Am I the only one missing the touchbar?

[anshuvorty]

I upgraded from a 2019 16" Intel MBP to a 2021 M1 16" MPB. Everything is much, much better, except that I miss the touchbar. It's not that I found the touchbar super-useful, but it was a lot more useful that the fixed set of function keys. An example: it was so easy to take a screen shot. And I could easily adjust the brightness on both my external monitor (LG 5K) and built in display. With BetterTouchTools it was even more useful. I never understood why the touchbar was to hated. Certainly not a giant step in UI, but a moderately useful invention.

Many users find the Touchbar unreliable and draining on the battery, with no significant benefits. The 1st generation MacBook Pros that had the touchbar also had issues with BridgeOS updates and needed complete logicboard replacements if the BridgeOS update failed.

 

[refusenick]

The weird thing is Apple has never, to my knowledge, acknowledged removing the TouchBar nor confirmed whether it's dead for good or not. Makes me suspect something's afoot and that we haven't seen the last of it.

 

[Suture]

If Apple had ever added a touchbar to a stand-alone keyboard, it might have taken off. I have a touchbar on my MacBook Pro, but 95% of the usage is at my desk - with an external keyboard. So while I “Have” one, I barely use it enough to form an opinion. Lots of other users move back & forth between a desktop & portable, and again - no opportunity to really rely on the touchbar because it’s not always there. I don’t know why it wasn’t fully adopted across the line, I can only guess there was internal disagreement about it as well as external.

Good point. I think if Apple would have added the touchbar to a wireless keyboard, it could have helped with adoption. When I bought my MacBook Pro I wanted the touchbar. My reasoning was sliders for Logic -- but it's in clamshell mode almost all of the time so...

 

[poorcody]

It was a shame Apple never added it to an external keyboard to see if it could have had wider appeal. I still use my Touch Bar regularly with the large collection of macros I've built for it (using Better Touch Tool). In fact I've been slow to upgrade my 2019 MBP because I'm reluctant to give it up.

Better Touch Tool has updated their software to allow you to put the macro buttons from the Touch Bar up in the menu bar. That works pretty well and will be a decent substitute for me. I will miss the actual one when it's gone though.

 

[corsa]

I'm about to upgrade my 2016 MBP to an M2 Pro MBP, and I'm going to miss the heck out of the Touch Bar. One of my favorite features of my current MBP.

I wish Apple would have gone with a Touch Bar above physical function keys for the new MBP.

 

[refusenick]

I'm about to upgrade my 2016 MBP to an M2 Pro MBP, and I'm going to miss the heck out of the Touch Bar. One of my favorite features of my current MBP.

I wish Apple would have gone with a Touch Bar above physical function keys for the new MBP.

There's a chance it may come back. I'm not giving up hope.

 

[redbeard331]

I just got one without the touchbar, I’ve only used it on the demo models at the Apple Store and I really liked it, still wondering if I should return it and get a touchbar M1.

Until I went in the Apple Store I didn’t even know they still made MacBooks with the touchbar, I wonder if it’s useful for stuff like photoshop?

 

[darngooddesign]

I just got one without the touchbar, I’ve only used it on the demo models at the Apple Store and I really liked it, still wondering if I should return it and get a touchbar M1.

Which one did you buy?

Until I went in the Apple Store I didn’t even know they still made MacBooks with the touchbar, I wonder if it’s useful for stuff like photoshop?

IMO the minimum spec for PS work is 16/512 but make Sure you leave a couple hundred GB free for scratch disk. A refurbished or discounted 14” MBP is a better PS machine.

 

[redbeard331]

Which one did you buy?

I got a 2021 14” M1 with 16gb ram/1tb ssd. When photoshop opened instantly I didn’t know what was happening at first, I’m used to it taking like 10 minutes to open on my old Mac mini lol.

IMO the minimum spec for PS work is 16/512 but make Sure you leave a couple hundred GB free for scratch disk. A refurbished or discounted 14” MBP is a better PS machine.

Yea I originally was gonna just get a 8/256 machine then quickly found out we need 16/512, saw a deal for a 16/1tb machine and picked that one up, figure 1 tb should be plenty.

That touchbar just seems like such a neat feature, I never seem to use the function keys.

 

[darngooddesign]

I got a 2021 14” M1 with 16gb ram/1tb ssd. When photoshop opened instantly I didn’t know what was happening at first, I’m used to it taking like 10 minutes to open on my old Mac mini lol.




Yea I originally was gonna just get a 8/256 machine then quickly found out we need 16/512, saw a deal for a 16/1tb machine and picked that one up, figure 1 tb should be plenty.

That touchbar just seems like such a neat feature, I never seem to use the function keys.

While the Touchbar is neat, and once they added back the Esc key it’s a lot better, your 14” is the superior PS computer in every way.

 

[-=Hot|Ice=-]

My Touch Bar goes completely black when I expand it.

 

[redbeard331]

While the Touchbar is neat, and once they added back the Esc key it’s a lot better, your 14” is the superior PS computer in every way.

Curious as to why you say that? As far as I can see the only difference in specs is that my screen is slightly larger?

 

[darngooddesign]

Curious as to why you say that? As far as I can see the only difference in specs is that my screen is slightly larger?

