MacBook Pro Touch Bar's T1 Chip Runs 'Variant' of watchOS, Also Secures Touch ID and FaceTime Camera [Updated]

[MacRumors]

In a series of tweets sent out last night, and now in an interview with The Verge, developer Steven Troughton-Smith has detailed the inner workings of the MacBook Pro's new retina Touch Bar, describing its T1 chip as "a variant of the system-on-a-chip used in the Apple Watch." This means that the Touch Bar is essentially running watchOS on the T1 chip, which macOS then communicates with through an interconnected USB bridge that "relays multitouch events back to macOS."

The developer described this software setup as advantageous for the MacBook Pro's security, since the T1 chip also acts as a layer of protection and "gates access" to the laptop's FaceTime camera and Touch ID sensor. In the series of Tweets he sent out last night, Troughton-Smith also theorized that watchOS could power the Touch Bar alone without relying on macOS to be running on the MacBook Pro, which Apple software engineering chief Craig Federighi has now confirmed.

"From everything I can piece together, the T1 chip in the new MacBook Pro is a variant of the system-on-a-chip used in the Apple Watch," explains Troughton-Smith, in an interview with The Verge. "Running watchOS on the T1 lets the Mac benefit from Apple's deep work on iOS embedded security, as the T1 gates access to the Touch ID sensor and, from the looks of it, the front-facing camera in the new MacBook Pro too."

Despite the use of watchOS in the Touch Bar, the T1 chip "has no fixed storage" and boots from a 25MB ramdisk, so it's not the full version found on the Apple Watch that could run the complete watchOS UI with apps. As Troughton-Smith described it, "the 'watchOS' the T1 runs is presumably only 'watchOS' by dint of the CPU it's designed for. T1 must be very similar to S1."

The developer also confirmed that the T1 chip and Touch ID sensor are paired together at the factory, so if either begins acting up, "you can't replace one without the other." What this means for the future of the MacBook Pro line could be a device that more closely bridges the gap between macOS and iOS, according to Troughton-Smith.

"Perhaps someday it could run a higher class processor, like Apple's A-series chips, and allow macOS to 'run' iOS apps and Extensions, like iMessage apps, or manage notifications, system tasks, networking, during sleep, without having to power up the x86 CPU."

Yesterday, Phil Schiller commented on the idea of Apple manufacturing a MacBook with a touchscreen, but he remained adamant that such a direct merger between macOS and iOS software wouldn't be "particularly useful." Likewise, Apple's newly published guidelines for developers describe the Touch Bar as "an input device," and "not a secondary display."

Update: TechCrunch's Matthew Panzarino has shared a few more details on the T1 chip in the MacBook Pro. The T1 is the same chip that's inside the S2 in the new Series 2 Apple Watch, and is made up of the processor and the Secure Enclave.

The T1 secures the Touch ID sensor, camera, Touch Bar, and the keychain where passwords are stored. As was previously suggested, the T1 runs a modified version of watchOS.

Article Link: MacBook Pro Touch Bar's T1 Chip Runs 'Variant' of watchOS, Also Secures Touch ID and FaceTime Camera [Updated]

 

[jerry16]

Is it just me, or is the Touch ID not a huge selling point on this new MBP? Other Macs get Apple Pay without this feature by using an iPhone, which most mac users will have - so what is the big deal here?

Other than user switching, I guess.

 

[kevinkyoo]

Why couldn't they have added feedback when you press the buttons? That's one thing I enjoyed about the Apple Watches. Hell, a 3D touch integrated would've been cool. But more importantly, these feedbacks are important for "assurance." Right now, I love using my 2013 MBP because I don't ever have to look up. The feedback from the keys let me know that I am in the right positioning.

With the Touch Bar and the lack of feedback, and the extremely small texts and pictures, I will ALWAYS have to look down if I want to use this feature, just to make sure I'm getting the right thing. I have so far heard a universal puzzlement over the lack of feedback or vibration, and it really makes me wonder just how long Apple worked on this thing.

 

[powertoold]

None of us have used Touch Bar, and at first I didn't think it'd be useful, but now that I've had a chance to digest it, I think it's an excellent idea with essentially no cons.

