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Advanced Multitouch Trackpad 'Unique to MacBook Air'

Yes, it is unique to the MacBook Air now because the new MacBook Pros are not out yet. Of course they will have it too. All Macs will. They will come out with a new mouse for the desktops too. Wait and see :) This is all going to slowly be added in to get people use to it and with 10.6 we will see some serious Multi-Touch going on. Then windows will have theirs out 2 years later in Windows 7 with lots of trouble trying to get hardware to implement it after Apple has had it in their mobile devices and computers for almost 5 years LOL :D
 
Freyqq said:
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.
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How many times does it have to be stated? The multitouch trackpad is not purely a software thing. We have the take-apart of the Air to confirm this. The Air has the same multitouch chip in it that the iPhone has.
No software update will ever make this chip appear in older notebooks.
 
I don't think it's possible to incorporate this into existing MBs/MBPs with a software update like a lot of people on these forums believe. From the MBA disassembly pictures, they have the chip used in the iPhone/iTouch. If the trackpad technology available on current MB/MBP models was able to perform the multi-touch gestures of the MBA, Apple wouldn't have needed to include the iPhone chip in there. So either the chip is required for the multi-touch gestures, or Apple just likes to randomly include unnecessary pieces in their computers (which wouldn't make sense for the MBA seeing as they were trying to make it as light as possible). But I agree that it'd be foolish for them not to include it in their next revisions of their laptop lineup.
 
For those that have used the Air, is the trackpad still laggy like it is on the current MBPs?

Switching from my MBP to my old Dell Inspiron 7500 (with a synaptics touchpad), the difference is noticeable. Perhaps its the USB interface that the MBPs use vs. the more "direct" PS/2 interface of the Dell, but the mac touchpad is definitely at least several ms behind the ancient Dell. Took me a long time to get used to the difference.
 
robgreene said:
Why does "unique" have to mean "we only plan to offer it on this platform?" Why can't "unique" mean "it can only currently be found on this platform?" Seems like a pretty large assumption to say that because it's unique to MacBook Air, it won't find its way into the other MacBooks in future revisions.
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For the same reason that the external superdrive only works with the MBA.
 
iPie said:
For the same reason that the external superdrive only works with the MBA.
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But that's only because it requires an over-powered usb port to run, which is currently only found on MBA. Nothing's stopping apple from adding such usb ports on other models in the future, but seeing as how they already have optical drives, there's no need.

On the other hand, programming the multitouch gestures into OSX for only one model (MBA) seems like a poor use of a very promising technology IMO. Apple wouldn't miss the boat to use multitouch gestures as a selling point for future MBs/MBPs.
 
MacFly123 said:
Yes, it is unique to the MacBook Air now because the new MacBook Pros are not out yet. Of course they will have it too. All Macs will. They will come out with a new mouse for the desktops too. Wait and see :) This is all going to slowly be added in to get people use to it and with 10.6 we will see some serious Multi-Touch going on. Then windows will have theirs out 2 years later in Windows 7 with lots of trouble trying to get hardware to implement it after Apple has had it in their mobile devices and computers for almost 5 years LOL :D
Click to expand...

They may have it in the future but a statement like this from Apple indicates that it will be a ways off and not in the Penryn speed bump that so many in these forums are waiting for.

Apple will not in any way shape or form complete with the MBA in the short term -- even across professional lines such as the MacBook and MacBook Pro.
 
Everyone who thinks this:
lamina said:
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?

The trackpad can detect multi-fingered movements in any direction. Its too bad Apple has patented the junk out of the multitouch gestures, else I'm sure we'd see software to make these same abilities possible on later PowerBooks and iBooks. Of course, the iBook and 12- and 15- inch PowerBook trackpads are too small to do this comfortably. My 17" PowerBook has a huge trackpad, the same size as current MacBook and MacBook pros, but I'm not sure about the size of the one on the Air.
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Should read this:
Darth.Titan said:
How many times does it have to be stated? The multitouch trackpad is not purely a software thing. We have the take-apart of the Air to confirm this. The Air has the same multitouch chip in it that the iPhone has.
No software update will ever make this chip appear in older notebooks.
Click to expand...

Smartest thing said in thread (other than above):
OS X Dude said:
How about a Multi-Touch Mighty Mouse???
:D
Click to expand...
*bump*
 
All i know is. the next MacBook Pro had better be a show stopper, and not some childish update to the processors. I expect a redesign and a multi touch trackpad like the MBA's to be used with Aperture 2.0.

Apple didn't disappoint me that much with Aperture 2, so I am hoping that they don't disappoint me that much with their next professional laptop.
 
Why wouldn't they add the functionality?!

Not adding the new trackpad functionality wouldn't make sense to me. Yeah, right now it is a unique feature to the MacBook Air, but I'm not going to buy a MacBook Air because it has one unique feature. If the trackpad were on a Macbook Pro it would just be more incentive for me to purchase a new one.
 
its seems pretty obvious that apple are only referring to the current situaiton,

they are saying there will be no software updates on existing models... ie macbookpro and macbook




its likely that there will be an incorporation of the new technology in future models though


and of course apple are working on a mouse with a touch surface, they showed the patent drawings... there was also a touch screen surface that lit up when touched...
 
dante@sisna.com said:
They may have it in the future but a statement like this from Apple indicates that it will be a ways off and not in the Penryn speed bump that so many in these forums are waiting for.

Apple will not in any way shape or form complete with the MBA in the short term -- even across professional lines such as the MacBook and MacBook Pro.
Click to expand...

Guess we will see :)
 
OS X Dude said:
How about a Multi-Touch Mighty Mouse???
:D
Click to expand...

