks to have 360 hinges. It wouldn’t be practical for Apple to add touch screens as the touch screen wouldn’t be used often and it would just add more labor and cost to an already expensive laptop.
I use a Mac in my personal life, but I use a HP Spectre 14 for work. It's an awesome Window's laptop with a vibrant touch screen that I never touch! It's a nice to have, but doesn't add any benefit to my daily workflow. Plus fingerprints all over the screen drives me nuts 🤷🏽♂
I have a 2014 HP Laptop with a touch screen. It is very useful zooming in and out when sharing my screen with others on Zoom. It greatly helps with my presentations and I will not buy a laptop that does not have a touch screen once this one no longer functions. Apple keeps their functions of their devices "separated" in order to have the need to buy a MacBook and and iPad. What else can it be other than it's all about making bank on their customers in any way possible?
I've used touch screen laptops before and the only useful thing it does is indeed zooming. However, I'd argue that Macbook's trackpad is so damn good that I don't think spending extra money to get a touch-enabled screen would be worth it compared to just using the trackpad to zoom. At least I wouldn't buy the version with touchscreen if they released two versions. Adding MacOS to the iPad, though, is another story. If it allowed switching the UI between iPadOS and MacOS when using the Smart Keyboard I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
Honestly… I had a laptop with touchscreen, and never used that feature. So I don’t really care about touchscreens on laptops, especially when you work on a 15 to 17 inch computer, trying to use it as tablet it’s just uncomfortable.
I have a MacBook Pro and I don't miss a touch screen at all. I also have a Dell laptop from the company I work for that has a touch screen, and I never touch the screen. IMO a laptop screen (or a desktop screen, for that mater) doesn't have the right orientation for a touch screen. When using a phone or an iPad, the screen is pretty much horizontal and very close, which invite touching. On a computer the screen is vertical and you have to reach out and up to touch it. I find this much less natural.
It's all about ergonomics. Touch screen laptops and desktops are not practical; on both Mac and Windows devices. However, the TrackPad works very well and from an ergonomic perspective, makes more sense to move, point, click, zoom in/out and action other gestures.
Almost all the features a touchscreen would bring to macOS are already done by the trackpad (Windows Precision trackpad drivers are excellent as well). Additionally, they do them in a way that's more precise than a touchscreen. The ergonomics of touch laptops are also awkward. This has been remedied somewhat by folding hinges, but you're left with a laptop that is bulkier, flimsier, and costlier. If you want a touchscreen experience, tablets do it better. I have found, however, that I don't want a tablet; I want something precise. I have had iPads in the past, but I've gotten rid of them. I have a MacBook Air M2 as my primary and a non-touch, Windows Gigabyte Aero 15X for gaming.
Hmm ... I was going to post a comment along these lines, but you've pretty much said everything I had in mind. For me, the Mac trackpad is already the touch part of my screen but it's easier to use because it's right under my fingers: ergonomic, accurate, and easy to use.
As a heavy computer user who has a couple of laptops with touchscreens, I can tell you that for my workflow a touchscreen just isn't that useful. Reaching up to touch the screen doesn't make a whole lot of sense when the keyboard and trackpad do the same thing and are closer.
I owned a Dell XPS laptop with a touchscreen for 3 years and the touchscreen was pretty useless. I also lament the way that Windows has had to change their UI so that it works with both touch and keyboard/mouse input. It’s just a compromise all around and I kind of agree with Craig that you compromise some of the design and functionality of the UI when you try to mash two different product segments together. I don’t think it’s required and I don’t think that we should be wasting our valuable resources on things like this just because “I want it :’(“
That's never going to happen. Apple is a publicly traded company that answers to their shareholders. They're not stupid to let iPads cannibalize their Macbook sales by adding MacOS to iPads. 😂😂😂
I personally hope that Apple never introduces touch capability to their MacBooks. It's more efficient to rest your hands on it while you type whereas having to constantly lift your hand and motion with your arm to move around the screen can become annoying. I know - first-world problem - but with iPads, they're designed for a more touch interface, even before the advent of keyboard peripherals for them. Secondly, Apple would have to overhaul MacOS to incorporate touch and while this is possible, it would compromise an integral part of what makes MacOS function the way it does. It would have to be some kind of hybrid system and to me, that's just asking for potentially more issues that could arise from trying to maintain two different ways of interacting with the system. Lastly, and this is admittedly a minor one, the need to constantly clean fingerprints and smudges off the screen. That's already a routine on portable touch devices so I don't need to add a touch MacBook to the list. But yes, I can see where touch-enabled MacBooks could happen in the future. Hopefully not for a long, long time.
