Why Apple will NEVER release Macbook with a touch screen

Introduction

Throughout the past years, Apple has always been known for its great line of laptops. They were always known as the brand that made high-quality laptops that were always reliable and the go-to for anyone looking to buy a long-term laptop for work, school, or one of many other purposes.

With the addition of the M1 core, the laptops gained even more power and have seen a massive improvement in their performance overall and many other features such as a ridiculously long battery life that was advertised to reach up to 20 hours according to Apple.

However, one feature that has become more and more prevalent over the past years, especially in higher-end laptops was the addition of a touchscreen to many of them, which is a feature that Apple for over a decade now has never agreed to adopt.

In this short article, I will discuss a few reasons I believe Apple decided to choose this path and why, in my opinion, this will never be an addition to the Macbook line ups.

Some reasons behind this:

1. Ergonomic Nightmare:

So, one of the main reasons behind this is the fact that Apple, like many other companies and individuals, believes that a touchscreen on a laptop is simply not practical. Ergonomically, it is believed by Apply to be simply a nightmare.

Constantly having to reach for your screen at a tough angle due to the presence of the keyboard and the screen being a few additional centimeters away from your reach, makes it really uncomfortable and tiring in the long run.

Back in 2010, Steve Jobs has said, “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 a 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. It doesn’t work, it’s ergonomically terrible.”

More recently Craig Federighi, the senior vice president of software engineering of apple said, “I gotta tell you when we released Big Sur and these articles started coming out saying, ‘Oh my God, look, Apple is preparing for touch,’ I was thinking like, ‘Whoa, why?’ We had designed and evolved the look for macOS in a way that felt most comfortable and natural to us, not remotely considering something about touch.”

2. The already existing Mac with a touchscreen

So, of course, Apple does not have a Macbook with a touchscreen, however, Apple excels at making a product that fills this need for so many users. One of Apple’s most successful products of all time is indeed the Ipad, and Apple intends to keep it this way.

Apple has always created many different lines of products each targeted to a different demographic and serving a specific purpose and Apple excels at preventing overlaps between these different lines so that the presence of one product would not affect the sales of another or decrease its sales.

The presence of a Macbook with a touchscreen will be such a big hit to the sales of the Ipad since many users already prefer the Macbook and would never opt for buying an Ipad if there was ever a Macbook with a touchscreen that can do all that the Ipad does and much more without the concerns that many professionals have when buying an Ipad for professional use.

Apple’s Ipad is one of their most selling devices and a product that Apple is really proud of, and Apple will never intentionally remove the main distinction between it and the Mac and risk their Ipad sales taking a big hit.

3. macOS is not ready for it:

So, Apple is one of the companies that symbolize the constant strive for perfection. Apple does not do anything if they are not sure that it is the best version of this product. This constant strive for improvement might be a hindrance in certain cases, but it is also indeed one of the things that makes Apple the great and successful company it is.

One of the biggest projects is of course the MacOS software that took Apple years to develop and ever since Apple worked constantly to improve it bit by bit until it reached the version it is in this current day. The macOS software was made with a lot of ideas in mind, but it was not made to handle a touchscreen at all. If Apple decided to one day change the mac screen to a touchscreen, the Mac will not be at all adapted to that and Apple can not accept this and will instead decide to change the whole software to the new feature. This would be a dramatic change that won’t come easy and will take so much effort and time.

Even if Apple decided to spend all that time and effort, it will still not be a good idea. Apple already has a software version that is adapted to touchscreens, which is Ipad OS. Changes to the MacOS to accommodate for this feature will eventually make the Macbook a lot closer to that of the Ipad and that is something Apple would want to avoid at all costs as said before in the second point.

Conclusions and final thoughts

Nobody knows for sure whether or not Apple will ever add a touchscreen to its Macbook lineup. Maybe, one day, Apple will start a lineup of 2-in-1s but that seems so far-fetched at this point, however, no one knows what the future holds.

The main point for Apple, from a business perspective, is that they like keeping their lines separate in order to maximize profits. Most people, working professionally, will buy a Macbook or an Ipad either way and would not care that much for the lack of a single feature that does not hinder them that much. A few people will even buy an Ipad in addition to their Mac if their workflow requires a touch screen and the power and reliability of the mac. In all cases, whether you buy one device or two, Apple is winning and is gaining from these sales.

Apple currently has no direct need to add such a feature since many users do not expect it and a lot of them do not really need it. Maybe in a few years down the line, every single laptop will have a touchscreen, and it will be an absolute necessity and then Apple will be forced to add it. However, for now, adding a 2-in-1, for example, will only be a loss to Apple, and adding a touchscreen will bring no benefits for Apple in the current situation.