alt Hacker NewsMacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display and Touch
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Wasn’t the Touch Bar also supposed to be “a new dimension for pro workflows”.
I guess if users don’t touch it, then you just have to keep trying with something bigger to touch.
From the top of my head, things Apple said they wouldn't do, but later did:
- Native mobile apps
- Bigger iPhone
- Pen, as you mentioned
- Foldable iPhone
- Now touchscreen laptop
Anything else?
My god they finally did it. After all the fears of canibalizing iPad sales and gorilla arms. An Apple touchscreen MacBook.
Absurd it took this long when they basically led the field in touchscreen innovation (especially on the UX side of things)
I always thought the Surface Book design by Microsoft was very Apple like and it always seemed like the logical step: let the screen detach but keep the extra horsepower in the base.
All these marketing facts and figures sound great. Nits and contrast ratio and True Tone. The blackest blacks. All great.
Those greasy finger marks are really going to dazzle like never before.
M5 MBP owners, did Apple finally manage to fix the permanent "keyboardprint" on the screen?
I had it very badly on Intel MBP, and now on my M3 Max. I tried some screen protectors, but none of them stuck (pun intended).
I suppose touch only makes it worse?
Amazing that they've managed to keep prices down. I paid $3300 for a base 15 inch in 2018. The 16 inch now starts at $3400 8 years later. Not bad...
No pen support is lame.
Having said that, I'd be afraid to touch it. On one of my MBPs, I held it by putting my hands near the hinge, with my thumbs resting in the lower corners of the screen. Over (a short period of) time, the protective(?) coating on the screen wore away.
Everybody worried about the usefulness of touch (which I do find occasionally useful), meanwhile they've literally set base pricing at $2900. For a 14 inch mbp, with 24GB. Hilarious.
How on god's green earth is this worth $2900?
This is truly groundbreaking! I've always wanted to play piano on a 14" screen.
I really hope the screen no longer has the slow response and ghosting anymore. I'm surprised by the responsive difference every time I use my outdated 2013 MacBook Air's trackpad and immediately feel the difference over my 2021 MacBook Pro M1 daily driver.
I am on board for touchscreen (and pencil support) for macOS due to my dream of only carrying an iPad Pro for all development; however, I think they’re making the same mistake as the touch bar - touch is only available on the most expensive Mac’s which will ensure they’re niche. Niche options for user input ensure very few apps get updated to use the new user input (foldable phones, I’m speaking about you).
My god they’re really running out ideas in Cupertino. What I need is a screen that gives an electrical shock to anybody that dares to touch it with their filthy fingers.
Can you use the touchscreen for the "run iPhone and iPad apps" feature of Apple Silicon Macs?
And if so, has Apple changed the policy from developer opt-in to automatic on touchscreen Macs.
No cellular which is literally the only thing missing from the macbook pro :(
1. Mini LED is fantastic so the OLED jump is marginal at best 2. I know many people with a touchscreen windows laptop. None of them uses the touch function on a regular basis
I think the audience who touches the screen to work AND uses the screen to accurately reproduce colors is basically zero
A macbook with apple pencil support that can be held like a tablet (turn the screen 180 degrees?) would be incredible for digital drawing. Hope to see it in my lifetime.
If i wanted a touch screen mb air, id get an ipad. i will actively avoid these. apple has been dropping the ball big time lately. ive noticed siri has a 5 second delay on my phone now, making reminder setting not so easy.
is graphene os ready for primetime yet?
Personal highlight: Seems like the GLOWING apple logo is back!
(don't care about the touchscreen)
If iPhone duo and touchscreen MacBook are the signs of what's to come under John Ternus then i'm really afraid for the future of Apple.
Back in the day this would have been a “One more thing…” announcement. Apple must be upset with the hardware prices to bury this a late October press release.
The full spec is significantly more expensive in my local currency (Denmark, DKK) than in USD. Something like $7500 even after sales tax of 25% is added.
What gives?
Ah, HN is truly the successor to /., developers crying about touchscreens on laptops and gorilla arms.
Brothers, there is a market beyond your bash shells!
;p
Seems like this is essentially a 400$ upgrade for the M6 Pro MacBook Pro. Those 400$ get you better sound, a better display and touch.
