Not that I believe for a second that Apple will actually make a 2-in-1 convertible.
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Not that I believe for a second that Apple will actually make a 2-in-1 convertible.
If you buy something from a link, The Verge may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.
It looks like the long-rumored touchscreen MacBook might actually get announced next week , and after using the Lenovo Yoga 9n for our testing of Nvidia’s RTX Spark platform, it got me thinking: this is a lot of what I want from a touchscreen MacBook.
Like the Apple silicon in modern MacBook Pros, RTX Spark is an Arm-based processor with a beefy integrated GPU and lots of unified memory. And the Yoga is the most fun RTX Spark laptop so far because it’s a 16-inch 2-in-1 convertible with a stylus . Its Nvidia-powered compatriots also have touchscreens, like most Windows laptops, but they’re conventional clamshell designs.
The Lenovo Yoga does all your typical 2-in-1 stuff: it can be used as a clamshell laptop, and it can fold its hinge all the way back for tent mode and tablet modes. As a tablet, you can use it in either landscape or portrait orientation, and getting the keyboard out of the way is great for watching movies, playing games with a controller, or integrating your laptop into a multi-monitor desk setup with keyboard and mouse.
The Yoga 9n’s included stylus works for note-taking and drawing on its excellent OLED display, but you can also use it on the haptic trackpad for a Wacom-like experience, without blocking the screen with your hand. And the stylus is magnetic, allowing it to attach to the Yoga’s lid — either on its own, or while housed in its case. I particularly enjoy using the Yoga’s stylus for photo retouching in Lightroom Classic or Photoshop. I haven’t used a stylus for that kind of work in ages, since I gave up my old Wacom, but having one that works on either the screen or the trackpad is incredibly convenient
I expect a touchscreen MacBook Pro would have Apple Pencil support. And like on the Lenovo, it would go a long way to get me back to using a stylus for retouching. But I hope that also like the Lenovo, it works on the trackpad too — the more options, the better. And if a touch-enabled MacBook supports the Apple Pencil (which it should ), I’m also hoping it attaches to the laptop, both for convenience and for wireless charging, as on the iPad Pro. Lenovo’s stylus relies on USB-C charging, which is fine, but not as convenient as always having it charged and ready to go while attached to your laptop.
I don’t expect Apple to make a standard convertible laptop after all this time. Simply joining Windows manufacturers in making a 2-in-1 or swapping the MacBook Pro’s Mini LED for a touchscreen OLED and calling it a day doesn’t seem very Apple. I’m hoping for something special, like Apple’s own take on the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio — a clever idea that brought the touchscreen forward instead of flipping it backwards — or something totally fresh. And there are hints in macOS 27 that Apple is updating to Golden Gate to make touch functions feel more natural than just poking and prodding at things designed for a mouse cursor. As fun as I find 2-in-1 Windows laptops and Chromebooks, using those desktop operating systems with a finger or a stylus can get clunky.
My hopes are high for Apple to wow us, because this MacBook Pro with touch is sure to be expensive. And Apple’s recent design decisions aren’t faultless. The HomeView’s lack of apps is perplexing. The iPhone Duo is a little messy. Current MacBooks are so great, it’s easy to forget the butterfly keyboard fiasco wasn’t all that long ago. After all this time of holding out on adding a touchscreen to the MacBook, Apple has to make it worth it.
Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge
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