Advanced Multitouch Trackpad 'Unique to MacBook Air'

[MattJessop]

As far as I'm aware, it's actually that the current MB and MBP trackpads can't pick up 2 points of data at the same time, only the one?. The reason Apple got around this is possibly that OS X ignores one point should another be placed on the trackpad.

This shows with two finger scrolling. You don't actually need to scroll with two fingers. Just need to put two fingers on the trackpad and scroll with one.

This would probably explain why there's new hardware in the Macbook Air. Otherwise we may have seen it trickle back down into the current gen Macbooks after a year or so.

 

[SolRayz]

You would think that a software update would give us these MBA trackpad features, but after some thought I don't see this as possible. Our current trackpad can sense two independent touches simultaneiously however, lateral scrolling or pinching of the of the finger touches would seemingly require hardware sensors to detect this movement. I'm just not sure that this would be possible without some convoluted software that would try to simulate this movement and lacking precision in the process.

 

[slffl]

I think everyone has become to accustom to having un-released features already in their Apple product. I think it's pretty sad that there's a story about how a feature of a new product is only available on that new product and not on 1-2 year old products.

 

[Small White Car]

I call shenanigans on Apples part.

I hapen to believe it's the hardware. The "my laptop recognizes 2 fingers" argument is totally bogus. My ATM screen recognizes my finger too...do you think ANY amount of software could make it as accurate as a laptop track-pad? Although 2 technologies may be similar, it doesn't mean they can do the exact same things.

Just because your laptop know that there ARE 2 fingers doesn't mean it can track them both smoothly enough and with enough detail to do the things the MBAir does. The current MB and MB Pro don't do ANYTHING with the 2 fingers besides toggle modes on and off. (scrolling on/off, right-click on/off) I've seen nothing that shows that it can actually keep track of both fingers and offer multi-touch ability. As far as I can tell it just "sees" 2 fingers as one big fat finger and knows to treat that differently than a regular finger.

Now, of course it's POSSIBLE the ability is there and someone will figure it out...my point is just that we've seen zero evidence of this. Saying "I bet it's possible" is really no more than a wild guess.

 

[iSlave]

'Unique to MacBook Air'

Yeah, we know this. I thought this article was going to tell us something new? At no point does it say that this feature won't be integrated into MB or MBP.

Surely, Apple's track record suggests that they will introduce a new feature in a new (and expensive) product first (MBA, iPhone, and the first Intel Macbook Pros), and then cascade those features to the less expensive models (i.e. iPod touch, Intel Macbooks and iMacs) over time?

 

[tjwett]

this also adds some special value to the MBA, which really needs all the help it can get right now to get people excited enough to part with their $1799.

 

[koobcamuk]

I had my first opportunity to see an MBA this week, and I have to say that I wasn't wowed by it. I've always been sceptical about it, but thought that seeing one would if nothing else make me think it was an attractive object. Unfortunately not. To me it doesn't look sleek or sexy or any of those things. It's almost reminiscent of the clamshell. The edges of the screen are too rounded and too wide. The track pad is not immediately appealing in its functions either. Zooming in and out on a webpage was clunky and awkward. And I see more advantages for Apple taking away the optical drive than for the consumer - i.e. more downloads from iTunes less physical media. It's all a bit unnecessary to my mind and the problems I have sharing folders over a network between my PowerBook and iMac make me very sceptical of the remote disk functionality. In contrast the iPhone and iPod Touch I am very excited about, they carve out a new, exciting and very functional direction.

Nicely said.

I also wondered what the deal was with the keyboard being black? It looks awful.

 

[OS X Dude]

How about a Multi-Touch Mighty Mouse???

 

[EagerDragon]

Punitive math.

They've reduced the functionality of the bluetooth keyboard by eliminating the number pad. (All my InDesign shortcuts are accessed via the number pad.)

So, I want them to make it up to me by offering a new toy. Of course, as I said in post #12, they won't. But I can pout like a two year old.

See?

Not sure why you say that they need to make it up to you.
You knew there was no number pad before you purchased the keyboard. Also you can get a previous version in eBay that has the numeric pad.

 

[HLdan]

I think everyone has become to accustom to having un-released features already in their Apple product. I think it's pretty sad that there's a story about how a feature of a new product is only available on that new product and not on 1-2 year old products.

If that's the way you feel then you understand nothing about business. Adding the latest features to older hardware especially 1-2 years old in the computer world is not good business for the company.

All any company should be obligated to do is support the system for security updates and system improvement. Multi-touch is a feature not a system improvement and if Apple added it to older hardware it reduces the incentive to buy new hardware.
Isn't this the same thing that happens when Intel comes out with a new processor (namely Penryn), it encourages people to buy new hardware.

 

[twoodcc]

as long as they put this in the future macbooks and macbook pros, then i think people will be happy.

 

[pine1045]

Apple Discontinues MacBook Pro J/K

But they might as well, since it has been completely ignored for almost 8 months now (a 2.6GHz and 250GB HD option do not count as updates, even this site says so). Everyone is waiting on pins and needles for it and it's just not gonna happen. We haven't heard anymore rumors about the event at the end of the month and if it does happen, it probably will only be for the iPhone SDK. We're holding our breaths for nothing. Time to switch?

p.s. I hope I am proven wrong and all of you ram it in my face.