This is clearly targeted at creatives, the touchscreen feels more like a nice bonus they give out so people can experiment with touchscreen macOS and polish their apps for it - my guess is that this is preparation for a more convenient touch-based macOS device they're going to launch in a year or so.
"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 great demos. 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's ergonomically terrible." —Jobs
As an iOS engineer I am actually pretty excited about how this will improve manual testing on simulator.
I always thought if Apple did touch on the macbook it would come with a redesign to merge macOS with touch elements from the iPad. As it stands this feels like more of an afterthought.
If there’s one killer feature though, it’s iOS device mirroring and the iOS simulators. I’ve instinctively reached up to touch the iOS simulator so many times.
I wonder how they do the glowing apple logo with no backlight.
Not a fan of touchscreen on inclined surfaces, personally. I think the ergonomics of this will be bad for shoulders/elbows.
Like the iPad when it’s docked to its smart keyboard, I don’t like touching it at the point, it’s better to use the trackpad that’s laying flat.
It also wobbles when you do touch it. The macbook may not do the wobble, but it will constantly push further open and this may weaken the hinge mechanism over time.
2000 nits peak screen brightness with nano texture is going to look incredible outdoors. Not sure I'm feeling the need to upgrade yet but glad the brightness+coating combo will continue to be a thing
Will this be another touchbar? Only time will tell but I never want to touch my screen. I don't even really do it with my iPad, lol
Hoping for a follow-up convertible touchscreen pen-capable MacBook Air. iPad Pro is just too limiting with iPadOS and it's thicker and heavier than a MacBook Air or any of my convertible Chromebooks.
> Up to 13 more hours than Intel-based MacBook Pro
Even though this reveal seems genuinely cool, this stat sounds weird. Why compare it to Intel Macs when the status quo has been Apple Silicon for half a dozen years?
Years ago like 2010, 11 Microsoft had demo touchscreen computers running an art application in the Kids Room at the MOMA museum in NYC. It was responsive to actual brushes and was quite an interesting interface. As far as I knew it was a beta.
My god the prices. Good thing I lost interest in high-end laptops. Beefy desktop + light laptop is how I roll nowadays
Jobs getting cooked in the grave...
Does this mean that macOS will natively support touch screens so I don't need to look anymore for after-market solutions[0] for mine? That would be cool.
I don't like touchscreens. I watch the people I work with who have them and none of them use theirs. How much of this was just Apple user FOMO?
Didn't OLED screens age bad with use as with plasma back in the day? I'd rather not want a less bright mac screen in a few years.
Don't take me wrong, OLED displays on a a MacBook screen is quite a nice feat compared to regular the regular displays we have as of today.
I see. The iPad and Macbook are converging. Interesting. I can’t say I get the use case but perhaps it will fold in some interesting way that makes it usable. I have no problem using a touchscreen occasionally but in the standard configuration the screen will wobble if you touch it.
Finger prints on my screen are a capital crime or at least family meeting time.
Some of my students use touchscreen Windows laptops. They seem to be OK with them but I never found them usable particularly for coding. A touchscreen laptop has ergonomically bad design. Or it could just be a generational thing.
Aside: Does anyone else find the new AI texture explosions Apple's using on their marketing pages now a little unsettling and un-Apple? I guess I'm desperate for at least one tech brand to feel / remain human.
No Apple Pencil is a huge miss for consumers. I guess they don't want to cannibalize the iPad though.
I would probably never touch the screen with my fingers, but I would draw with it. Would also be really useful during calls.
Will the keyboard and trackpad leave a mark on the screen despite us keeping surfaces clean?
No folding and no Apple Pencil support sadly, would've been a kickass 2-in-1. Would have to wait for ProCreate to be ported to macOS though
You can find the steve jobs video showing where they wouldn't make a touch screen laptop. He is probably rolling over in his grave now.
I do like how they are brining back ports. I think they need to add back the Ethernet port.
15% weight reduction over previous gen macbook pro is great.
Just make a fast, sturdy laptop, don’t keep making it lighter, and touch??
Apparently no Apple Pencil support (not mentioned in their press release or on the sale page)
I think this is more for the generation that grew up on phones and tablets, who are now in the professional space and like that interaction model
Wasn't "touchscreen for a laptop" another one of those things that Apple intentionally refused to do? Is this the effect of the new leadership?