According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is working on touchscreens for its Mac computers.
According to the report, the first touchscreen Mac could be a MacBook Pro with an OLED display, due out in 2025.
Engineers are said to be actively working on the project, implying that Apple is serious about touchscreen Macs.
The first touchscreen MacBook Pro will keep its traditional laptop design, including a trackpad and keyboard, but the display will also support touch input similar to that of an iPhone or iPad.
Gurman goes on to say that the first touchscreen Macs will run macOS rather than a hybrid of iPadOS and macOS.
Unless the developer specifies otherwise, iPhone and iPad apps can be used on Macs equipped with Apple silicon chips.
According to the report, Apple has previously rejected the idea of touchscreen Macs, and this new development would represent a significant shift in the company’s philosophy.
In 2010, Steve Jobs stated that touch surfaces on MacBook do not perform well when held vertically due to arm fatigue, and in 2021, Apple’s hardware engineering chief, John Ternus, stated that the Mac was designed for indirect input and that there was no reason to change that.
Improved Implementation?
A touchscreen on a Windows laptop adds no extra features other than the touch input itself.
But, knowing Apple, once touch input becomes a thing, the company will almost certainly bring a slew of new features to play with, especially since Apple is in charge of macOS.
In this case, Android punch-hole cameras vs Dynamic Island is an excellent example. The latter is both a large black hole and a small interface for your apps to display useful information.
Touch input would be a significant step forward for MacBook’s, but it is unclear whether the design will be carried over to future Apple laptops.
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