Dear Aunt TUAW: Could we see a MacBook touch?

Dear Aunt TUAW,

So is this year that we see the MacBook touch? What do you think is going to debut this fall?

Your loving nephew,

Mark S.

Dear Mark,

Auntie is already deciding on specs for her MacBook touch, even though she recognizes how utterly remote the likelihood is of Apple going in that direction. She does not encourage you to hold your breath on that account.

That being said, Auntie envisions 11" and 13" models that work with and without a keypad/trackpad accessory. Because Auntie likes speculating.

She especially likes the idea of dual-mode boot to pick the OS, allowing the unit to flip between iPad and OS X. With Bootcamp, her MacBook touch might even run Linux and Windows -- because she finds it particularly hilarious to think that the first successful touch Windows and touch Linux might be running on Apple hardware. Mind you, there's already been a Linux-on-iPhone/Android-on-iPhone thing going on for a few years via planetbeing.

In Auntie's dreams, this delicious technical concoction would have a starting price for 64 GB model around $999.

So why the touch? Why take a perfectly successful line of laptops and touch-ize them? Especially when no one wants to use vertical screens. Auntie isn't thinking about the office; she's dreaming of the road.

If you've ever spent long periods of time using LogMeIn/iTeleport/etc on the iPad, you'll get the "why" of all this: because work does matter and while the iPad does cross the boundary between lightweight computing and serious work, it does so under protest. Moving OS X to a tablet form factor with Mac software running on it can be a big win for corporate computing. The iPad has proved how useful that is. OS X adds more power.

In the end, Auntie's summary is this: Longshot, certainly. Realm of possibility, totally. Likelihood, don't hold your breath.

But Auntie can dream, can't she?

Hugs,

Auntie T.

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Dear Aunt TUAW, So is this year that we see the MacBook touch? What do you think is going to debut this fall? Your loving...

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Brian Flores

Hasn't Steve Jobs already chimed in on this? Didn't he say that touch gestures would be incorporated into the MacBooks' touchpads? I swear there's a video of him talking about how the touch paradigm wouldn't work in a laptop or desktop because of the ergonomics.

August 30 2011 at 1:00 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Paul

I like the idea of the dual screen, with one being the touch/keyboard and the other being the display.
They have bluetooth keyboards for the iPad.
Now why doesn't someone come up with an app that would make your iPad a blue tooth keyboard and multiple gesture pad for you Mac? Then people can play/test it. DEVELOPERS GET TO WORK !

August 29 2011 at 10:10 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Paul's comment

bestbuymacman

they have infinite versions of that app on the app store.

August 29 2011 at 10:43 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

MadLogik

The computer should be able to "alt-tab" between MacOS and iOS... maybee a dedicated switch...
I want my macbook touch ever since I saw those overpriced axiotron modbook's !

August 29 2011 at 6:31 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

mikehild

I was actually talking about something similar with someone a couple days ago. About the only way I can envision using a touch-screen in a non-iOS-device setup would be some sort of laptop. But what I had in mind was more of where primarily the keyboard half of the laptop would be the touch screen. So, a laptop with what would function as both a virtual keyboard and multitouch trackpad. I was thinking about the displays and workstations on Star Trek:TNG, where the main display just displayed stuff, and they interacted it with they virtual keyboard down below that would reconfigure itself based on what you were doing.

And for an added touch, maybe OSX for these machines would include some sort of iOS emulator, that would use the multitouch display as if it were an iPad?

August 29 2011 at 5:11 PM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down Reply

Ryan C

I think this idea is wonderful. I sometimes think my macbook air is an iPad. it would in a sense be a dual screen tablet. If Apple does it they are going to get it right. People want customization. They want it to be theirs. A physical keyboard has too many physical limitations with individual buttons of a certain size. Many people have disabilities that would cater to a keyboard that can be resized or rearranged. A fully customized keyboard fit to that persons specs is what everybody would want. Buttons for specific apps, or websites you visit frequently. Everybody wants the optimus keyboard but doesnt have the dough to shell out on a keyboard that costs a grand. Plus the dual boot is a great idea. Pick your platform it'll run. I would love to have enough storage to have iOS, Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux. But this is all just a dream. It would fit into the new mac product line they are looking for.

August 29 2011 at 4:46 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply