Apple software chief Craig Federighi declined to rule out the possibility of a Mac with touch screen, which could open the doors to the kind of device that Apple has long disdained. However, there are reasons to doubt that it will ever happen.
During an interview with Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal at the outlet’s Tech Live event, Federighi was asked if Apple would ever release a touchscreen laptop. Your answer? The cryptic, “Who can tell?”
It’s a much more ambiguous position than the company usually gives on the subject. Apple executives from Steve Jobs to Phil Schiller have long denounced the idea of launching a laptop with an integrated touchscreen, claiming that using it can be embarrassing, uncomfortable and lead to arm fatigue. They have reiterated this several times over the years, including in 2018, 2020 and 2021.
For instance, speaking in 2010Steve Jobs explained Apple’s thinking: “We’ve done tons of user testing [una pantalla táctil de Mac], and it turns out it doesn’t work. Tactile surfaces don’t want to be vertical … After a short period of time, you start to get tired and, after a long time, your arm wants to fall. “
Federighi himself previously denied the feasibility of a touchscreen Mac, stating that “engaging the touch on something what it was basically designed around a precise pointer that really compromises the experience. “
Don’t get too excited
These historical statements make Federighi’s answer to Stern’s question even more interesting. Is Apple softening its stance on bringing a touch screen to the Mac? Does the company have active plans to introduce such a device? Or was Federighi simply protecting his bets against an uncertain future in a world where technology moves at a dizzying pace?
Personally, my bet is for the latter. Apple has such a long history of excluding touch screens from its Macs that the idea is probably now deeply rooted in the company’s DNA. It has resisted calls to add touchscreen capabilities in recent years as well, as rivals like the HP Specter x360 13.5 have embraced it, while remaining adamant that it has no place on the MacBook and iMac.
Even when Apple added a small element of touchscreen functionality to its Macs in the form of the MacBook Pro Touch Bar, it is significant to note that it was a horizontal touchpad, not the vertical type that Steve Jobs believed caused arm fatigue. And even that experiment didn’t last long before it was unceremoniously abandoned.
All this to say that I am not too enthusiastic about Federighi’s latest statement. Apple has tested touchscreen Macs in the past, according to Federighi, and perhaps one day Apple will find a way to make touch surfaces work on its computers. But that day is far away, if it ever comes.
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