Asked why Apple had never made a touchscreen Mac, Steve Jobs said back in 2010 that it would be a usability fail.
We’ve done tons of user testing on this, and it turns out it doesn’t work. 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.
There’s no doubt that he was right – if you’re talking about a primary form of input. For computers, a trackpad or mouse is just a better solution.
But the distinction between a computer and a tablet today is much fuzzier, with even Apple touting the iPad Pro with keyboard a full PC replacement. And it appears we’ll be seeing a new touch interface on future MacBook Pros, in the form of a touch-sensitive OLED function-key panel and Touch ID power button.
So has the time come to look again at a touchscreen MacBook … ?
Filed under: Apple
Recent Comments