In my life I’ve had two main laptops: an HP Envy and Microsoft surface and in both scenarios I’ve used the touchscreen so rarely that I’m convinced touch screen is only good for professionals of a certain type and are just a gimmick that everyday student/people won’t really use. 🤷🏻♂️ Plus if I buy an iPad I instantly know how to work it since it’s just a better iPhone but if I pick up an MacBook I’ll need instructions since the OS works differently than Microsoft OS
exactly, if they create touchscreen macs i hope they keep a non touchscreen variant that's cheaper, because i dont want to pay more for a feature i will never use
I can see the logic of a touch screen on a desktop but on a laptop I don't see the need unless it's being able to interact on that level with an attached monitor.
Using a touchscreen slows you down when doing productivity activities because you are constantly taking your hands off the keyboard and mouse. It is imprecise and it leaves fingerprints everywhere. Touch is great on devices meant more for consumption of content that require portability, but more of a novelty for content creators.
@@SirSam21 who's going to buy their young kids a £1000 macbook air, i understand on cheaper chromebooks but that argument can't be used for these laptops that aren't even aimed toward young kids
I’ll start by saying that I’m a total Mac Hack, lol. I love it. I will say that I really don’t see myself using the touch element on a Mac for a few reasons. 1) I work in clamshell mode to an external display. 2) I pretty much just love the mouse experience on iPad. Not so much the pointer, but it feels natural, works well, and feels much more precise. 3) I find myself just using the mouse even on Windows computers that have a touch component. So I really can’t imagine it changing my life. That being said: I don’t know why Apple doesn’t do it. Personally, I don’t think it would affect my workflow in any meaningful way. But I think for a lot of users, this would be a great change. As long as the MacBook stays as good as the 2022 Pro 14-inch one that I use, I couldn’t care less what features they add. I think ergonomically, the screen placement is pretty dumb for a touch screen (personally) but not nearly as dumb as Apple’s responses to this and acting like making iPad and Mac OS more similar (or even just having a Parallels-type tool on the iPad to run full MacOS).
I agree with Apple, you can't just add a touchscreen, its not a good and ergonomic experience. The Surface line has good options; removable keyboard, or like the "Surface Laptop Studio" the screen can come out and move in front of the keyboard so your not reaching over it.
"Dan Ackerman is CNET's expert on computers" lol C'mon, this guy is saying that the younger generation will be the reason Macs will get touchscreens when that's not the reason why Apple hasn't done it. It's about design choices and putting touch on Mac would be a bad one, regardless of how some consumers grew up with tech.
It would be difficult to give an opinion on if macs are okay without the touchscreen, since majority of Mac owners already own an iPad regardless of generation. Personally (and I do own an iPad too), I think it’s fine just the way it is because I’ve gotten use to using it just the way it is. I’ve never caught myself feeling the need to touch the screen on my Mac. However, I find other people who expect an expensive laptop to have a touch screen, actually trying to touch the screen of my Mac 😅
I would use touch screen when I play my piano. Especially in performances. Just to have my music in one little space and not have to have my music floating/flopping all over the place, and even more importantly, one tiny little touch to flip a page rather than dog-earing them and the amount of time it takes which messes with me being able to continue playing smoothly from one page to the next. I absolutely HATE the idea of having to pay for a new iPad and a new mac at the same time. Which is where I'm at presently. The mac won't open all the way and is clunky and heavy. The iPad is lighter but I need a bit more size to see the pages. That would come with a 13 inch mac, and I would love to have the detachable screen with the mac functionality I use with my Quicken program when I need it. My piano teacher even has a plug and play pedal that she turns pages with on her iPad and uses forescore. I hate that Apple is making me spend the ungodly amount of money on 2 machines instead of one, and as a result I don't have enough money for the little toys like the watch. Not that I've ever been impressed by them anyway. I'm too old for the tiny screens. So I hang onto my mac for as many years as I can and make it work for as long as I can. Gee that worked out well for them attracting my business. I'm one of those skinflints that won't pay any more for something than I absolutely have to. But they are good machines, I will give them that. They would profit more off of people like me who have a more modest spending budget who could buy 2 machines if they were more multi-functional and more reasonably priced. It's the difference between buying a diamond and a piece of glass. I would buy the diamond, but can only afford one tiny diamond that has to last me many years.
