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MacBooks to Feature iPhone's Multi-Touch?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the don't-touch-me-there dept.

Gadgets Lover writes "According to CrunchGear's 'trusted source' that the upcoming MacBooks which are expected to be released around October will support the iPhone's multi-touch technology built into their touchpads. The feature will be built into the touchpads, allowing you to navigate through your notebook's files, applications, etc. the same way you can on the iPhone. (Yes, I know you can already scroll with them, that's nothing new. I'm talking about all the other finger gestures that can be done on the iPhone's screen) On June 20th, CrunchGear reported, "The upcoming MacBooks will be about half the thickness of current models (which would be quite the feat) and they'll be made from new plastics/materials"."

2 of 276 comments (clear)

  1. Re:I think this is just a software change! by Space+cowboy · · Score: 5, Informative
    Unless I'm being dense, none of the things you mention require multi-touch. They're just single-touch gesture detection routines. Looking at the author's website reveals that the only multi-touch support is two-finger or three-finger taps, and that this is not supported on all models.

    It's not clear from his site which models *do* implement true multi-touch, or even whether what he has done requires it. It could be a timing-related kludge if all it supports is taps and not drags. (ie: if I get 2 or 3 clicks within 5 ms, I'll assume the user did those simultaneously and send event X not event Y)

    The multi-touch touchpads on a Macbook(Pro) can scroll any window that has the mouse within its borders by:
    • pressing one finger onto the touchpad
    • *simultaneously* dragging a second finger up and down.
    That's multi-touch. And there's no reason why window-resizing or other manipulation couldn't be done...

    Simon.
    --
    Physicists get Hadrons!
  2. Multi-touch was hard to get right. by rolfwind · · Score: 5, Informative

    Several years back, Apple bought up a company that made multitouch keyboards and pads and employed the two professors who made it. It's not just software, the hardware is fundamentally different than single touch.

    http://www.fingerworks.com/

    Look under news:
    http://fingerfans.dreamhosters.com/forum/viewtopic .php?t=678