Basically, the Touch Bar is superior to a full touch screen because it allows for a contextual menu to show up depending on where your cursor is or what window / tab you're in. For example, I'm typing this message, and yes, if I had a touch screen, I could reach up, but with the Touch Bar, I could see a wider contextual menu that is much more accessible for my hands, which are already on the keyboard.

People are complaining that they'd need to look down at the Touch Bar, but over a short time, you'd get used to the Touch Bar options on your commonly used apps, and since the Touch Bar is color coordinated, you can easily tap it without looking.

 

[marshallbedsaul]

touch I remember touch...
Touch, I remember touch
Pictures came with touch
A painter in my mind
Tell me what you see

 

[F4C4]

I guess Apple wants to be a cellphone and smartwatch maker...

I'm more excited by Microsoft new stuff like the Surface Studio... that's a sign that something is really wrong with how Apple is managing the Mac.

 

[KPOM]

Interesting. So this is how Apple will use its ARM prowess to improve Macs in the future. Maybe we'll see the MacBook Pros start offloading basic functions to ARM chips in a future model, freeing up the Intel chip for applications.

 

[BootsWalking]

LOL at Phil saying a touchscreen wouldn't be "particularly useful". Completely contradicts Apple's claim that the iPad Pro is a viable alternative to a notebook.

And if usefulness is the criterion for what gets included in a product then how did the touchbar slip through?

 

[KPOM]

I guess Apple wants to be a cellphone and smartwatch maker...

I'm more excited by Microsoft new stuff like the Surface Studio... that's a sign that something is really wrong with how Apple is managing the Mac.

Well, phones are 63% of Apple's revenue. But I disagree with the overall premise. It's good to see that Apple's efforts on phones and watches are paying dividends for the Mac. Having a dedicated processor handle the security functions as well as the Touch Bar is a good idea. It means the Core i5/i7 isn't being taxed by having to run other processes.

 

[AP_piano295]

None of us have used Touch Bar, and at first I didn't think it'd be useful, but now that I've had a chance to digest it, I think it's an excellent idea with essentially no cons.

Basically, the Touch Bar is superior to a full touch screen because it allows for a contextual menu to show up depending on where your cursor is or what window / tab you're in. For example, I'm typing this message, and yes, if I had a touch screen, I could reach up, but with the Touch Bar, I could see a wider contextual menu that is much more accessible for my hands, which are already on the keyboard.

People are complaining that they'd need to look down at the Touch Bar, but over a short time, you'd get used to the Touch Bar options on your commonly used apps, and since the Touch Bar is color coordinated, you can easily tap it without looking.

Here's a con, the new laptops are expensive as ****, have **** hardware, and a little screen above the keyboard doesn't justify that.

 

[KPOM]

LOL at Phil saying a touchscreen wouldn't be "particularly useful". If that's the criterion for what gets included in the product then how did the touchbar slip through.

The idea is that it is a lot easier for Apple to make the Touch Bar useful than it is to redesign the user interface of OS X. Look how long it took Microsoft to get to where they are now, and it is still a work in progress. Even Microsoft got to where they were by accident (since they missed the boat on mobile and decided to double down on Windows).

 

[enzoshadow]

I guess Apple wants to be a cellphone and smartwatch maker...

I'm more excited by Microsoft new stuff like the Surface Studio... that's a sign that something is really wrong with how Apple is managing the Mac.

The Surface Studio is also $3000 with last gen nvidia GPU.

 

[BruceEBonus]

No idea how you can edit video with the precision that is possible with a mouse. It's probably another gimmick (as opposed to an innovation) but I'll await judgement until I try one in the store. Nevertheless if it means taking eyes off the screen it'll instantly negate any advantage of any intended ergonomic integration - and it's wayyyyy too expensive which means even if it's useful then I can't afford one anyway. Oh no!

 

[realeric]

Microsoft surface studio has a full screen touch bar. It runs "Variant of Windows 10" on Intel's i7 chip.

 

[Rogifan]

Microsoft surface studio has a full screen touch bar. It runs "Variant of Windows 10".

And it starts at $3000.

 

[TMRJIJ]

LOL at Phil saying a touchscreen wouldn't be "particularly useful". Completely contradicts Apple's claim that the iPad Pro is a viable alternative to a notebook.

