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IrelandSteve Jobs' touchscreen warning meets Apple's new MacBook Pro
The Verge pairs an old keynote objection with new hands-on footage, prompting viewers to debate when touching a laptop screen actually helps.
The Verge
Story of Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 717,263 views a day, 59 times a normal first day on this channel (12,159).
Steve Jobs on touchscreen MacBooks
Steve Jobs argues against vertical touchscreens while, directly below him, hands scroll through images and scrub a video-editing timeline on Apple's new touchscreen MacBook Pro.
That split-screen contrast is the whole premise of The Verge's Short, "Steve Jobs on touchscreen MacBooks." It has drawn about 368,000 views in eight hours, already far beyond the channel's usual first-day audience for Shorts.
The archival footage comes from Apple's 2010 keynote. "Touch surfaces don't want to be vertical. It doesn't work. It's ergonomically terrible," Jobs says. His objection is physical: reaching toward an upright display becomes tiring, whereas a horizontal touch surface lets the user's arms stay down.
The footage underneath, labeled "Apple (2026)," makes Apple's change of direction visible without needing a rebuttal. But demonstrating that a screen responds to touch is different from settling whether people will want to use it that way.
That's the practical question running through the comments. Several viewers recount owning touchscreen computers and forgetting the feature existed. Others describe specific uses: scrolling documents, navigating pictures, drawing, or using a convertible laptop as a tablet. The distinction is between touch replacing the mouse and touch being available for an occasional shortcut.
The Verge's separate hands-on Short is also drawing an unusually large audience. Its launch coverage includes John Ternus introducing the machine and a crowd cheering the return of the glowing Apple logo: another familiar piece of MacBook history appearing on the new hardware.
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What viewers say
My old work computer was a touch screen. I didn’t know until I was showing a coworker something and I accidentally touched the screen. I was like “cool”. Then I never used it again.
@MentalgymnasticsofficialSee it on YouTubeyeah, but touchscreen laptops are still laptops, meaning you can still navigate around using the track pad/mouse, and keyboard. you can touch the screen occasionally in a drawing app or a game or something.
@koob1413See it on YouTubeI have had a Surface Pro and use the touchscreen a lot. In fact when i have to use a non-touch screen, it is a pain
@scatton61See it on YouTube
5 more comments
In my life I've owned a couple of laptops and even desktops with touch screens. I used the touch screen functionality exactly 4 times. Not on each of them, but across all of those machines. Steve knew what he was talking about
@romanalexandrov2880See it on YouTubeI remember when touchscreen laptops were all the rage during the Windows 8 era. I'd use the touchscreen a couple of times, then forget my laptop even had it. There were situations where it was nice to have, especially on laptops that could fold into a tablet, but the UI still felt pretty bad since a lot of the buttons were clearly designed for mouse clicks rather than touch.
@shimataaSee it on YouTubeIf it has a 360 hinge and can be used with a stylus i can see its benefit. But i think this won't be a benefit for most
@junaidv672See it on YouTubeHe's right. I say this as a Surface Pro user. The touchscreen is useful for scrolling content, and fantastic when using it as a tablet. That's it
@sharpenednoodlesSee it on YouTubejust having it on a mac display as a bonus feature is really nice.
@movingaboveaverage6516See it on YouTube
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- Channel
- The Verge
- Subscribers
- 3,530,000 ▲ 10,000 this week
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 2,492,279
- Channel views, pace per day
- 125,908 (on a normal day: 685,788)
- Video published
- October 28, 2026
- Video views so far
- 367,602 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 717,263
The numbers
The Jobs comparison and the hands-on clip both ran well beyond The Verge's usual start for Shorts. The comparison's comments also exceeded a typical full day's turnout within its opening hours.
💡 Test your knowledge
In which year did Apple introduce the original Macintosh?
Apple introduced the original Macintosh in January 1984.