I do think Apple will eventually add a touchscreen to the Mac because of market pressure from younger buyers and as a way to upsell newer Macs in the future when Apple runs out of noticeable changes they can give to the product line. However, I personally wouldn't use the touchscreen on a Mac, even if it had one. I had Windows touchscreen laptops and an iPad with the Magic Keyboard case before. While I did use the touchscreens on those devices while in laptop mode, the main reasons why I do is because of UI deficiencies when using only a keyboard and mouse. However, the Mac works so smoothly with just the keyboard and mouse alone already. So adding a touchscreen wouldn't add much besides my filthy fingerprints on my screen.
Seriously does anyone who has a touch enable laptop ever really use it? I had a Surface Laptop 2 for work and forgot it was a touch screen. I never during my workflow was ever compelled to use it. But I might be different.
What I've heard is that Steve Jobs (or maybe someone else at Apple) said pointing devices should be VERY close to the keyboard (i.e. a touchpad, IBM/Lenovo's Trackpoint, a mouse) because a touchscreen would be slightly awkward and not as ergonomic
I have a HP Spectre touchscreen laptop and the screen is amazing! Use it all the time in tablet mode and navigating around the web. My work laptop is a M1 MacBook. The screen doesn’t feel as sturdy as my HP but I still catch myself trying to touch the screen on my MacBook to scroll or press play. I’m always disappointed when the MacBook screen does nothing when I try to touch the screen.
The reason the HP screen feels more sturdy is because it’s a 2 in 1. If it wasn’t sturdy, it would break when folded into tablet mode…and to that point, I think most people are talking about laptops that have touch screen but no “tablet” mode, folding or software wise. I haven’t used one, but I bet the HP’s touch pad is pretty bad when compared to the MacBook’s (most are) and that’s you feel it’s necessary to use the touch screen, because of this you’re instinctively going to try to touch the MacBook screen instead of using the trackpad (which is much closer to you)
@@dylanmaki2482 No issues with the HP touch pad. It works just like the MacBook, just a little smaller. It also has a stylus pen to draw on the screen which is nice but I rarely use it. Using the touchscreen is way faster for controlling videos, music, and zooming in on a specific point on the screen in my opinion. It's one touch versus two or 3 with a touchpad.
Definitely touch screen is an amazing feature and can enhance productivity in many ways. Touchscreens provide a more natural and intuitive way to interact with your laptop compared to a trackpad and keyboard. So I wish there can be a touchscreen MacBook series, for instance we can say MacBook ultra.
I have a Dell laptop with a touchscreen and don't find it useful. The resolution on the screen is very high, icons are small and close together. I found when touching the screen I would hit the wrong icon. It's much faster and easier to use the touchpad.
I think it would be logical for Apple to make the OS on the iPad the MacOS from the MacBooks. Then the product would be a touchscreen laptop/ipad product that we all want.
Like many things, touch isn't for everyone and whether it's a gimmick or not is a matter of personal opinion. Many people are perfectly happy without them. That's fine. In my personal opinion, I love touch screen laptops even in the clamshell formfactor. Every laptop I've had in the past 8 years has had a touch screen and that's a feature I find myself using quite a bit. Yes, I still use the touchpad and it's perfectly capable of touch gestures like pinching, swiping etc. But depending on what I'm doing, I gravitate towards touch screen input. I don't experience the discomfort or fatigue others experience reaching over the keyboard, but then again, after 8 years, I might just be used to it by now. Keeping the screen clean isn't an issue as long as I make sure to wipe it down with a dry microfiber cloth. That being said, I hope the laptop market doesn't completely move towards touch screens being mainstream but rather touch screens being a feature on some models. To each their own.
I have a touchscreen on my Lenovo laptop and I hardly use that feature. I have a MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iPad Mini, iPad Pro, and an iPhone and I use those a lot more than my Lenovo laptop. I don't feel anything lacking on my Apple products. Don't discount me because I sound like an "Apple Fanboy"--I can be critical on Apple, but for the most part, Apple products are built well and work great. The reason I have so many MacBooks and iPads all have to do with size--sometimes I want a bigger screen. Sometimes I want a more portable device. My iPad Mini is dedicated to my drones, robot controls, and martial arts. My iPad Pro is for meetings, entertainment, and as a second screen for my Macs. I could go on, but this was really supposed to be about touchscreens. My MacBook Pro has a Touch Bar and I hardly use that--mostly because I forget that I even have it. I hated not having a physical ESC key, so I exchanged my MacBook Pro for the newer model when they brought back the ESC key. I don't hate the Touch Bar, I just hardly use it.
I don't miss it on a laptop (I have it on my windows laptop and never use it) unless I could flip it and use it like a tablet. Music software is SO much cooler with touch screens. There's a reason so many music programs are actually more popular in an iPad or phone vs a laptop. That's a shame....would love to use them in Logic or Protools etc.
