Apple
is studying the incorporation of a
touch screen in some models of its
MacBook
laptop
, something that completely breaks with the design line devised by
Steve Jobs
and his right-hand man and the company's chief designer for many years,
Jonathan Ive
.
According to data revealed by Mark Gurman, the renowned
Bloomberg
journalist specializing in anticipating technology decisions, the
development of Mac models with a touch screen will soon be a reality
.
If confirmed, the Bloomberg leak would amount to nothing short of a
betrayal of the memory of Steve Jobs
, who
always refused to imagine touchscreen Macs
.
The founder of Apple considered that the tactile experience had no place in his line of computers.
For this mode of use, he created the iPad tablet
.
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, with a MacBook.
Photo: AFP.
What Jobs raised years ago had the approval of Tim Cook some time later.
The company's current CEO declared in 2012 that
combining the experience of a tablet with that of a laptop
was like "combining a toaster with a refrigerator."
It seems that the passing of the years and the evolution of market trends made Cook change his mind.
The future of Apple depends on the evolution of his products and designs and it is likely that the CEO considers that it is time to
turn around the development of his devices
.
According to information from Bloomberg, a team of company engineers is focused on developing touchscreen Macs.
However, although everything indicates that Gurman will be right once again with his predictions, the apple company has not confirmed anything about it so far.
For now, Apple could try its luck integrating a touch screen into its laptops to further increase Mac sales in recent times, generating more revenue than iPad sales.
It is also likely that the technology company is looking for ways to
maintain the popularity of its popular computers
and redesigning its functions could be key.
Apple has already decided that macOS gradually incorporate features of mobile operating systems, such as those popularized by the iPhone, and what happened with the MacBook Pro.
According to Gurman's theories, the current model would maintain the Mac design that we already know, the only difference being the incorporation of a touch screen and a support.
Apple shares in free fall
Apple fell below $2 trillion for the first time.
(Photo: Reuters)
The year for the Cupertino technology giant began far from what was expected.
The firm that produces the Mac and the iPhone saw its shares fall by 3.74%, which left the company, for the first time since August 2020, with
a market valuation of less than US$ 2 trillion
.
The company even reached a value of US$ 3 billion a year ago, which means that
in 12 months it lost a third of its value
.
The losses are not only due to the general collapses in the stock markets due to the economic slowdown and the higher interest rates -2022 was the worst year for Wall Street since the financial crisis of 2008- but also Apple suffered in recent months delays in its cell phone factories in China due to coronavirus rebounds in that country, which led banks and market analysts to reduce their sales prospects.
The specialist newspaper Nikkei Asia reported that the company has asked several of its suppliers to
reduce orders for components
for AirPods, Apple Watch and MacBooks, due to lower demand.
This led to the losses recorded, to which was added a downward review of its shares by the BNP Paribas bank.
"Apple was always seen as a safe stock and when people generally throw in the towel, that's when they sell Apple," Matt Maley, a market strategist at Miller Tabak, told Bloomberg.
However, other analysts put a floor to the collapse, pointing out that factories in China are already operating at 90% capacity, and that much of the lost sales will be recovered in the second quarter of this year.
Until last December -month in which its price fell 12%-, Apple shares used to perform better than the rest of the technology companies in the face of the large dividends it granted, and the belief that the loyalty of its consumers to its products would shield it from a recession in the economy.
Apple was the only company left in the world worth more than $2 trillion.
Microsoft reached that mark, too, but fell below it last year.
With information from La Vanguardia.
SL
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