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mattoruu

macrumors 6502
Oct 25, 2014
329
723
I know they did, but how can someone even use such a small screen with a keyboard...
My answer is: quite easily. The 11” MacBook Air was my primary computer for a number of years. I got a ton done on that little machine traveling all over Tokyo and Kanagawa every workday. That 11” MacBook Air was criminally-underrated. Legitimately one of the best devices Apple every made (in terms of a combination of functionality, portability, and affordability).
 

ChrisChaval

macrumors 6502a
Aug 30, 2016
678
581
Milan, Italy
I’m surprised Apple hasn’t released one yet. Yes a non touch iPad. How do you use it? Buttons on the sides and on the back. So would you buy one? I believe there’s a market for it.
hmm I am not sure ...

but an iPad without a screen would be an instant buy for me
 

mattoruu

macrumors 6502
Oct 25, 2014
329
723
hmm I am not sure ...

but an iPad without a screen would be an instant buy for me
I know you were joking, of course, but THAT would be a product that certain people definitely would buy (for a decent amount of money). A (no screen) ‘Apple Drawing Tablet‘.
 

HawkTheHusky1902

macrumors 6502a
Jun 26, 2023
666
491
Berlin, Germany
I own both a 11.6 MacBook air and a 12in MacBook and the screen size is absolutely fine. Not a device you want to use for split screen, but not everyone needs to do that (or will simply use a second monitor for that (or an iPad on the go as second monitor).
Having said that, my main on the go device is now a Thinkpad Nano, which has a 13in (not 13.3) screen on a body that is the same weight as my 12in MacBook and has cellular too.
However I'd absolutely buy a 2 pounds MacBook with Apple Silicon, especially if it has cellular. You no longer even need to have the screen under 13/12.5in since you can just make it with smaller bezels nowadays...
You know that you can just buy a 4g usb stick from Amazon and plug it into any computer and you get cellular, right?
 

Digitalguy

macrumors 601
Apr 15, 2019
4,643
4,469
You know that you can just buy a 4g usb stick from Amazon and plug it into any computer and you get cellular, right?
I used to do that 15 years ago, and it is much less convenient than built-in cellular. Having a dongle always sticking from your laptop, having to start a third party app to use it etc. Also I don't even know if they make USB C cellular dongles...
 

Arctic Moose

macrumors 68000
Jun 22, 2017
1,599
2,133
Gothenburg, Sweden
You need something even smaller than the 13 inch m1 mba???
Absolutely. I have an M2 MBA, and it is far from as portable as it could be.

My favorite laptop to date is the 11" MBA. (Just after the 12" PowerBook G4, which was amazing for its time.)

If Apple could do that with Intel processors 13 years ago, just think what they could do with Apple Silicon now.
 
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curnalpanic

macrumors 6502a
Mar 26, 2008
517
668
go:teborg
I’m surprised Apple hasn’t released one yet. Yes a non touch iPad. How do you use it? Buttons on the sides and on the back. So would you buy one? I believe there’s a market for it.
What's even the point of such a device? Would you rather not just have the touchscreen?
 

Krypton Deer

macrumors regular
Nov 2, 2019
142
316
Yes a non touch iPad. How do you use it? Buttons on the sides and on the back.
I know you're kidding, but I think Apple is courageous to release an iPad with no buttons and no touch screen. The press release would be similar to AM Voice. :D

iPad Voice
iPad and Siri are natural partners and already work seamlessly together...With Siri actively used on hundreds of millions of devices worldwide, we are thrilled to release this new device that delivers an effortless iPad experience just by using your voice and makes iPad accessible to even more people around the world.
 

canuckRus

macrumors 6502a
May 18, 2014
966
358
I know you're kidding, but I think Apple is courageous to release an iPad with no buttons and no touch screen. The press release would be similar to AM Voice. :D

iPad Voice
iPad and Siri are natural partners and already work seamlessly together...With Siri actively used on hundreds of millions of devices worldwide, we are thrilled to release this new device that delivers an effortless iPad experience just by using your voice and makes iPad accessible to even more people around the world.
A device dependant solely on Siri = spendthrifts'.
 

mattoruu

macrumors 6502
Oct 25, 2014
329
723
I know you're kidding, but I think Apple is courageous to release an iPad with no buttons and no touch screen. The press release would be similar to AM Voice. :D

iPad Voice
iPad and Siri are natural partners and already work seamlessly together...With Siri actively used on hundreds of millions of devices worldwide, we are thrilled to release this new device that delivers an effortless iPad experience just by using your voice and makes iPad accessible to even more people around the world.
I mean… an Apple device with no touch screen and no buttons (though I think it technically has at least one) that uses Siri for voice input would be Apple Vision Pro.

All the joke replies in this thread are (somewhat) describing real Apple products. Lol
 

sracer

macrumors G4
Apr 9, 2010
10,405
13,290
where hip is spoken
I just received the Logitech Combo Touch case for my 9th gen iPad. I'm a huge fan of the Apple Smart Keyboard cover, but this thing is extremely nice. The trackpad (with a few tweaks in settings) makes this combo feel like the makings of that hypothetical Apple device to compete with chromebooks.

So yes, if Apple were to produce essentially an iPad in a netbook clamshell case (something along the lines of the old 11" MBA) with or without touch, I think I might buy one if the price were right.

(Note: my comment about competing with chromebooks is in the general sense... obviously there would need to be a few tweaks to iPad OS to better position this mythical device to compete)
 

floral

macrumors 65816
Jan 12, 2023
1,011
1,234
Earth
It feels very weird that the vast majority of people who use iPad as a professional device exclusively use a keyboard and mouse, ignoring the touch aspect... and yet an iPad that removes that not-used functionality for that wide demographic is apparently unthinkable?

I personally use touch for my iPad, but I can see a lot of people willing to part with the "touch" part of the iPad for a significant discount (e.g. 100-200$ less for non-touch variant). It would of course still have a visible screen, just no touch.
 

arc of the universe

macrumors 6502
Jan 11, 2023
295
365
for me, the question isn't if i want a non-touch interface iPad.

what i want is an iOS device that has a much better non-touch interface then it has now.
apple has improved its iOS keyboards immensely to be sure.

but none of the iPad keyboards give the same general purpose positioning range as a clamshell macbook has.

apple has always had excellent hinges on its laptops.
work that requires a lot of keyboard character input needs a physical keyboard.
i would imagine that the next keyboard improvement iteration for iPads has a detachable keyboard that can duplicate the viewing angles and user sitting preferences for users. desk. chair. bed.

then i can stop using a mac laptop and have one consistent OS across all devices.
although apple has made macOS more like iOS, its largely cosmetic.
iOS has become apple's best operating system.
its time to maximise its effectiveness across all working environments.
 

DeepSix

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 4, 2022
844
932
Was talking to a friend about this same thing and he said his entire family would immediately throw out their current iPads (or run them over with his truck) for non touch ones when Apple does come out with a non touch iPad line. He believes non touch iPads would sell like hotcakes.
 
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Reactions: Digitalguy

TSE

macrumors 601
Jun 25, 2007
4,031
3,546
St. Paul, Minnesota
Was talking to a friend about this same thing and he said his entire family would immediately throw out their current iPads (or run them over with his truck) for non touch ones when Apple does come out with a non touch iPad line. He believes non touch iPads would sell like hotcakes.

My step dads third cousin also said a non-touch iPad is brilliant. Bring, it, on!
 
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