I was thinking about that while listening to this week’s episode of The Full Nerd. which features the usual cast of characters discussing the touchscreen MacBook’s debut and what it means for the PC space. I hope you’ll agree with my feeling that it’s unequivocally a good thing, and I wish Apple had gotten to this point sooner—if only so that the software was more touch-friendly and the hardware was available on a wider variety of Macs.
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Because that’s got to be where this is headed, right? There’s no way Apple is going to keep touchscreens exclusive to the new MacBook Pros (which start at nearly $3,000 a pop) unless the technology proves as unpopular as the Touch Bar, and I don’t think that’s possible.
No, I expect Apple will take some time to work out how to make a touchscreen work well at a cheaper price and smaller size, then roll out touchscreen Airs within a few years.
By then I hope the developers behind macOS and its most popular apps have had some time to fine-tune their software for touch, because I remember all too well the suffering we endured moving through the gradual evolution of touch interfaces from Windows 8 to 11. It’s easy enough to tap the Start button nowadays, but when I think back on the spew of Metro tiles that was the Windows 8 Start menu I have to hold back a shudder.
Even if it does take Apple an age to democratize the touchscreen Mac, I’m happy MacBook Pro owners can finally experience the joy of giving their hands from the touchpad or mouse when they’re feeling cramped. It’s all well and good to learn all the fancy multi-touch gestures, but honestly the thing I enjoy most about a touchscreen laptop is the freedom to uncoil my claws from the keyboard and stretch them out to tap the screen whenever they need a break.
Sure you look a little silly doing it and sure, your screen might wobble or get a bit smudged. But these are small problems, easily solved, so if you aren’t buying or using touchscreen laptops out of some Jobs-esque concern about developing “gorilla arms” I hope I can convince you to change your tune. Touchscreens went from an oddity to a luxury for me after I was diagnosed with RSI, and I know some of my colleagues have similar feelings because it comes up…