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While Microsoft is pushing hard for touchscreens and devices that can be used with a pen, Apple sticks with a more traditional input method, going for laptops and desktops that do not feature the technology that its Redmond rival seems to love so much these days.
Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller revealed in a recent interview that his company actually looked at the possibility of bringing a touchscreen on its devices, but decided to stick with the old approach that makes more sense for its users.
What’s more, he described having touch on a desktop “a disaster,” pointing out that users of such devices expect to work with a mouse and keyboard and not to mix input methods with touch.
“Can you imagine a 27-inch iMac where you have to reach over the air to try to touch and do things? That becomes absurd. You can’t optimize for both. It’s the lowest common denominator thinking,” he said.
Microsoft thinks otherwise
Microsoft’s Surface Studio is fully based on this approach and has a 28-inch screen that also supports touch and which can be used on the desktop with a mouse and keyboard, touch, pen, or Surface Dial. But as far as Apple is concerned, this isn’t the right way to go because customers still love the mouse and keyboard, as it helps them be productive all the time at the desk.
Schiller claims that Apple considered implementing touch in MacBooks and iMacs several times in the last few years, but every time, the company just decided to go with its instinct and stay away from this technology.
“Our instincts were that it didn't, but, what the heck, we could be wrong - so our teams worked on that for a number of times over the years. Our instincts were correct,” he pointed out.
Microsoft, on the other hand, isn’t necessarily looking to launch products that rely on the traditional input methods, but to invent new categories, and this is exactly what the Surface Pro, the Surface Book, and the Surface Studio achieved. Microsoft has until now managed to achieve its goal, and with Apple going in a completely different direction, it’ll be interesting to see which company achieves better sales.