A recently rediscovered video from 2010 shows the Apple founder explaining why he rejected the idea of putting a touch screen on a laptop. At the iPad’s launch event, Jobs didn’t hold back: “We’ve done tons of user testing on this, and it turns out it doesn’t work. Touch surfaces don’t want to be vertical. After a short period, you start to fatigue—and after a while, your arm wants to fall off. Ergonomically, it’s terrible.”
Sound familiar? It should. Back in 2007, Jobs mocked the idea of using a stylus with a phone, asking the crowd, “Yuck! Who wants a stylus?” Yet years later, Apple released the Apple Pencil—and it helped turn the iPad into a powerful creative tool.
Now, history may be repeating itself. According to well-known Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is preparing to launch its first MacBook Pro with a touchscreen OLED display as early as next year. The move suggests Apple has been closely watching how people use iPads—and believes touch could boost productivity on MacBooks, too.
Rumors of an iPad-MacBook hybrid have circulated for years. A touch-enabled MacBook would certainly fit that vision, potentially positioning Apple to compete in the popular 2-in-1 laptop market.
But the big question remains: What would Steve Jobs think today? His 2010 remarks made his position clear. Yet Apple has never been afraid to revisit old ideas—like the stylus—and reinvent them. The company finally brought macOS-style features to the iPad; maybe it’s time to bring a little iPad to the Mac.
Whether Jobs would approve is something we’ll never know. But if anyone can make a vertical touch interface feel natural, it might just be Apple.