And if usefulness is the criterion for what gets included in a product then how did the touchbar slip through?

Probably because you do have to go full gorilla mode on a screen. The touch bar is within easy reach above the keyboard.

 

[djcerla]

T1 lets the Mac benefit from Apple's deep work on iOS embedded security, as the T1 gates access to the Touch ID sensor and, from the looks of it, the front-facing camera in the new MacBook Pro too

Don't try this on a Windows machine.

 

[filmantopia]

No idea how you can edit video with the precision that is possible with a mouse. It's probably another gimmick (as opposed to an innovation) but I'll await judgement until I try one in the store. Nevertheless if it means taking eyes off the screen it'll instantly negate any advantage of any intended ergonomic integration - and it's wayyyyy too expensive which means even if it's useful then I can't afford one anyway. Oh no!

I'm a professional full time filmmaker and currently edit just fine using my trackpad. The Touch Bar seems like an incredible enhancement to me.

 

[robsp2000]

It seems like Mac Rumors has been infested with trolls who only cry on and on about every little detail that they think sucks. I can't even read through here anymore to find any interesting posts talking about new features. If you don't like what Apple is doing then goodbye, go get a "faster better equipped", cheaper windows computer and enjoy that experience. It's really got to be mostly trolls, forums are horrible now.

 

[powertoold]

Here's a con, the new laptops are expensive as ****, have **** hardware, and a little screen above the keyboard doesn't justify that.

Maybe if you're in the UK. But in the US, the price is perfectly reasonable. It's basically a custom Apple Watch deeply integrated into the laptop.

Then you have
1) Much better speakers (trust me, you'd appreciate it if you've ever experienced the iPad Pro 12.9's speakers)
2) Much thinner / lighter
3) Better build (all metal exterior)
4) Much better display
5) Better fans
6) Etc.

 

[BootsWalking]

Probably because you do have to go full gorilla mode on a screen. The touch bar is within easy reach above the keyboard.

The bottom of the screen is just an inch or so way from the touchbar. It could have easily been implemented on-screen.

 

[TMRJIJ]

It seems like Mac Rumors has been infested with trolls who only cry on and on about every little detail that they think sucks. I can't even read through here anymore to find any interesting posts talking about new features. If you don't like what Apple is doing then goodbye, go get a "faster better equipped", cheaper windows computer and enjoy that experience. It's really got to be mostly trolls, forums are horrible now.

A MR member with class. Respect.

 

[Hanzu Lao]

Impressive.

 

[BootsWalking]

It seems like Mac Rumors has been infested with trolls who only cry on and on about every little detail that they think sucks. I can't even read through here anymore to find any interesting posts talking about new features. If you don't like what Apple is doing then goodbye, go get a "faster better equipped", cheaper windows computer and enjoy that experience. It's really got to be mostly trolls, forums are horrible now.

Over 90% of yesterday's comments were negative about the new MacBook Pros. Do you really think all those posters were trolls? Pethaps you're the one who should leave the forums if you can't handle objective discussion about the merits or lack thereof of an Apple product.

 

[rolsskk]

People are complaining that they'd need to look down at the Touch Bar, but over a short time, you'd get used to the Touch Bar options on your commonly used apps, and since the Touch Bar is color coordinated, you can easily tap it without looking.

You can now feel colors??
[doublepost=1477670019][/doublepost]

It seems like Mac Rumors has been infested with trolls who only cry on and on about every little detail that they think sucks. I can't even read through here anymore to find any interesting posts talking about new features. If you don't like what Apple is doing then goodbye, go get a "faster better equipped", cheaper windows computer and enjoy that experience. It's really got to be mostly trolls, forums are horrible now.

You mean new features such as

• No SD Card Slot
• No USB-A ports
• No MagSafe
• Increased Price Points
  
• EmojiBar
• Anorexia Obsessed Jony Ive

I'd honestly like to hear what you think what are the new features that are worth talking about with this release.

 

[TMRJIJ]

The bottom of the screen is just an inch or so way from the touchbar. It could have easily been implemented on-screen.

Then the touch bar would have no purpose if it's on the display. Why do we have to raise our hand/arm to reach for those commands. That's uncomfortable.