Laptop screens that respond to fingers have long promised more than they usually deliver, and a recent reader poll from GSMArena suggests the crowd has settled on a clear verdict: touch earns its keep when the machine can fold or detach into a tablet, and otherwise it tends to sit unused. The question is an old one in the story of personal computing, where each generation of makers has tried to merge the flat desk tool with the handheld slate. Here the commentary turns outward to the big platform owners, Apple, Google and Microsoft, arguing that each has yet to make its software feel at home o
Touchscreen Laptops Only Make Sense If They Double as Tablets, Reader Poll Finds
Touch earns its place when the laptop can also be a tablet.
Mark
So what did readers actually say about touchscreens on laptops?
Mimi
The biggest group said they make sense when the laptop can double as a tablet, through a 360° hinge or a detachable screen.
Mark
And the people who don't want one?
Mimi
They were the second-largest bloc. Their concern is mostly cost, not paying extra for something they won't use.
Luke
Worth saying up front: this is a reader poll on a tech site, not a survey of buyers. It tells us about these readers.
Mark
What about people who use touch on regular laptops?
Mimi
Nearly a quarter of voters, though most use it only occasionally. Just over 9% use it constantly.
Mark
Why does the piece single out Apple?
Mimi
The author thinks a touch MacBook was a good idea in the wrong shape. macOS can run iPadOS apps, so a folding hinge would have suited those apps.
Luke
That's the author's opinion, and it's framed as one. Nothing in the poll tests it.
Mark
And the Windows and Google remarks?
Mimi
The author says Windows tablet usability has been messy since Windows 8 in 2012, and that Android doesn't yet work well as a laptop OS.
Luke
Again, those are judgments, and the niche prediction is a forecast, not a finding. The poll doesn't give exact percentages for the largest groups either.
The Pulse
- A reader poll has tilted toward a simple verdict: touchscreens make sense only when a laptop can flip or detach into a tablet.
- Roughly a quarter of respondents touch their fixed laptop screens, yet most do so only now and then, and just over 9% touch constantly.
- The author faults Apple for choosing a touch MacBook form factor that leaves users reaching across the desk toward an upright display.
- Google's Android-powered Googlebook effort and Microsoft's long-troubled Windows tablet mode both face the same struggle to fit software to touch.
- The forecast is a niche future for touch laptops, with the poll reflecting reader opinion rather than a broad market survey.
Laptop screens that respond to fingers have long promised more than they usually deliver, and a recent reader poll from GSMArena suggests the crowd has settled on a clear verdict: touch earns its keep when the machine can fold or detach into a tablet, and otherwise it tends to sit unused. The question is an old one in the story of personal computing, where each generation of makers has tried to merge the flat desk tool with the handheld slate. Here the commentary turns outward to the big platform owners, Apple, Google and Microsoft, arguing that each has yet to make its software feel at home on hardware that asks for a finger. The likely outcome, in this telling, is that touch-enabled laptops remain a niche choice for some time to come.
The verdict from GSMArena's latest weekly reader poll is fairly clear: a touchscreen on a laptop earns its place when the laptop can also be a tablet. That means a 360° hinge that folds the screen back, or a display that detaches from the keyboard. Outside those designs, readers were far less convinced.
The largest group backed the tablet-capable answer, citing quick navigation and real value for artists, designers and developers. A second group saw no need at all and worried about paying extra for an unused feature. A third, nearly a quarter of voters, uses touch on fixed laptops, though most do so only occasionally. Just over 9% touch the screen constantly.
The author goes further than the numbers. Apple, he argues, was right to add touch to the MacBook but chose the wrong shape, since a touch MacBook with a hinge could have run iPad apps natively. Google's Android-powered Googlebook and its existing ChromeOS line both draw criticism, and Windows gets the harshest review, still struggling to be usable as a tablet more than a decade after Windows 8.
The conclusion is that touch laptops will likely remain niche, with each company still struggling to match its software to its hardware. The poll reflects what these readers think, not a measure of what buyers overall want.
The verdict from GSMArena's latest weekly reader poll is fairly clear: a touchscreen on a laptop earns its place when the laptop can also be a tablet. That means a 360° hinge that folds the screen back on itself, or a display that detaches from the keyboard altogether. Outside those designs, readers were far less convinced.
The poll asked whether touchscreens on laptops make sense, and the largest bloc of voters landed on that tablet-capable answer. Commenters who backed touch gave practical reasons. A touchscreen makes navigation quick and easy, especially for people who dislike using a touchpad. They also pointed to clear uses for artists, designers and developers.
The second-largest group wanted nothing to do with it. These voters have no need for a touchscreen on a laptop, and their main worry is paying extra for a feature they will never use. GSMArena's write-up calls that a perfectly understandable position.
A third group does use touch on laptops that cannot turn into tablets. They make up nearly a quarter of voters, but most of them admitted they touch the screen only occasionally. The smallest group, at just over 9% of the vote, uses the touchscreen constantly.
The article is an opinion piece, and the author goes beyond the numbers, starting with Apple. The company, the author argues, was right to launch a touch-enabled MacBook but picked the wrong form factor. Because macOS can run iPadOS apps natively, a MacBook with a 360° hinge would have had a wealth of apps built for touch. Reaching a finger across a desk to use an iPad app on an upright screen, the author says, is not going to be a popular use case.
The author then turns to other platforms. Google recently launched the Googlebook project, a line of Android-powered laptops. Android is a touch-native operating system, but from what has been shown so far, the author says, it does not make a great laptop OS. Google also has ChromeOS for laptops, which the author calls confusing next to the new effort.
Windows gets the harshest assessment. Microsoft has been trying to make the Windows interface usable on a tablet since Windows 8, which launched in 2012, and the author says it is still a mess.
The conclusion follows from all of this. Chances are, the author writes, that touch-enabled laptops will remain a niche product, with Apple, Google and Microsoft each still struggling to match their software to the hardware. The poll is a reader sample rather than a market study, so it shows what these readers think, not what buyers overall want.
Notable Quotes
Chances are that touch-enabled laptops will remain a niche product.— GSMArena author
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