Over the years, Apple has repeatedly dismissed the idea of a touchscreen Mac
Why are touchscreens so common on Windows laptops and even Chromebooks, but not on Macs?
This question is being raised by many these days as rumours go viral about Apple working on adding touch screens to its Mac computers. A report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman claims that a new MacBook Pro with an OLED display could be the first touchscreen Mac in 2025.
Now, coming back to the question, to be frank, it remains something of a mystery why none of Apple’s Macs have adopted this useful feature. Remember, the company has led the world to the touch-based interfaces with the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.
At the same time, over the years, Apple has repeatedly dismissed the idea of a touchscreen Mac. Steve Jobs once tried to justify: “Touch surfaces don’t want to be vertical. It gives great demo, but after a short period of time you start to fatigue, and after an extended period of time, your arm wants to fall off.”
Rumours abound on touchscreen Mac
In fact, Apple tried to implement a form of touch on MacBooks. In 2016, Apple added the Touch Bar to the MacBook Pro with an OLED strip positioned above the keys that offered function keys. It is now only available on the entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro and there are many problems with the Touch Bar concept.
Apple always wanted you to feel like you should buy a MacBook and an iPad to get the full Apple experience. Even though the recent OS changes make iPadOS a little more Mac-like and MacOS a little more iPad-like, but there are a lot of practical differences between them.
The MacBook Pro revamp is being tested
Finally, for a company like Apple that prides itself on elegant solutions to problems, providing a touchscreen in a Mac and offering the ability to use it when you need it, seems a far better option than trying to squeeze a Mac-like experience into iPadOS.
As per rumours, the MacBook Pro revamp being tested inside Apple retains a traditional laptop design that includes a standard trackpad and keyboard. The difference is that the screen would “support touch input and gestures – just like an iPhone and iPad.”
If the company decides to move forward with the launch of touchscreen Macs, Bloomberg says that the technology can be used in other models too, in the long run.
