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Comment by madushan92 | Hacker News Reader

I don’t really understand the value of a touch screen on a laptop. Specially for a Software Developer. It is easier and quicker to move your hand (while typing) to the touch pad rather than to the display. I think TouchBar (which is underrated) makes sense because in that case you don’t need to move your hand up, it just is there along with the keyboard. Plus I really don’t like those huge touch-optimised buttons on Windows. A laptop is meant to be used with a mouse pointer which is much much more precise than a finger, hence allowing macOS to display smaller buttons maximising screen realestate.

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It's just faster for some things. I would have agreed with you before getting one, but now I find myself using it all the time, I don't notice until I touch someone elses screen and nothing happens.

It's fantastic for pretty much any kind of design work. Even you're a software developer building UIs and web interfaces and such. Also great for kids (who generally have less developed motor skills.)

What kind of design work? I don't understand how something laggier than a pencil/pen and less precise than a mouse can be useful. I actually hated doing design work because of the hours of incredibly precise mouse movements required.

It has to be a big help when developing a phone or tablet app.

The only time I've actually like having a touch screen is when reading. I commonly hold my laptop near the hinge and being able to swipe on the screen to scroll is fun. Otherwise I don't think I've actually ever used a touch screen for any other kind of input.

When running Digital Audio Workstations like FL Studio, having a touch screen is invaluable. Being able to manipulate knobs, sliders, and buttons using natural movements is much more conducive to creativity.

Eh touchscreens are just barely better than using a mouse cursor for knobs and sliders in my opinion. I still have to look at the touchscreen know what I'm doing, which kills the creative process for me.

A touch screen on MacOS would make sense if you're an iOS developer. You could quickly test touch interactions directly in the iOS Simulator without having to send the app to a phone or tablet.

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