After the rest of the notebooks get the Multi-Touch Track Pad it will be on the way shortly for sure :) Can't wait :D Now can we get the new Cinema Displays FOR CRYING OUT LOUD :rolleyes:

amacisbetter said:
Not adding the new trackpad functionality wouldn't make sense to me. Yeah, right now it is a unique feature to the MacBook Air, but I'm not going to buy a MacBook Air because it has one unique feature. If the trackpad were on a Macbook Pro it would just be more incentive for me to purchase a new one.
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Exactly. The MacBook Air has it's own demographic, and a much smaller one than the MacBook Pro. They will add it to the next MacBook Pro for sure, then the MacBook in its next revision, and from there with a new mouse to the desktops. I think this should be pretty obvious people.
 
I wont cry myself to sleep. The ONLY useful feature was the swipe, which would be kind of nice for browsing the web. I use cmd+[<-] for going back anyways if Im using a crappy mouse at school like the mightymouse, so swipe isnt such a major substitute to that method on a laptop where your fingers are right next to the keys.

The pinch and rotate crap is just plain stupid. If coverflow wasnt such garbage then pinching might be kind of nice to resize the window, but coverflow is terrible and unuseable in Finder. As long as you can still do 2finger scroll then I dont see this is a bad thing. The MBA can keep its pointless gimmicks, it wont add any value to the other laptops.
 
MacRumors said:


Yesterday, T3.co.uk published a story based on statements from Apple that existing MacBook and MacBook Pro owners might see expanded multitouch trackpad capabilites through a software-only update. The statement, however, was inaccurate and resulted in T3.co.uk pulling the original article.

Apple later clarified to T3.co.uk that the new Multitouch Trackpad is indeed unique to the Air, implying that existing Apple notebook owners should not expect to see these features added:This also correlates with disassembly photos that revealed the MacBook Air incorporates the same multitouch controller as the iPhone, which is not found in previous Apple notebooks.

While existing Apple notebooks, however, do have some multitouch capabilities (two finger scroll, secondary click), Apple introduced 3 new gestures (swipe, pinch/expand, rotate) in the MacBook Air. Apple, of course, is rumored to be adding the new advanced multitouch trackpad to future Macbooks and MacBook Pros.

Article Link
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I think this is referring to the current time. We'll see the enhanced feature on macbooks in the future. I'm sure of it.
 
EagerDragon said:
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.
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Who said I bought one? :rolleyes:

What's relevant to this thread is that I'd like to see a multi-touch graphics tablet with some serious Photoshop integration. I'd pay money for that. Either as a peripheral in the next year for my current MBP, or incorporated into the next big thing.

I'm also being facetious in that I'd take it as compensation for eliminating another practical peripheral. (My current extended BT keyboard is just fine, but the virginal snow whiteness isn't going to last forever.)

Sorry if that confused you.
 
stainlessliquid said:
The MBA can keep its pointless gimmicks, it wont add any value to the other laptops.
Click to expand...

Who says swipe, pinch and rotate are going to be the only gestures? I bet we'll see Apple providing developers with tools to support custom gestures. Basically like a backport of the multitouch library from the iPhone SDK to Xcode.
 
I'm not surprised at all by this. If you ask me those who expected to be given this feature to existing technology were somewhat naive. Apple want you to buy this new technology (personally the MacBook Air doesn't impress me) so their gonna hold back releasing this to other devices for a while yet...and when they do release it for other devices I'd imagine it'll only be available on new models so that you go out and buy those models should you want this feature.

It's business!
 
Digital Skunk said:
All i know is. the next MacBook Pro had better be a show stopper, and not some childish update to the processors.
Click to expand...

From the "Early" in "Early 2008" Mac Pros, isn't it a good guess that both Macbooks and MBPs will get 3 refreshes this year?
1 to get the chips up to Penryn, and the second come June to update to Montevina, then a speed bump later in the fall (after new iPod/iPhone ranges for back to school /Japan launch) which will incorporate

So where do the chips fall?We've got the Centrino platform of Sa nta Rosa, with it's successor being Montevina launched in May. So what's stopping Apple from doing a chip bump now, then holding off till Montevina?

Oh and yes -T3 is being sensationalist as Darth.Titan points out:
1) The multitouch trackpad is not purely a software thing. So no software update will ever make this chip appear in older notebooks.
2) It's only unique as the MBP (which outranks the Air in terms of professionality so to speak) hasn't been refreshed with it yet.
I wouldn't be shocked if they threw the Amultitouch trackpad in on the next release with Penryns, then you have the Montevina, then a chip bump by Christmas.
Tick tock release peeps.
 
Apple will never add multi-touch to older macbooks. Period. Not even for a fee. Not even through an OS update.

Apple's history is that new models get the new features, not the older ones. New MacBooks (Pro or otherwise) are coming. They will be thinner and use the new trackpad. The only question is when.
 
t0mat0 said:
From the "Early" in "Early 2008" Mac Pros, isn't it a good guess that both Macbooks and MBPs will get 3 refreshes this year?
Click to expand...

We didn't get "early" "mid" and "late" MacBook Pros in 2007, and certainly not Mac Pros, so heck knows what would make you assume that. All that is denoted by the Early-Mid-Late tags is what point in the year the model in question came out, eg Late 2006 MacBook Pro vs Mid 2007 MacBook Pro.

By the way things are looking, we may not even be seeing an "Early 2008" MacBook Pro. If they're not ready to go and for sale within the next few weeks, maybe :apple: just won't produce a newer model until Montevina... otherwise the product cycle will be very short between the two udpates.
 
buying macbook air

would any of you advise me to buy the macbook air? is it a wothwhile instalment for a primary pc? i am soon to join a management institute in which all students require a notebook. i saw the air and was completely amazed by it.reading ur posts i find its not too impressive. do explain if i should go ahead and buy it or not.
 
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