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Recent years have brought new growth and innovation to the Mac thanks to Apple Silicon. But there are still several limitations that the Mac has compared to its potential. Fortunately, two such annoyances sound like they’re on their way to finally being put to rest.
Since the troubles of the 2010s ended and Apple Silicon debuted, the Mac has hit a good pace. Apple regularly releases new Mac designs and chips, and macOS can keep up with iOS updates better than ever.
There are still some outliers, but it looks like Apple plans to fix at least some of them soon.
In recent days we’ve received two exciting reports about the Mac:
Both changes will probably not become visible until 2026 or even 2027.
But if they do, they’ll solve my two biggest complaints about the Mac right now.
I should mention up front that the M4 iPad Pro is my primary computer.
I’ve long preferred the iPad over the Mac for several reasons, including the iPad’s historic lead in Apple’s hardware and software investments.
A simple example of this advantage is Face ID. The feature launched on the iPhone in 2017, and the iPad Pro got it a year later in 2018.
I use my iPad Pro with a Magic Keyboard basically 24/7. And I have to say that Face ID works quite well when there’s a screen pointed at your face all day. It would be perfect for the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac and even the Studio Display.
But seven years later, there’s still no Face ID for the Mac.
I feel the same way about mobile and the notch.
The iPad has had mobile support for the entire 14 years of its life. But for some reason, Apple never brought cellular telephony to the Mac. I thought this might fix this limitation when Apple Silicon Macs arrived, but years later I’m still waiting.
I like to work on the go often, and using hotspot with my iPhone just isn’t reliable enough. In addition, it drains my iPhone’s battery faster. Mobile functionality on my iPad Pro is a plus.
MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros with Notch aren’t much of a complaint for me, but they are still very annoying. Not because the notch is a big deal, but because my iPad Pro has never had one.
I understand that the iPad has larger bezels to support users holding it, but the presence of the notch on the Mac still makes it feel like outdated technology to me.
If Apple had to add a notch to the Mac, why didn’t it release something more modern like the iPhone 14 Pro Pill and Dynamic Island? The iPhone’s flagship dropped the classic notch two years ago, and it’s never been on the iPad, but it’s still the Mac’s defining visual feature.
Somehow I haven’t mentioned touch yet. Macs with touchscreens are reportedly in the worksbut who knows if they will ever actually hit the market.
The reason for my omission is that I personally prefer a cell phone and a Mac without a notch over a Mac with a touchscreen. I think it would be great if the Mac supported touch, but I don’t expect to use it much. However, I suspect that for many users, touch support will be high on their wish list.
What do you think of these Mac limitations? Are you happy that they are changing? Let us know in the comments.
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