One of my pet thing about using aMacBook Prois thetrackpad gesture . For years , I ’ve been able to lift through different window , open Command Center or Launchpad , and check notifications while scarce moving my mitt at all .
Most Windows laptops I strain have an substandard overall trackpad experience , but like most thing in technical school , that has n’t lasted for long . I ’ve recently been render theAsus Zenbook S 14 — power by Intel ’s latestLunar Lake CPU — and one of my favourite features is the way Asus has approached the trackpad . It ’s quickly changing my opinion of Windows laptops as a whole .
No , they have n’t copied all the gestures from the MacBook . Instead , they ’ve come near it from the perspective of allow you control three omnipresent toggles without needing to reach for the clitoris on the keyboard . As it become out , this is extremely saucy . In fact , I sleep with this lineament and wish that Apple would bring it to the Mac .
Why I like the Asus Zenbook S 14 trackpad
The Asus ZenBook S 14 has three gestures on the trackpad , and they ’re easy name thanks to the pricker that ’s included on the trackpad out of the corner . hook up or down on the left side of the trackpad to control the volume and on the correct side to moderate the exhibit brightness . Swipe leave or correct at the top to jump through music playback .
Asus has taken an graceful and simplistic approach to gestures that is quite refreshing . Unfortunately , the position of the trackpad means that you ’ll unwittingly change the brightness level of the display , but despite this inadvertent activeness , it ’s an passing utile feature when using your laptop as a medium thespian .
TheMacBook Procomes with a Magic TrackPad that supports a legion of gesture ( more on that below ) , but many of these are determined by Windows OS . The trackpad bear many of the same functions as the MacBook Pro , but beyond this , Asus has made it far easier to transfer toggles that users aline multiple times per twenty-four hour period . The result is a characteristic that I ’ve used far more than I expected to .
Beyond the gestures , the public presentation of the trackpad is just as solid as my Mac . Windows has a few render issues at time — something that also plagues the Mac but less ofttimes — but otherwise , the Asus Zenbook S 14 trackpad performs just as I ’d expect . Gestures are tranquil , particularly when surge in and out on a resource - intensive webpage , and par with the Mac in many ways . Windows trackpad gesture still confuse me as a Mac user , but the performance is superb .
What the Magic Trackpad gets right
Many of Apple ’s Magic Trackpad gestures are also present in some form on Windows , but they have unlike shortcut key . That say , there are a few gesture that are seemingly exclusive to the Mac . One of these is key : being capable to enter the notification center with a simple swipe . I ’m yet to get a solvent for Windows that ’s as visceral . you could supposedly swipe in from the rightfulness of the screen , but this seems to be for signature displays only and defeats the aim of a general trackpad gesture .
The Apple Magic Trackpad also offer Force Touch , allowing you to coerce - click and receive haptic feedback . It also allows you to quickly see up further entropy on a particular condition , or perform fast natural process from an app ’s image just by click a little harder . I ’ve loved this lineament since it debuted a 10 ago on the iPhone 6s , and I wish there were a similar feature on Windows .
The last feature I practice quite often is dual - tap with two fingers , which makes it very commodious to zoom in and out of a webpage or PDF . I ’ve found it particularly utile when you desire to zoom in , but Chrome or the website does n’t like it as it still seems to work . window lacks an easy alternative to this feature , and while it is n’t a dealbreaker , it seems like a aboveboard feature for a PC maker to follow through .
There are many other gesture that the Mac supports , but these are some of the key ace I ’ve found myself wanting on Windows . As I now retort to the Mac at my desk , I find that I miss the Asus Zenbook ’s gestures as well .
Why Apple should implement this on a Mac
For the most part , there ’s little reason not to and a lot of reasons to implement this . Apple ’s trackpad has proffer the same experience for geezerhood , and while the Touch Bar failed on MacBooks , I think a trackpad with these advanced gestures would act very well .
Crucially , Apple already uses a tumid enough trackpad to pull these gestures off as the extra space concentrate the chances of inadvertent mistouches . It also build into Apple ’s availability push and could even be put as such a feature film in the next genus Beta ofmacOS . More in all likelihood is a revamp trackpad that is then also sold one by one , mayhap as part of an upcoming switch to USB - C.
Most importantly , I want the trackpad gestures as they solve a very real trouble . We ’ve all used a laptop computer in bed only for the screenland to be far too bright and blind us . Being able to swipe on the trackpad to speedily commute the brightness is something you’re able to do with your eye closed ; find oneself the right-hand key on the keyboard is much harder .
Beyond just gestures
There ’s one other matter that Apple should adopt from the Zenbook S 14 : the ceraluminum designing . candidly put : It ’s matt , gorgeous , and make for the best - feel laptop I ’ve ever used . It turn out that “ design that you may feel ” is n’t just a tagline .
The matte finish in particular is useful , as it earn it far less probable to draw in fingerprints . It also makes it far more well-off to typecast while sit on the couch , as I ’m doing while writing this feature . As well as being matte , it does n’t feel “ cold ” like the MacBook does , and each machine has a unequalled pattern thanks to the blasting process .
All of these add up to make the ZenBook S 14 finger special , in a different way from the MacBook Pro . The latter is a urbane objet d’art of metal that houses modern technology , the former is a mat laptop computer with a unequaled identity element that feel highly special . In many way , it reminds me of how special theMacBook Pro 14did back in 2021 .
I ’ll be honest : It ’ll be hard to bring out myself to the full from my MacBook . But feature like the new trackpad gesture on the Zenbook S 14 really convinced me that conception is decidedly bump outside the boundaries of the Mac — and Apple could take note .
