Apple’s touchscreen MacBooks through the lens of product thinking
According to the latest reporting by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple are considering adding touchscreens to their Mac computers.
Back in 2010, Steve Jobs was famously dead against the idea, saying:
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.
It gives great demo but after a short period of time, you start to fatigue and after an extended period of time, your arm wants to fall off. it doesn’t work, it’s ergonomically terrible.
Yet today, touchscreens are a staple feature on many rival laptops. As a MacBook user I don’t long for a touchscreen, but then again I can’t help noticing the number of times Windows-using friends and colleagues have tried to unsuccessfully interact with my laptop by stabbing at the screen.
The three big product risks
One of today’s best product thinkers, Marty Cagan has long talked about the the three main types of risks of any new product or feature.
- Value risk: whether customers will buy it or users will choose to use it.
- Usability risk: whether users can figure out how to use it.
- Feasibility risk: whether our engineers can build what we need with the time, skills and technology we have.
Looking at existing Windows-based touchscreen laptops, it’s fairly clear these risks have been mitigated. Windows customers do choose touchscreens, they’ve figured out how to use them (enough so that they continually poke at my Macbook screen) and Apple clearly have the engineering chops to build such a feature, given their expertise with iPads and iPhones.
Ok, so Apple should definitely add touchscreens to MacBooks, case closed! 🎉🎉🎉
Business viability risk
But wait, I almost forgot! There was a fourth risk that Marty Cagan added to his list in a more recent article:
Business viability risk: whether this solution also works for the various aspects of our business.
What are the Jobs-to-be-Done for Macbooks and iPads? I would say that, in general, MacBooks are great for doing & working, whilst iPads are great for consuming & creating.
A MacBook’s keyboard and pointer-based precision allow for multiple windows, complex 2D & 3D design and video & photo editing. iPad’s touchscreen (and Pencil) allows for reading, surfing, watching TV, illustrating and note-taking.
But here’s the thing, if MacBooks have touchscreens, what does that mean for how Apple position their device lineup?
Suddenly it’s a bit more blurred. And confusing.
What’s the touchscreen for? Who is it for?
Maybe for a younger generation, so used to touch-based phones that they just don’t understand why a screen wouldn’t react to their finger.
The key risk here is that the clarity of Apple’s value proposition gets lost and customers struggle to figure out what they need. Then again, Apple are masters at positioning and messaging so I’m sure they’ll figure this out.
It will be fascinating to watch!