Mac interface does not need touch ability. The trackpad is already superb. Perhaps add such feature on the trackpad like for us to be able to 'draw' or 'sign'.
I actually agree with Craig's reasoning behind not including touch screen on a laptop/desktop. I've had access to touchscreen computers for years now and I haven't used the touch features once. It's just not practical.
if you dont have a need then you dont, but dont assume that your way is the right way. i use to say its impratical until the day i found a use case that having a touch screen was the best thing
I had a work Dell laptop with touch screen. I didn’t find touch screen particularly useful. If anything, I found it annoying to look at my finger prints on the screen if I did touch it. Saying that, I know some colleagues happily using touch screens on their work laptops. I’m happy with traditional boring MacBooks as they are though.
We had a touchscreen laptop at home, no one makes content or anything, its a headache sometimes, i will buy for myself and iPad and mac air, why? It doesn’t make any sense to buy an mac to watch movies and series.
Truth be told, besides my personal MacBook Pro, I have a PC laptop with touchscreen and I never (ever) use it. Maybe it is my OCD triggered by the finger prints in the screen that doesn’t allow me to touch it… 😝 Great video!!!
As the price of the iPad Pro has increased over the past few years, I can't afford to have both. My iPad Pro 2017 will hopefully serve me well in the years to come.
It’s called a design system. It’s painful that not a single employee at CNET told them that the reason macs don’t have a touchscreen is because MacOS design system is NOT built for touch. The experience would suffer immensely if Apple simply added touch functionality to a system that’s not built for it.
If anyone remembers back in the day, Windows was not built for touch, and for the small amount of Windows systems that had touch prior to Windows 8, it was a pitiful experience. My point is that they "can" make MacOS more touch friendly - though the point and click experience may suffer (again, look at Windows 8).
I always hate using the Touch Bar on any of our Macs. But the one thing I hate more than that is the Siri button on them. It always gets in the way and then seems impossible to dismiss.
I would never want a touchscreen on a laptop or desktop. They are fine on smartphones and tablets, but not for computing. I am happy I can still use a MacBook without a touchscreen.
MacBooks are touch compatible and it's called the 'trackpad'. Why would I want to awkwardly reach up to the screen (leaving fingerprints), when I can more easily and quickly do it from the trackpad?
But I think none of the reasons mentioned in this video!! My belief is that since windows PCs are manufactured by many OEMs they can produce both with and without touch but MacBooks are produced only by one company so they need to produce both with and without touch alone this would be a headache for them. Not everyone in the market require touch screen laptop/desktop or his workflow
I am not sure if you are aware, but Apple outsources manufacturing to the same companies that actually make Windows PCs (Quanta; Pegatron; Hon Hai (Foxconn); etc etc.), so manufacturing and machining would not be an issue; especially on BTO/CTO units. Even the Mac Pro's assembled in Texas are farmed out (to Plextronics).
I know a very small group of people who actually use a touchscreen on a laptop. Probably bc windows and chrome os hasn’t mastered it yet (in my opinion). In fact my SVP never know it was thing until it became a problem. I use my MAC for work and my iPad 9 for media consumption. IE I am not using GoodNotes or doing heavy reading on a convertible Laptop.
Ipad doesn't have the full capability like the Mac does, the iPad doesn't run macos sadly. So idk why Apple is afraid of this taking away sales because people do prefer the laptop over the tablet or people will buy both.
I’m ok with Macs not having a touchscreen. It keeps the screen fingerprint-free. And I would never buy a MacBook that has a touchscreen as a keyboard. A laptop is for serious writing like writing a Master’s thesis - or that 10 page paper for English class. I could never reach my top typing speed with an iPad keyboard cover. But WHEN they put a touchscreen in a Mac I’ll buy it.
I’m an artist. I love my iPad for drawing and my MacBook for editing and doing heavier tasks. I like the windows tablet concept where you can pull the screen off the keyboard. If you could make an iPad as powerful as a MacBook with a full fledge keyboard that detach that’d be great. Basically the iPad and magic keyboard now. But instead of iOS it’d have a Mac OS. They’ll get there one day.
I can see Apple saying "we are featuring touchscreen on macbooks, as this is something our Apple employees wanted on macbooks for productivity" (after 5 years later..).
apple doesn’t have touch on mac od because they don’t like the idea of compromising the desktop ui to make it better for touch and vise versa For the ipad
Steve Jobs addressed this in a keynote way back when that you didn't mention. He said after extended touchscreen use, your arm will feel like it's going to fall off. They're probably still following his philosophy.
