I agree that an actual volume slider would be useful, but I still doubt that there's a good way to present a row of buttons on a smooth flat surface in such a way that they can be touch-typed. Haptic feedback doesn't let you manipulate a typical phone app UI without looking at it.

I'm not a fan of haptics when physical keys are an option. I believe that Apple can make a nice demo with vibrating indications of when the user's on a key, then detection of when they push down on it. What I don't believe is that it will be a better experience than feeling the edges of the keys and the actual descent and tap when depressing the key.

This seems like increased complication without any real gain. It's more sleek than usable, kind of like the touchpads with virtual buttons, rather than physical separate ones.

I can't type on my phone as accurately or as quickly as my keyboard. I also have to look at it or accuracy drops precipitously.

I don't think anyone would argue that a touch screen is better to type on than a physical keyboard though. It's just a sensible compromise given the size and weight limitations of an iPhone. Harder to justify on a (relatively big and heavy) laptop, but we'll see.

A phone's soft keyboard is a compromise for size. Compared to a hardware keyboard, it sucks to type on. If you want to type anything but gibberish, you stare at the keyboard the whole time you're typing.

A laptop with a hardware keyboard is large enough not to benefit from that compromise. I mean, a little touchscreen's not without its uses, but don't get rid of the keys that I expect to be there.