Apple Touchscreen Laptops?

[GWestphal]

Think that will show up next year with Haswell?

 

[jalaram]

Like a 7" tablet, they don't feel that anyone would want a touchscreen computer.

Seriously, they've stated an aversion to touchscreens on computers and they have the magic trackpad to do many of the similar tasks.

 

[GWestphal]

Well Jobs thought that, but it seems Intel and a lot of the rest of the industry disagree with that assessment.

 

[mmntech]

They'll be keeping a close eye on Windows 8 to see how people react to it. OSX isn't really designed for touch. I think if/once OS 11 comes out, it will be completely overhauled to be fully touch integrated.

 

[ArJuN]

I don't expect to see a touchscreen device running OSX for a LONG time (save for the Modbook). I'm expecting Haswell to make an impact on hardware side of things. But for a touchscreen to work, the software has to be designed for it (iOS, W8). Apple wouldn't be caught adding hardware without having the software to back it up. Until Apple announces a software update and their intention to bring a touch UI to their x86 side, touchscreens are long off.

 

[Kaido]

I'm on the fence, but I'm leaning towards "touchscreens on computers are dumb".

One one hand, everyone and their dog touches computer screens. People are always pointing to stuff on their monitors. So catering to that natural instinct makes sense. There have been touchscreens around for a long time, especially the all-in-ones from HP. Kids love them. They're useful for a lot of work applications, like shop-floor kind of stuff.

On the other hand...who wants fingerprints on a 23" monitor? What a paint to clean off. Even with the larger 10" iPad size, it's still pretty easy to clean, but a large vertical screen seems like it would look more messy. Plus, the ergonomics - I'm not going to spend an 8-hour workday lifting my arm to touch a desktop monitor.

I'd have a hard time seeing Apple jump onboard something that would make their shiny 27" iMac all greasy and streaky. Can you imagine walking into an Apple store and seeing an endless row of smeared screens? The employees would spend all day wiping them down! Although the new screens seem to handle fingerprint oils and stuff better than the old ones, so who knows. And as Apple goes more towards an iOS-based desktop OS design, maybe we'll see this become a reality. Angry Birds on a 27" Retina panel, hmm And with the rumor of Apple switching to ARM for desktop chips, you never know...

 

[Kaido]

Also amazingly relevant, the $3,500 Modbook Pro (tablet-style Macbook) had the HDD, RAM, and touchscreen sensitivity doubled today:

http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/08/modbook-pro-specs-doubled-ram-ssd-touchscreen/

So here's your touchscreen Macbook :awe:

 

[silverpig]

This isn't about fingerprints, it's about arm fatigue. You just don't want to have your arm up touching something vertical like that.

Jobs said Apple did extensive trials on touchscreen iMacs, and they were kinda neat for 3 minutes until people's arms got sore.

Touch screens are for things that are flat and horizontal, not vertical.

 

[Kaido]

This isn't about fingerprints, it's about arm fatigue. You just don't want to have your arm up touching something vertical like that.

Jobs said Apple did extensive trials on touchscreen iMacs, and they were kinda neat for 3 minutes until people's arms got sore.

Touch screens are for things that are flat and horizontal, not vertical.

http://cdn.ubergizmo.com/photos/2007/3/touch-screen-monitor.jpg