With Apple’s particularly staunch stance against touchscreens on laptops, it is unlikely at least for the present moment that we’ll be seeing any development over the current touch strip on its laptops.
However, as always the case with Apple products, you can practically gamble on there being third-party options.
Old Macbook Air Gets Touchscreen Capabilities Thanks to Airbar
The product which is getting the touchscreen treatment is the aging 13-inch MacBook Air. The sole accessory required is the $99 magnetic Airbar strip, which attaches at the bottom of the display.
The Airbar then sprays invisible light over the display of the computer which senses any movements over the display, using its own patented “zForce AIR technology”.
The Airbar also requires a USB Type-A port for connection, which is all the more reason for it being relegated to the aging MacBook Air for the time being.
Upon activation, it can detect hand gestures, swipes, scrolling, pinch-to-zoom and the like. Users using gloves can make use of it, too.
It is highly unlikely that the Airbar will be useful for anything more than casual work, as light-sensitive solutions such as this are hardly ever too accurate. Also, it is always recommended to wait for the final version as the best we’ve seen of the Airbar yet is in the form of a solitary promotional video.
Anyhow, if the idea excites you, be sure that the final version will retail this March for a price tag of $99. A similar bit of hardware for 15.6-inch laptops can be had for $69 as of now.
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