Apple's Beats brand in April unveiled the Powerbeats Pro, a redesigned wire-free version of its popular fitness-oriented Powerbeats earbuds.
Apple Says Touchscreen Macs 'Not a Particularly Useful or Appropriate Application of Multi-Touch'
CNET has published an extended interview with Jony Ive in which the Apple design chief discusses some of the design decisions that went into developing the Touch Bar in the company's new MacBook Pro lineup.
The contextual OLED Touch Bar replacing the function keys on the new Macs was developed for at least two years, during which time Ive's team explored the idea of larger, haptic-rich trackpads. According to Ive, "a number of designs" were explored that "conceptually make sense", but were later rejected.
Apple has published detailed design guidelines on how developers should use the Touch Bar, steering them away from use cases that would suggest it functions as a second display. When pushed, Ive refused to elaborate on why Apple "doesn't think a touchscreen is a particularly useful or appropriate application of multitouch", because it would lead him to have to talk about things his team are currently working on.
However, reiterating comments made in an earlier interview with Apple executives Phil Schiller and Craig Federighi, Ive said that incorporating the Touch Bar "is the beginning of a very interesting direction" for the Mac. Rumors have circulated recently that Apple is considering introducing a customizable e-ink keyboard in future Macs, possibly next year, although the veracity of these claims remains unclear.
You can read CNET's full interview with Jony Ive here.
The contextual OLED Touch Bar replacing the function keys on the new Macs was developed for at least two years, during which time Ive's team explored the idea of larger, haptic-rich trackpads. According to Ive, "a number of designs" were explored that "conceptually make sense", but were later rejected.
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.Ive explained that his team's point of departure was to see if there was a way of designing a new input that could be contextually specific and adaptable, yet also something that was mechanical and fixed. This required the development of a "difficult prototype" with a mature software environment, in order to work out if the idea had any real-world traction.
One of the things that remains quite a big challenge for us is that you have to prototype to a sufficiently sophisticated level to really figure out whether you’re considering the idea, or whether what you’re really doing is evaluating how effective a prototype is.Ive said that after testing the designs, his team were unanimously "very compelled" by the Touch Bar as a viable input device, but that the real challenge was to integrate it into a specific product without compromising its existing design.
You sort of change your hat, because you have to figure out how do you then productize it, and develop the idea, and resolve and refine to make it applicable to a specific product. To do that in the context of the MacBook Pro — while at the same time you’re trying to make it thinner, lighter and more powerful — the last thing you want to do is burden it with an input direction that now has a whole bunch of challenges specific to something like touch.Asked if the Mac community's expectations and emotional ties to their devices affects his design considerations, Ive emphasized that his team "don't limit ourselves in how we will push – if it's to a better place", although "what we won't do is just do something different that's no better".
Apple has published detailed design guidelines on how developers should use the Touch Bar, steering them away from use cases that would suggest it functions as a second display. When pushed, Ive refused to elaborate on why Apple "doesn't think a touchscreen is a particularly useful or appropriate application of multitouch", because it would lead him to have to talk about things his team are currently working on.
However, reiterating comments made in an earlier interview with Apple executives Phil Schiller and Craig Federighi, Ive said that incorporating the Touch Bar "is the beginning of a very interesting direction" for the Mac. Rumors have circulated recently that Apple is considering introducing a customizable e-ink keyboard in future Macs, possibly next year, although the veracity of these claims remains unclear.
You can read CNET's full interview with Jony Ive here.
Related Roundup: MacBook Pro
Buyer's Guide: MacBook Pro (Buy Now)
[ 616 comments ]
Top Rated Comments
(View all)
36 months ago
Try saying that to my mom who's so used to the iPad now that she keeps touching the MacBook Pro's screen when dad shows her a picture from a new email, and she tries to pinch to zoom and swipe to check for more pictures.
36 months ago
I find the idea of a touchscreen on a laptop, not particularly useful...to be polite. I am sure there are people who like it. I am not one of them. I don't want to have fingerprints, dirt, etc on the screen. I want it to be as clear as possible without having to clean it 10 times a day. Also, fingers are just too fat to replace a mouse cursor and they block the view.
36 months ago
Laptops with touchscreens are extremely useful. Ask any Surface Book or any other touchscreen laptop owner.
If I can find one, I'll be sure to ask.
36 months ago
I tried using a friend's touchscreen laptop. After about 3 minutes, my wrist started to hurt. It's not even a matter of aesthetic or design; it just hurts.
36 months ago
Isn't that what the larger trackpad is for? You can do things like pinch to zoom and other multitouch gestures that are also done on touchscreens. To be honest I prefer doing all that stuff on my trackpad than on my screen.
36 months ago
Laptops with touchscreens are extremely useful. Ask any Surface Book or any other touchscreen laptop owner. None of them would ever go back to a laptop without touchscreen. And a touchscreen is a hell of a lot more useful than a Touch Bar.
36 months ago
I'd like to see these prototypes.
The touch bar seems like it's a bit of a gimmick. I can't see it increasing workflows.
The touch bar seems like it's a bit of a gimmick. I can't see it increasing workflows.
36 months ago
A touch screen on OSX in it's current form, meh.
Touch Bar, meh meh meh.
A fictional MBP with a detachable screen & pen support, a touch screen would be great.
Unfortunately, Apple is sticking to old paradigms until at least 2019.
That Schiller moment of "innovate my ass" is looking increasingly embarrassing now, doubly so given the state of the Mac Pro.
Sad times.
Touch Bar, meh meh meh.
A fictional MBP with a detachable screen & pen support, a touch screen would be great.
Unfortunately, Apple is sticking to old paradigms until at least 2019.
That Schiller moment of "innovate my ass" is looking increasingly embarrassing now, doubly so given the state of the Mac Pro.
Sad times.
[ Read All Comments ]
After a busy few weeks of news and rumors, things slowed down a little bit this week, but there were still some major stories worth highlighting. Those include our first hands-on look at dummy models...
For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Reolink to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win an Argus 2 wire-free rechargeable home camera and a solar panel for charging it up outdoors.
...
Apple Music has renamed its "The A-List: Hip-Hop" playlist to "Rap Life."
Ebro Darden, global editorial head of hip-hop and R&B at Apple Music, will host a companion...
Samsung is believed to be Apple's exclusive supplier of OLED displays for iPhones, but it may have company soon.
In a research note shared with MacRumors, Barclays analysts said fellow...
1Password has restored the option for customers who originally purchased its iOS app to create a local vault during setup, after users queued up online to voice their frustrations with the fact that...
Apple is planning to open an office in highly desired location in Vancouver, Canada reports Bloomberg. The company has leased space in a 24-story office building at 400 West Georgia owned by...
Elevation Lab, known for its line of popular iPhone charging docks, today released the FamilyCharger, a multi-charging setup designed to allow you to charge all of your devices in one place.
The...
Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming macOS Catalina update to its public beta testing group, two weeks after seeding the second public beta and a day after seeding the fourth developer...
