Two things that many readers have asked me over the year is Will Apple ever make a touch screen MacBook? and Will Apple ever bring its App Store to the Mac?
MacBook Touch Screen
I think this will happen as the features between iPad and MacBook start to resemble each other more over time I think it’s inevitable. Apples WWDC is coming up and usually every year they have a large number of features and improvements for the iPad that make it more of a multipurpose device rather than just a tablet. I think Apple to keep up with the changing landscape of computer hardware will need to add a touchscreen to their entire laptop line of products, many computer manufacturers like Lenovo, Microsoft and HP are already offering touchscreen laptops. I think it’s just a matter of time for Apple to jump on board with a touchscreen on their computer but I do think we may get a touchscreen first on an iMac before a MacBook just so Apple can compete with Microsofts Surface Studio which has a large touchscreen display for artists.
App Store on MacOS
While Apple has started adding phone apps to MacOS they are only doing it with their own apps at this point. Apple has ported over Apple News, Stocks, Home, and Voice Memos to MacOS and soon we will have Apple Music, Apple TV, Podcasts, and Books on the Mac. Moving over Apples entire App Store over to MacOS I think will happen but it will take time as Apple wants to make sure it’s done right. Apple will need to let app developers know about this moving forward to give developers time to make proper changes to their apps in advance. This kind of announcement I would expect at WWDC this year or next year.
Apples Business Model
While we all want this new touchscreen hardware and the Mobile App Store ported over to MacOS you have to remember Apple needs to be careful when doing this they make 70 percent of their profit on iPhone and iPad hardware sales. Apple does and will not do anything that would jeopardize their iPhone and iPad business as it has been the core of the company. Apple hardware business has been incredibly profitable and has built their entire company for the last decade or more and they will not do anything to risk that business going forward. So as much as we want these features and they may happen it comes down to money in the end for Apple.