Sorry but don't think your thesis makes any sense. In a world where iPad hardware and software has functional and performance parity with Macs and you want touch.. there is not reason for Macs to even exist 🤷🏾♂ iPads ARE the touch Macs.. Macs are the pointer and keyboard first Macs... if you think about it, you are really making an argument for a more powerful iPadOS, iPadOS software to run on it and hardware.. at that point.. if you are correct, that people will only want touch.. there is no reason for Macs to even exist, the iPad will be that touch 1st Mac! This is not question of OS and hardware converging.. this is a question of what user experience people want...
Have you seen how grimy & fingerprinting laptop touchscreens get? And not to mention the angle you've to touch the screens & what they do to your wrists over the long term. Add to that lowered battery life & higher cost, and its just a stupid thing to do.
But how often would you really use a touchscreen on a laptop? Especially if you have a mouse? If you would only be using it 5-10% of the time, it doesnt make sense to add that feature.
When I has a Windows PC with a touchscreen (Acer S7 Ultrabook - circa 2014) I thought that the touchscreen was a very cool feature.... one that I'd use maybe 5-10% of the time (usually to zoom).
Apple's 2016 - 2019 iteration of products indicated to this user that hubris had at last overtaken utility. At least as far as laptops and phones. By 2019 Windows and Android manufacturers were offering hardware and software that were both functional and cutting edge, whereas Apple's products were emphasizing form over function. One thinks of laptops so thin they couldn't adequately cool themselves and low travel keyboards that were too haute to function properly. The iPhone 8 still rocked a 2007-era home button and the Touchbar? G-i-m-m-i-c-k-y. Though clearly some people like it. Anyway, in this same time period Samsung was releasing its Note lineup with gorgeous Infinity OLED displays and stylus-enabled screens w/o that obtrusive notch & Windows/Linux 2-in-1 foldables were taking laptops to another level. With the arrival of the M1 & M2 chips, Apple seems back on point but it still lags in hardware evolution & too proud to admit it's latest iOS drop has more to do with Android's functional aesthetic (wall papers/multi-tasking) than anything Cupertino dreampt up. Not hating on Apple here. In fact, quite the opposite. Would love to see Apple release something like a Note phone with a stylus, notch/pill-free display, and the sort of multi-tasking ability the Note phones are known for, but with the stability, computational power, and polish Apple's products have traditionally engendered. This will probably come to pass but only after several more years of Android and Windows' products and profits proving to Apple that the time has come to... think different.
The touchbar would’ve been a nice feature if they didn’t put it in the F key row. I agree Apple is afraid of losing their iPad demand they could build an awesome 2in1 with the ipad App Store. there will always be a need for an iPad. At all and just chicken to change.
If they make it touch without a 360 hinge I doubt it will do much to ipad sales. PC makers basically would need to stop using non touch screens on laptops. And some company would need to make phone, tablet, and laptop work better than Apple's current ecosystem to get enough people to move from Apple. I prefer PCs but focus more on Apple products because of how things work together and the power working with video and music production. The limited function of ipad is annoying at times but then I have most of the same access to personal stuff as on my iMac.
🎯 BINGO!!! The Mac is the Mac.. it's has a pointer and keyboard 1st UX... the iPad IS the touch 1st Mac.. the problem is not with the Mac it is perfectly suited to it's intended UX.. the problem is that Apple.. infuriatingly... has dumbed down and gimped the iPad experience.. Apple somewhat.. SLOOOWLY correcting this.. iPad should have full feature and performance parity with Macs... but still touch OS 1st so won't use MacOS since it is optimized for keyboard & pointer. O r maybe split the iPad line into two lines and have consumption line, plus a full on 'touch Mac' equivalent iPad line!
and I am going to add DOUBLE BINGO! If anyone ever tried to use iPads for "serious work" (thing massive spread sheets) then you'd know you simply can't get "real work" done on an iPad - even with the a tag-a-long "Magic keyboard". It takes literally twice the time and 4x the exasperiation. ...and don't even get me started on Chromebooks.
I like the way Macs function right now without the touch component. Touchscreens are not needed on macs but hey, if touchscreens arrive on macs in the future and they work great, who am I to complain?
Now that they’ve upgraded the iPads to M1’s and now the M2, they need to integrate the iPad with the MacBook. They’ll sell twice the number of iPads or they can make the MacBook more tablet like by being able to get the keyboard out of the way. There shouldn’t be a need for both to be honest. The different OS’s is really the only reason.
