Apple announced its new 2021 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models earlier this month. The new MacBook Pros come with a notch in the display. However, despite having a notch in the display, the MacBook Pro doesn’t support Face ID authentication. This is due to the lack of the Face ID array in the notch, which houses only the camera sensor, ambient light sensor, and microphone. This drew a lot of criticism from tech reviewers and enthusiasts in general. Now, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern, Apple executives have addressed the question on why the Macs lack Face ID and touchscreen support.
When asked about why Macs lack Face ID, Apple’s vice president of iPad and Mac product marketing, Tom Boger, said that Mac users are more handy with the keyboard and “Touch ID is more convenient.”
“And Face ID? When I stare at the laptop’s giant notch, I wonder why I can’t unlock the machine with my face. Mr. Boger said Touch ID is more convenient on a laptop since your hands are already on the keyboard.”
And, when asked about touch support on the Mac, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, John Ternus, said that having a touch-enabled Mac would kill iPad sales. He believes that Apple makes “the world’s best touch computer on an iPad.” “And the Mac is totally optimized for indirect input. We haven’t really felt a reason to change that.”
Commenting on the removal of Touch Bar from the 2021 MacBook Pro, Apple executives said that the company is simply “listening to its customers.” “With this new lineup of MacBook Pros we decided to make some changes as we do a lot on the Mac.”
Though mostly boring answers, it appears that Apple is not willing to bring Face ID or touch support to the Mac anytime soon. If you’re willing to read the whole interview, you can do it by clicking the link down below!
