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Apple explains why it hasn’t added a touchscreen or Face ID to the Mac

behnamoh 5y ago
>> We make the world’s best touch computer on an iPad. Except that iOS is still a joke when it comes to real productivity applications. Apple could easily offer a more advanced iPadOS but right now they just offer an iPad with so much potential running an OS that's meant for smartphones.
- HatchedLake721 5y ago
  Just because iPads could run MacOS, Kubernetes, Docker or whatnot, doesn't mean it should. I never understood developers and engineers complaining about iPads. This device is not made for you. MacBooks are. There's a reason why Apple is a 1 trillion company, why they make the best tablets for a decade and why every other company before has miserably failed. And one of those reasons is not shoving their devices with stuff "just because they could", but playing it smart and with an end goal of what kind of device it will be and who it'll serve. Professional developers are not one of them.
  - WastingMyTime89 5y ago
    Let’s not pretend Apple is doing it for the good of their customers. They don’t want to cannibalise their own product lines. It makes sense from a business point of view but is terrible from a user one. Obviously the iPad could serve professionals. The surface has shown that. It’s not even about developer. I personally would love an iPad Pro with the full version of PowerPoint. I have a MacBook Air and the iPad Pro could basically do the same things. Of course if Apple gave me the product I want I wouldn’t have had to buy the iPad I use when I want to show things to customers.
    - skydhash 5y ago
      Powerpoint is a Microsoft product. A better comparison would be Keynote
      - WastingMyTime89 5y ago
        The point is that there is a full version of PowerPoint for OSX but not for iOS. Keynote is not a good exemple because Apple could release a full version for iOS if they wanted but nobody uses Keynote anyway while PowerPoint and Excel are unavoidable for a lot of professionals.
    - behnamoh 5y ago
      Agreed. And let's also consider the fact that much of Apple's success is due to the failure of other competitors (Google, Samsung, Microsoft, etc.) in offering products that don't suck.
      - HatchedLake721 5y ago
        Please don’t tell me you’re serious :’o
- hnburnsy 5y ago
  What's a computer? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zfR_Jj4grZE https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zfR_Jj4grZE. [Apple 2017]
schwartzworld 5y ago
My phone has face ID and it worked great, until I started having to wear a mask all the time. Considering we wear masks in the office now, having Face ID on my computer would be completely pointless.
- vineyardmike 5y ago
  > Considering we wear masks in the office now I think many people haven't returned to the office yet. Almost no one I know on the west coast has been returning to office. Most offices weren't even open. Where do you work?
  - Jcowell 5y ago
    Many people in NY have returned to the office.
  - WastingMyTime89 5y ago
    People in Canada and Europe have been back to the office at least partially for a long time now.
  - schwartzworld 5y ago
    I work in Boston. The office is optional, but going to be mandatory 3 days a week in January. Right now it's empty most days so I have been going in with select teammates 2 days a week. Sometimes more if I need to focus on a task. I love the office while it's optional, but I'm not sure how I'm going to feel once we go mandatory and it is crowded more often.
- notyourwork 5y ago
  Recently downgraded to a backup iPhone due to hardware issues with my primary. This older iPhone has a Touch ID button, I love how I can unlock with unmasking awkwardly to show my face.
mthoms 5y ago
>Tom Boger, Apple’s VP of Mac and iPad product marketing, said in the interview that “Touch ID is more convenient on a laptop since your hands are already on the keyboard.” Will someone please tell Tom that, by the same token, your face is typically "already" in front of the laptop you're using. I don't know what their end game is here, but there is almost certainly more to this decision than they are letting on. This is classic Apple.
- Slow_Hand 5y ago
  But what if you don't want to inadvertently activate your computer? Perhaps you don't want your monitor to display sensitive information by accident. I could see facial recognition being very inconvenient on an appliance that will be oriented towards your face all of the time.
  - Jtsummers 5y ago
    Create an optional "click here or use some gesture to actually remove the lock screen" feature. On iOS, the device unlocks with FaceID but does not open until you swipe. Then the only issue would be if someone else had the device and pointed it at you to unlock it and then opened it up. Same issue with TouchID, though, as both are single factor authentication techniques (what you are). Though on iOS (and iPadOS and macOS) Face/TouchID both require you to enter a PIN/password/passphrase before unlocking depending on the system state (fresh from a reboot, too long, other conditions).
  - mthoms 5y ago
    Then... turn it off? I'm not sure if this is typical of Windows laptops but my girlfriends' HP has both types of sensors.
  - quitit 5y ago
    This is a key factor: bringing the phone to your face is the confirmatory action that validates that you intend to use the device. Its narrow field of view means the authentication only works in deliberate scenarios. Meanwhile the laptop is usually just sitting there, so switching to faceid will require some confirmatory action by the user, that’s adding a step which isn’t currently there. Other scenarios come to mind: say someone else is using your computer and faceid is doing its thing. Or what about the creep factor: plenty of people put privacy covers on their laptop’s camera but not their phone. I’m sure this type of person might be a bit put off by the idea of not being able to cover it. I think a lot of the curiosity about faceid’s absence on laptops would disappear if people tested it for themselves.

