Apple executives have revealed that the company believes Touch ID is more convenient than Face ID on the new MacBook Pro (2021), and that Apple has never seen the need to put a touchscreen on any of its best MacBooks.
Speaking to Joanna Stern at The Wall Street Journal Tom Boger, VP of iPad and Mac product marketing, and John Ternus, SVP of hardware engineering talked about both issues. From the report:
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.
On touchscreens, Ternus told Stern that Apple makes the world’s best touch computer with iPad, and that it was totally optimized for touch input. Whereas the Mac is totally optimized for indirect input and that “we haven’t really felt a reason to change that.”
The pair also addressed the lack of upgradeable RAM in the new MacBook Pro, pointing out as expected that the Mac’s unified architecture of the M1 Pro and M1 Max is what enables its high-performance levels. Apple also hinted at some of its decisions to bring back features like MagSafe charging, the SD card slot, and an HDMI port saying Apple was “constantly listening to our customers” and “decided to make some changes” with the new Mac.
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