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 debut of the touchscreen MacBook and what it means for the PC space. I hope you agree with my sense that it’s unequivocally a good thing, and I wish Apple had gotten to this point sooner, if only to make the software more tactile and the hardware available on a wider variety of Macs.
Welcome to The Full Nerd newsletter – your weekly dose of hardware talk from PCWorld enthusiasts. They missed the surprising topics about our youtube program Or the latest news from around the web? You are in the right place.
Want this newsletter delivered straight to your inbox? Register on our website!
Because that’s where this should go, right? There’s no way Apple will keep touchscreens exclusive to the new MacBook Pros (which start at nearly $3,000 each) unless the technology proves as unpopular as the Touch Bar, and I don’t think that’s possible.
No, I hope Apple takes some time to figure out how to make a touchscreen work well at a cheaper price and smaller size, and then release touchscreen Airs in a few years.
By then, I hope the developers behind macOS and its most popular apps have had some time to tune their software for touch, because I remember well the suffering we endured during the gradual evolution of touch interfaces from Windows 8 to 11. It’s easy enough to touch the Start button these days, but when I think of the Metro tiles that were Windows 8’s Start menu, I have to hold back a shudder.
Even if it takes a while for Apple to democratize the touchscreen Mac, I’m happy that MacBook Pro owners can finally experience the joy of taking their hands off the trackpad or mouse when they feel cramped. It’s all well and good learning all the fancy multi-touch gestures, but honestly, what I enjoy most about a touchscreen laptop is the freedom to uncurl my claws from the keyboard and reach out to touch the screen when they need a break.
You’ll probably look a little silly doing it, and of course, your screen might wobble or smudge a little. But these are small, easy-to-solve problems, so if you’re not buying or using touchscreen laptops because of some Jobs-style concern about developing “gorilla arms,” I hope I can convince you to change your mind. Touchscreens went from a rarity to a luxury for me after I was diagnosed with SLER, and I know some of my colleagues have similar feelings because it comes…
