The first iPad Pro reviews are here, and as we said today, they focus on the new OLED displays. , M4 chip and limitations of iPadOS as a platform. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Apple marketing chief Tom Boger explained how the iPad is different from the Mac and raised the question of whether Apple might someday release a Mac with a touchscreen.
Boger, Apple's vice president of Mac and iPad product marketing, explained to Joanna Stern that Apple does not view the two devices as competitors. Instead, the idea is that Mac and iPad complement each other. The iPad serves as a “touch-enabled device.” while the Mac is designed for “indirect manipulation.”
“We don’t We consider them as competing devices. We see them as complementary devices,” Tom Boger, Apple's vice president of iPad and Mac product marketing, told me in an interview. According to him, the iPad “has always been a touch-enabled device,” while the Mac is designed for “indirect manipulation” – that is, using the keyboard, mouse and/or trackpad.
This naturally raises the question: will Apple ever release a Mac with a touchscreen? Joanna tried several times to get an answer – even a hint – from Boger:
He stayed hard: iPad is designed for touch, but Mac is not. “MacOS is designed for a completely different computing paradigm,” he said. He explained that many customers have both types of devices and see the iPad as a way to “extend” their Mac experience. He said Apple Continuity makes it easy to work across devices.
I asked Boger if Apple would ever change its mind about the touchscreen situation.
“Oh, I I'm not saying we'll never change our minds,” he said.
You can read Joanna's full review in The Wall Street Journal.
Touchscreen Mac: what do the rumors say?
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that Apple is actively developing computers Mac with touch screen. The company is reportedly planning to release a MacBook Pro with a touchscreen in 2025.
The updated MacBook Pro being tested internally by Apple retains a “traditional laptop design” that includes a standard trackpad and keyboard. The difference, of course, is that the screen will “support touch input and gestures – just like the iPhone and iPad.” Gurman reported this.
Should Apple release a MacBook Pro with a touchscreen? Share your opinion with us in the comments.