Compared to the 13” M1 MBP, your screen is larger, brighter, more color accurate, Mini-LED, and has 120hz ProMotion. Performance wise, your 14” is also more powerful. Here is a MR video comparing the two

Video Comparison: M1 MacBook Pro vs. M1 Pro MacBook Pro

If you're unsure whether you should purchase a MacBook Pro with the M1 Pro chip or if an M1 machine will best suit your needs, our latest YouTube video is for you. We've compared the 14-inch base MacBook Pro with M1 Pro chip to the 13-inch base MacBook Pro with M1 chip to give our readers an...

www.macrumors.com

 

[redbeard331]

Compared to the 13” M1 MBP, your screen is larger, brighter, more color accurate, Mini-LED, and has 120hz ProMotion. Performance wise, your 14” is also more powerful. Here is a MR video comparing the two

Video Comparison: M1 MacBook Pro vs. M1 Pro MacBook Pro

If you're unsure whether you should purchase a MacBook Pro with the M1 Pro chip or if an M1 machine will best suit your needs, our latest YouTube video is for you. We've compared the 14-inch base MacBook Pro with M1 Pro chip to the 13-inch base MacBook Pro with M1 chip to give our readers an...

www.macrumors.com

Thanks, I didn’t realize there were so many improvements, I wonder if the M2 machines are just the upgraded chip, or do they have even more upgrades as well?

 

[darngooddesign]

Thanks, I didn’t realize there were so many improvements, I wonder if the M2 machines are just the upgraded chip, or do they have even more upgrades as well?

The M2s are mostly just faster versions of the M1, and its not a significant speed increase, with the notable exception of the 13" M2 MBP can be specced to 24GB RAM. Also the M2 256GB has a slower SSD because it uses one 256GB chip instead of the two 128GB chips in the 13" M1.

Unless you find that your PS work is a lot more demanding than expected, to where you want an M#-Max with 32GB RAM or more, your current 14" will be nice and powerful for several years.

 

[spiderman0616]

I had 2 or 3 work issued computers in a row that had a touch bar, and I just never found a compelling use for it. I think maybe it was a good idea that came out at a bad time for the Mac. It kind of got lumped in with the bad butterfly keyboards, deletion of legacy ports, and hot, loud, slow Intel processors.

I have wondered more than once if the touch bar came out again in a revised form and was allowed to stand on its own, if it would do better with consumers.

 

[redbeard331]

The M2s are mostly just faster versions of the M1, and its not a significant speed increase, with the notable exception of the 13" M2 MBP can be specced to 24GB RAM. Also the M2 256GB has a slower SSD because it uses one 256GB chip instead of the two 128GB chips in the 13" M1.

Unless you find that your PS work is a lot more demanding than expected, to where you want an M#-Max with 32GB RAM or more, your current 14" will be nice and powerful for several years.

Thanks for all the info.

Yea it seems like this thing is quite powerful, only thing I’ve noticed is that even with 16gb it’s using a lot of ram and swap memory. Not sure if that’s bad for the newer ssd’s, but last night just photoshop open for awhile rendering some layers had it using about 10gb swap.

 

[chrono1081]

I miss the Touch Bar, I would get a Mac with one again in a heartbeat. It was super useful if you had software that took advantage of it.

 

[darngooddesign]

Thanks for all the info.

Yea it seems like this thing is quite powerful, only thing I’ve noticed is that even with 16gb it’s using a lot of ram and swap memory. Not sure if that’s bad for the newer ssd’s, but last night just photoshop open for awhile rendering some layers had it using about 10gb swap.

Don’t worry about that. If you want to watch for something its the color of the memory pressure; if it’s always yellow and sometimes red then you need more RAM, but if its regularly green and sometimes yellow then its fine. What actually matters is if you experience system lag.

 

[darngooddesign]

I miss the Touch Bar, I would get a Mac with one again in a heartbeat. It was super useful if you had software that took advantage of it.

That was really the problem. Apple didnt demonstrate many compelling uses for it, and it lacked developer support. Better Touch Tool was a really good app for it.

Also, getting rid of the Esc key, which they later brought back, was a bad decision.

 

[Macdctr]

If you want to have Touch Bar functionality back you can always use the Duet app with an iPad attached to your laptop. Use the iPad as an extended display and when you run apps, you will have the Touch Bar appear on the iPad as you're using the app. I found it interesting as my laptops do not have Touch Bar.

Duet - Use Your Devices As A Second Display, Drawing Tablet, Remote Desktop, And More

Be productive from anywhere - connect your devices to turn them into a lightning fast second monitor, a Remote Desktop to access from anywhere, a drawing tablet, and more.

www.duetdisplay.com

 

[shenfrey]

I quite liked the Touch Bar for some aspects, but in regards to just getting to my volume, brightness and other quick actions, I do prefer physical keys. I think the Touch Bar was great for apps that were designed with it in mind, that added functions that previously were buried or require a complicated shortcut combination.

 

[PhotoThrust]

I upgraded from a 2019 16" Intel MBP to a 2021 M1 16" MPB. Everything is much, much better, except that I miss the touchbar. It's not that I found the touchbar super-useful, but it was a lot more useful that the fixed set of function keys. An example: it was so easy to take a screen shot. And I could easily adjust the brightness on both my external monitor (LG 5K) and built in display. With BetterTouchTools it was even more useful. I never understood why the touchbar was to hated. Certainly not a giant step in UI, but a moderately useful invention.

I just upgraded to a 2023 MacBook Pro M2 Pro and I find everything to be better except for the fact that I do miss the Touchbar. Specially when typing things and using it for spell corrections, or emoticons while texting on Messages or Whatsapp web. I do hope they bring it back!.

 

[coheteloco]

I miss it. I just upgraded to a new MBP from an intel i7 6 core 2018 MBP - I knew I would miss it, but didn't realize how much. But at least we have MagSafe again!

 

[refusenick]

Just release a limited edition, Tim. It'll keep me for at least five years.