“After taking on hosting duties for most of Monday’s WWDC keynote, Apple SVP of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi, sat down with Wired Tuesday for a wide-ranging interview covering the future of Mac and iOS apps, Apple’s iOS-to-Mac app porting tools, and universal multiplatform apps,” Jim Tanous writes for The Mac Observer. “Of particular interest however, considering its absence from the keynote, was Mac hardware, specifically touchscreens.”
We really feel that the ergonomics of using a Mac are that your hands are rested on a surface, and that lifting your arm up to poke a screen is a pretty fatiguing thing to do. I don’t think we’ve looked at any of the other guys to date and said, how fast can we get there? — Apple SVP Craig Federighi
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We never did, either.
Does it make more sense to be smearing your fingers around on your notebook’s screen or on a spacious trackpad that’s designed specifically and solely to be touched? Apple thinks things through more than other companies… The iPhone’s screen has to be touched; that’s all it has available. A MacBook’s screen does not have to be touched in order to offer Multi-Touch™. There is a better way: Apple’s way. — MacDailyNews, March 26, 2009
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To us longtime Apple watchers, Cupertino seems to be saying, “Multi-Touch on the screen only when trackpads are not part of the device.” – MacDailyNews, November 19, 2008
SEE ALSO:
Apple’s Craig Federighi details how iOS apps will run on Macs – June 5, 2018
How Apple might approach an ARM-based Mac – May 30, 2018
Will the 2019 Mac Pro be powered by an Apple ARM-based chip? – April 6, 2018
Project Marzipan: Can Apple succeed where Microsoft failed? – December 21, 2017
Apple is working to unite iOS and macOS; will they standardize their chip platform next? – December 21, 2017
Why Apple would want to unify iOS and Mac apps in 2018 – December 20, 2017
Apple to provide tool for developers build cross-platform apps that run on iOS and macOS in 2018 – December 20, 2017
The once and future OS for Apple – December 8, 2017
Apple, a semiconductor superpower in the making, looks to build their own ARM-based processors for Macs – September 29, 2017
On the future of Apple’s Macintosh – February 6, 2017
Apple’s Craig Federighi explains why there is no touchscreen Mac – November 1, 2016
An admittedly niche product that Apple could easily make and offer would be a large iOS Multi-Touch Desktop that tilts from flat to vertical and easel type angles in between. Bundle it with the Pencil and a nice Bluetooth Keyboard and power supply.
It could address the same market as the Microsoft Surface Studio but with iOS applications on a high quality multi-touch easel. Apple could call it an iPad Studio and charge an arm and a leg for it.
I would gladly order one for a desktop.
Apple needs a device like this, but it should be built on iOS- not Mac OS.
I can buy that …
As iOS is the future, this is an idea that is actually something that might get made. At that size, it could also have the hardware required to enable FCPX AND Logic to perform well.
I don’t even think you’re describing a niche, I think you’re describing a high end mass market device (pretty much most of what Apple makes).
We’re issued Lenovo Yoga 460’s at work and I use my touchscreen daily. Every single time my keyboard refuses to respond, I use the touchscreen to reboot the thing.
Been advocating for years that the keyboard half of macbook should be touchscreen with customizable movable sizable layouts including tools, menus, shortcuts etc, maybe with haptic feedback (not necessary for modern typists)
Modern typists still touch type. Hunt and peck may be all you can do, but the rest of us need actual keys, a touchscreen isn’t going to cut it.
And I don’t really see the point of having a screen on the keyboard at all, I’m not looking at it, so even keys with individual screens would be worse than useless.
Of course Craig doesn’t look at other companies and ask how long it would take to catch up. Mac hardware is so far behind, and so unneedlessly style-constrained, that Craig isn’t within viewing distance. To all appearances, Watch bands receive more resources than the Mac these days.
Now I can continue eating waffle fries and still see my screen.
Sad… but true.. but Craig is the software guru..
I think the problem stems from Apple Marketing.
To each his/her own..
But i would love to see a ‘adaptable os’ ‘hybrid detachable’ portable device..
ios …. when display detached.
Macos when attached to keyboard or folded back on keyboard.
So I noticed my post from the other day has been removed. Probably at least 5 or 6 posts now that I’ve seen disappear. Apparently you guys at MDN any comments that make too much sense when they call you out.
If you can’t handle the truth that’s one thing, but censoring the internet so that the only comments that remain in a blog are those that you like is reminiscent of nazism.
Now go ahead and remove this post too.
Bye.
And I’ll post it again – you at MDN don’t want to admit the fact that Federighi shot Apple in the foot with his comment – while attempting to attack the competition (touchscreen PCs) he inadvertently annulled the case for iPad Pro with keyboard.
Go ahead and remove this post again, as you did the other day.
When you take a desktop OS and try to add a touch interface you get a hybrid mess. If you want touch use an iOS device. Thank goodness Craig has the smarts to not mess up macOS like Microsoft did with Windows twice now.
Spoken like someone who has never used both extensively.
I have, and I would modify your statement to say “ if you want touch with a lot of user limitations, use iOS.. and if you want touch without those limitations, use windows 10.”
Your argument assumes that iOS is the default Norm for all things touch, but it isn’t – it’s the default norm for a sandboxed approach to touch. But for people who start with the assumption that all things Apple are flawless,it’s easy to make such narrow statements.
The ‘Gorilla Arm’ phenomenon has been well known for decades, since the advent of CRT touch screens. I saw one stupid article that called Gorilla Arm a ‘myth’ and predicted all computer screens would become touch screens. Nope dope! Craig Federighi is correct.
Here’s one article on the subject from 2010:
https://www.wired.com/2010/10/gorilla-arm-multitouch/
NOPE! Use the touchscreen on my surface everyday, speeds up many user interactions over a trackpad.
Enjoy! I have zero interest.
GOOD.
I’m sorry for you touchscreen fans, but a touchscreen on a desktop or laptop is still an idiotic idea.
Yes, I know MicroSloth has been doing it. And it’s not even remotely useful when they do. It’s idiotic.