 

[forafireescape]

Sad day. I was hoping....

 

[Yaboze]

I'd be surprised if the new MBP's or MB's (refreshes later on) will get this, Apple wants the MBA to be unique.

This is disappointing though, although I wouldn't wait 6 months or more (if I was buying now) just for that.

 

[foobarbaz]

10.5 brought 2-finger-scroll support to older iBooks and Powerbooks. It could happen.

Nope. Actually it brought 2-finger secondary click to iBooks and Powerbooks that already had 2-finger scrolling.

 

[arjunm]

I had my first opportunity to see an MBA this week, and I have to say that I wasn't wowed by it. I've always been sceptical about it, but thought that seeing one would if nothing else make me think it was an attractive object. Unfortunately not. To me it doesn't look sleek or sexy or any of those things. It's almost reminiscent of the clamshell. The edges of the screen are too rounded and too wide. The track pad is not immediately appealing in its functions either. Zooming in and out on a webpage was clunky and awkward. And I see more advantages for Apple taking away the optical drive than for the consumer - i.e. more downloads from iTunes less physical media. It's all a bit unnecessary to my mind and the problems I have sharing folders over a network between my PowerBook and iMac make me very sceptical of the remote disk functionality. In contrast the iPhone and iPod Touch I am very excited about, they carve out a new, exciting and very functional direction.

I beg to differ. I've spent a good week with this machine now and must say that I absolutely love it. It's really light-weight, which is a big deal to a lot of people. Besides that, your "clunky zooming" wasn't zooming at all. It was changing the font size in Safari (Press Command + or - ). I can't live without "the swipe" in Safari anymore, I notice it when I try swiping in Firefox.

The fact that I already download all my music from iTunes, use Software that I buy and download online and watch video via BitTorrent (Which is still legal here in Switzerland), I think I'm very happy to have a less cluttered, cleaner, leaner computing experience.

The MBAir isn't for everyone, it's aiming at a target niche that's not the type to surf Macrumors.com

 

[DMC-12]

I don't know about this. I still think that similar gestures could be added to MB and MBP via software, at least the pinching feature. On the iPhone and iPod touch, you don't actually need to pinch outward or inward to make the zooming happen. You only need to have one finger at a point on the screen while moving another finger toward or away from the first. My MBP can sense the two finger scrolling simply by having one finger moving up/down/left/right away from one finger placed on the trackpad.

 

[rezonat0r]

current MB and MBP trackpads can't pick up 2 points of data at the same time, only the one.

This shows with two finger scrolling. You don't actually need to scroll with two fingers. Just need to put two fingers on the trackpad and scroll with one.

Nice one. Hadn't noticed this before.

 

[DMC-12]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I could make a similar argument about the iPhone/iPod touch screen. In my experience, pinching does not have to be rendered by actually moving two fingers away or toward each other, only by moving a single finger in relation to another-- just like two-finger scrolling.

 

[skeep5]

I just noticed yesterday that on my 15" MBP 2.0 ghz, I was able to "pinch" and "reverse-pinch" in Google Maps just like I do on my iPhone...

That freaked me out, i tried it and it seemed to work, but i believe it is just the two finger scroll.

 

[jnc]

I call shenanigans on Apples part. My PowerBook can detect 2-finger movements in all directions, as the little article snippet said, so why can't a small piece of software be written to allow for later-model iBook and PowerBook owners to enjoy the same gestures?

Because, dear lamina, if possible - such a software update would certainly not encourage you to buy a newer model, thus it would not bring any new money to Apple - unless they charged for it, which I'm sure everyone would hate too

 

[andrewdale]

"MacBook Air features the most advanced trackpad we've ever made, integrating the multi-touch technology from the iPhone. This integrated feature is unique to MacBook Air."

'Unique to MacBook Air'

Yeah, we know this. I thought this article was going to tell us something new? At no point does it say that this feature won't be integrated into MB or MBP.

I totally agree there. The first thing I noticed is that Apple states that it "is unique to the MacBook Air." Well, duh. Right now, it is.

Maybe that's reading too much into it, but they never stated that it "will be" unique.

 

[ntrigue]

I understand there exists a desire to have 'the newest' and 'the best'; however, I am not impressed with the Air's touchpad. Actually, I am disappointed.

This is a silly gimmick and although I appreciate it as laying the foundation for something greater; this rudimentary touchpad is something few will ever use. Give me the capability to spin a photo on its access in 1 degree increments or drag it somewhere else in the CS3 window but the implementation that I experienced at the Apple Store was laughable. Safari page forward/page back? I've had that on my mouse for 10 years.

 

[asdavis10]

How about a Multi-Touch Mighty Mouse???

That's what I'm talking about. Or maybe a USB or wireless trackpad with multi-touch that you could use with any of the Mac desktops. It could be used with or in replace of your mouse. Now that would be sweet. As far as the unique statement, of course its unique to the Air. But it doesn't mean that its not coming to the new laptop models.

 

[Freyqq]

the quote seems to imply that presently it is only in the macbook air...which is true. It does not imply that future models may include it. Honestly, it would be silly for apple if they didn't add this feature. It's purely a software thing and they've already designed the software.