14 DAY TRIAL // Apple’s new MacBook lineup lacks touch capabilities, and this is one of the most controversial things about the overhauled laptops, with many tech watchers claiming that Microsoft has become the innovator, while Cupertino turned into a follower.
But as far as Apple’s Jony Ive is concerned, this is not at all the case, as the company actually wanted to build a touchscreen Mac “many, many years ago,” but he refused the project from the very beginning.
Asked about a touchscreen Mac in an interview with CNET, Ive briefly explained that the company was already looking into this direction, but is planning something a little bit more than a traditional touchscreen on its devices.
“For a bunch of practical reasons. It’s difficult to talk [laughs] without going into a lot of details that puts me starting to talk about things that we are working on. I don’t really want to talk much more about it,” he said.
E-ink keyboard
What Ive might be referring to is a hardware upgrade made in collaboration with Sonder Keyboard, a company that Apple is reportedly looking into for a possible acquisition. Sonder Keyboard is the maker of a keyboard that features dynamically-assigned keys and which use e-ink keys to become super power efficient, which makes it just the perfect option for a laptop.
In this keyboard, each key is dynamic and contextual, which means that it can change its purpose depending on app or task. If Apple indeed completes the acquisition of Sonder Keyboard, their technology could be implemented into the next line of MacBooks.
For the moment, however, Ive says that the Touch Bar is the best choice for the MacBook, explaining that Apple considered several designs before going for this one.
“There’s a number of designs that we explored that conceptually make sense. But then when we lived on them for a while, sort of pragmatically and day to day, [they] are sometimes less compelling. This is something [we] lived on for quite a while before we did any of the prototypes. You really notice or become aware [of] something’s value when you switch back to a more traditional keyboard,” he said.
With Microsoft heavily investing in touchscreens, everyone expected Apple to start looking into this tech as well for its laptops. Including Microsoft’s executives, that is.
Microsoft’s VP of Surface Marketing Brian Hall believes that the Touch Bar is just the first step towards a touchscreen Mac, saying that he is 100 percent sure that Apple would launch such a device in the coming years.
“I've had a day to think. officially am calling it. 100% Apple is making touchscreen mac, 95% detachable. They're too smart not to,” he said. “They would not have planned just the touchbar. Buy a Surface now & let's let the games really begin when they get (real) touch.”
In the meantime, the new MacBook is here without a touchscreen, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that it doesn’t cost as much as if it had the tech. The top-of-the-range MacBook costs $4,299, more than a Surface Studio that comes with a 28-inch touch-capable display, 32 GB RAM, and 2 TB storage.