>> We make the world’s best touch computer on an iPad. Except that iOS is still a joke when it comes to real productivity applications. Apple could easily offer a more advanced iPadOS but right now they just offer an iPad with so much potential running an OS that's meant for smartphones.

HatchedLake721 5y ago
Just because iPads could run MacOS, Kubernetes, Docker or whatnot, doesn't mean it should. I never understood developers and engineers complaining about iPads. This device is not made for you. MacBooks are. There's a reason why Apple is a 1 trillion company, why they make the best tablets for a decade and why every other company before has miserably failed. And one of those reasons is not shoving their devices with stuff "just because they could", but playing it smart and with an end goal of what kind of device it will be and who it'll serve. Professional developers are not one of them.
- WastingMyTime89 5y ago
  Let’s not pretend Apple is doing it for the good of their customers. They don’t want to cannibalise their own product lines. It makes sense from a business point of view but is terrible from a user one. Obviously the iPad could serve professionals. The surface has shown that. It’s not even about developer. I personally would love an iPad Pro with the full version of PowerPoint. I have a MacBook Air and the iPad Pro could basically do the same things. Of course if Apple gave me the product I want I wouldn’t have had to buy the iPad I use when I want to show things to customers.
  - skydhash 5y ago
    Powerpoint is a Microsoft product. A better comparison would be Keynote
    - WastingMyTime89 5y ago
      The point is that there is a full version of PowerPoint for OSX but not for iOS. Keynote is not a good exemple because Apple could release a full version for iOS if they wanted but nobody uses Keynote anyway while PowerPoint and Excel are unavoidable for a lot of professionals.
  - behnamoh 5y ago
    Agreed. And let's also consider the fact that much of Apple's success is due to the failure of other competitors (Google, Samsung, Microsoft, etc.) in offering products that don't suck.
    - HatchedLake721 5y ago
      Please don’t tell me you’re serious :’o
hnburnsy 5y ago
What's a computer? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zfR_Jj4grZE https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zfR_Jj4grZE. [Apple 2017]

schwartzworld 5y ago

My phone has face ID and it worked great, until I started having to wear a mask all the time. Considering we wear masks in the office now, having Face ID on my computer would be completely pointless.

vineyardmike 5y ago
> Considering we wear masks in the office now I think many people haven't returned to the office yet. Almost no one I know on the west coast has been returning to office. Most offices weren't even open. Where do you work?
- Jcowell 5y ago
  Many people in NY have returned to the office.
- WastingMyTime89 5y ago
  People in Canada and Europe have been back to the office at least partially for a long time now.
- schwartzworld 5y ago
  I work in Boston. The office is optional, but going to be mandatory 3 days a week in January. Right now it's empty most days so I have been going in with select teammates 2 days a week. Sometimes more if I need to focus on a task. I love the office while it's optional, but I'm not sure how I'm going to feel once we go mandatory and it is crowded more often.
notyourwork 5y ago
Recently downgraded to a backup iPhone due to hardware issues with my primary. This older iPhone has a Touch ID button, I love how I can unlock with unmasking awkwardly to show my face.

mthoms 5y ago

>Tom Boger, Apple’s VP of Mac and iPad product marketing, said in the interview that “Touch ID is more convenient on a laptop since your hands are already on the keyboard.” Will someone please tell Tom that, by the same token, your face is typically "already" in front of the laptop you're using. I don't know what their end game is here, but there is almost certainly more to this decision than they are letting on. This is classic Apple.

Slow_Hand 5y ago
But what if you don't want to inadvertently activate your computer? Perhaps you don't want your monitor to display sensitive information by accident. I could see facial recognition being very inconvenient on an appliance that will be oriented towards your face all of the time.
- Jtsummers 5y ago
  Create an optional "click here or use some gesture to actually remove the lock screen" feature. On iOS, the device unlocks with FaceID but does not open until you swipe. Then the only issue would be if someone else had the device and pointed it at you to unlock it and then opened it up. Same issue with TouchID, though, as both are single factor authentication techniques (what you are). Though on iOS (and iPadOS and macOS) Face/TouchID both require you to enter a PIN/password/passphrase before unlocking depending on the system state (fresh from a reboot, too long, other conditions).
- mthoms 5y ago
  Then... turn it off? I'm not sure if this is typical of Windows laptops but my girlfriends' HP has both types of sensors.
- quitit 5y ago
  This is a key factor: bringing the phone to your face is the confirmatory action that validates that you intend to use the device. Its narrow field of view means the authentication only works in deliberate scenarios. Meanwhile the laptop is usually just sitting there, so switching to faceid will require some confirmatory action by the user, that’s adding a step which isn’t currently there. Other scenarios come to mind: say someone else is using your computer and faceid is doing its thing. Or what about the creep factor: plenty of people put privacy covers on their laptop’s camera but not their phone. I’m sure this type of person might be a bit put off by the idea of not being able to cover it. I think a lot of the curiosity about faceid’s absence on laptops would disappear if people tested it for themselves.