Apple finally gave us touch Macs, in the least disruptive way possible
Hello again and welcome back to Fast Company ’s Plugged In . Contrary to conventional wisdom , Steve Jobs didn’t reject the possibility of Apple adding touch input to Macs. I remember that only because he told me so himself, when I squeezed in the last question during a post-keynote Q&A at Apple’s headquarters on October 14, 2008. As far as I know, there’s no video of our brief exchange. But…
Apple has finally introduced touchscreen Macs, but in a way that doesn't disrupt the overall experience much. These new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros feature a PRO OLED XDR display and cost between $2,899 and $14,549. They were announced on Wednesday, November 1, 2023, and will go on sale on November 6, 2023. While these new Macs support touch input, Apple emphasizes that they're still primarily aimed at power users who want the most advanced portable Mac.
The touch gestures are meant to complement the existing keyboard shortcuts and trackpad gestures, rather than replace them. Apple has faced several challenges in integrating touch input, such as making sure on-screen elements like menus are easy to interact with for fingers, strengthening the laptop's hinge, and improving camera stabilization.
Despite these challenges, Apple has managed to introduce touch input in a way that is additive to the existing interface and doesn't significantly change the user experience for most people. This approach is similar to what Windows PC manufacturers have taken with touchscreens, which have become common in recent years but haven't revolutionized the PC ecosystem.
Apple's measured approach to touch on the new MacBook Pros is reminiscent of the one taken by most touch-equipped Windows PCs, which ultimately landed on conventional laptops with touch support. This is in contrast to Microsoft's Windows 8, which introduced touch input and had to roll back some of its new ideas to maintain compatibility with keyboard and mouse.
Overall, Apple's approach to touch on the new MacBook Pros is a more conservative one, with the notable exception of the ill-fated Touch Bar. The iPad's evolution from touch-centric input to touch, keyboard, and trackpad offers a high bar for this kind of transformation, and Apple seems to be aiming to keep Macs and iPads quite different.
Written by urgent.news from Fast Company's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
