Apple Discontinues 13-Inch MacBook Pro With Touch Bar

[woolypants]

I would not be surprised if macOS 15 drops support for all Intel models to nudge everyone still on the fence.

Apple literally can't. They were still selling Intel Macs this year, and I believe they promise three years of software support.

That said, all the new features will not come to Intel, of course. But we long-term Apple owners used to this. We're almost at the stage were new features in the next macOS probably won't come to owners of the M1 Mac...

 

[woolypants]

Make The touchbar available in a separate external keyboard. Theres still a place for it for those who made the most of it.

Interesting! Software-wise, this would be trivial. There's already apps out there that let you emulate a Touch Bar.

But this made me realise something important... The Touch Bar was a kind of Stream Deck. It just arrived too early, and was the wrong form factor. I would not be surprised if, as Stream Decks start to become popular outside of gaming and streaming, we see very similar technology being built out by third parties for the Mac.

 

[stocklen]

whats the matter with you all??

What is wrong with the Touch Bar?

I for one am really disappointed to see it go....

How can it not be preferable to a row of static hardware keys that you have to remember which to press for whatever feature when the Touch Bar shows you without having to think about it.

Sure, its never been used to its full potential thanks to developers never really embracing it - but to me thats a real shame.

 

[VaruLV]

Its now 1999€ for barebones 8GB/512GB 14" Pro in Europe, thanks but no, thanks.
Apple as usual trying to milk their customers.

 

[aries81]

whats the matter with you all??

What is wrong with the Touch Bar?

I for one am really disappointed to see it go....

How can it not be preferable to a row of static hardware keys that you have to remember which to press for whatever feature when the Touch Bar shows you without having to think about it.

Sure, its never been used to its full potential thanks to developers never really embracing it - but to me thats a real shame.

This. I like the Touch Bar too, yet rarely use it…I reckon it’s the same for many users. And that’s probably the reason why Apple decided to ditch it.

 

[frou]

Finally I can retire my long-time forum signature because the folly has been vanquished

 

[ds2000]

Good riddance. Absolutely garbage for Pro users. The fact they've not kept it all probably says all we need to know.

 

[ProfessionalFan]

I loved the Touch Bar and will miss it.

 

[C-Dub87]

I bought a 13 inch M1 MBP and regretted it for the nearly 2 years I’ve had it. Won’t miss the touchbar, but it’s a shame the entry level Pro is gone. Some people need just a little more grunt than an Air without paying over the odds for it.

As for me, I bought a 15 inch M2 Air recently and I’m loving my Mac again!

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

Now you gotta rack twenty hunnids if you want a fan

 

[kblbn86]

On another note, the only MacBook without a notch is gone.

 

[Prince Akeem]

On another note, the only MacBook without a notch is gone.

Nope, they still sell the M1 Air without notch.

 

[Trusteft]

NOOOOOOOO!

Just kidding.
But seriously, if the laptop had the touch bar without the loss of the normal physical buttons, it would have been so much more attractive proposition. So much more.

But perhaps that's just me.

 

[emmab2006]

Yet no one is talking about how completely wrong Mark Gurman was again, imacs wrong. MacBook Pro 13 , Wrong. Yet you keep giving this hack time. Gurman is clueless and only interested in one thing. Increasing his popularity through outright lies and manipulation of the Mac media. Ban Gurman !

 

[h.gilbert]

Yet no one is talking about how completely wrong Mark Gurman was again, imacs wrong. MacBook Pro 13 , Wrong. Yet you keep giving this hack time. Gurman is clueless and only interested in one thing. Increasing his popularity through outright lies and manipulation of the Mac media. Ban Gurman !

He makes up for it with sex appeal

 

[ZubaZ]

I question the character of any person who actually likes the Touch Bar. And I would stay far away from anyone that says they like the butterfly keyboard.

I question the character of the one that questions a person's character based on the fact that it likes or not the Touch Bar.

 

[ZubaZ]

I feel the same way with the iPhone's 3D Touch.

Yep, I have switched from Xs to 15 Pro and 3D touch I miss the most, especially when attempting to start the camera or the torch from the lock screen. Sooo slow without! Long touch is old and obsolete.

 

[kemal]

Because it charged via USB C, the repeated use of the ports led to them wearing out quickly. We have this problem where I work. I won't miss this model!

 

[JimmyG]

The 13-inch MacBook Pro was the last Mac with a Touch Bar, so the sunsetting of the 13-inch MacBook Pro also means that the Touch Bar has been officially discontinued.

Great news! Now it's on to sunsetting that silly camera hole in the iPhones and sunsetting the screen-wasting kludge that is Dynamic Island!

Forward! LOL

 

[no-reply]

I'll miss this Mac. It was the last Jony Ive MacBook Pro design. Thin, maybe too thin. But beautiful from every angle and feel. Not as fussed on the clumsy looking current models but they're the only next natural progression. If the M1 13" I have with TouchBar lasts for 5-6 or more years I'll probably move on to the next big redesign.

 

[Blackstick]

Yet no one is talking about how completely wrong Mark Gurman was again, imacs wrong. MacBook Pro 13 , Wrong. Yet you keep giving this hack time. Gurman is clueless and only interested in one thing. Increasing his popularity through outright lies and manipulation of the Mac media. Ban Gurman !

He was once a young buck with insiders sending him juicy stuff at Apple. All his connections got canned or left (or maybe got told to shut up under threat of litigation). Now he's just a typical pundit like the rest of them.

 

[brofkand]

I really don't understand this point of view. You can't understand the appeal of a pitch for a configurable OLED touch strip that can provide context sensitive features to the foreground app?

Just on spec, it seems like a much better idea than buttons labeled F1 to F12. Turns out specs aren't everything, but that's a far cry from saying it was added just for bloat.

I've wondered if it would have done better if it were added to the Magic Keyboard also. It had different reasons for being rejected by different people, but I wonder if devs would have taken it more seriously if it were more ubiquitous.

A major point of a keyboard having tactile buttons is so it can be used by feel. Otherwise we would have moved to typing on a contextual touch surface years ago. The Touch Bar used a lot of power for very little benefit. It was a feature for feature's sake. Apple could have just put a touch surface on the display if they truly wanted to do something useful.

Like 3D Touch and other bloat features that Apple has added over the years to fill out a spec sheet, I don't doubt that there are folks who found the Touch Bar useful. But by and large it is not missed.

 

[supremedesigner]

Flippin' finally! I was against the touchbar because they removed the ESC physical button. I thought it was the dumbest move by Apple. If Steve Jobs were alive, he'd shame them all.

 

[supremedesigner]

He was once a young buck with insiders sending him juicy stuff at Apple. All his connections got canned or left (or maybe got told to shut up under threat of litigation). Now he's just a typical pundit like the rest of them.

Off topic: Ah, I missed thinksecret.com lol

 

[840quadra]

I don't know. This sounds to me like complaining that a "c" key is inferior because it only produces the letter "c".

Function keys are part of a computer keyboard and have been there for decades, so users were rightfully PISSED about the change. For Apple to swap them into a screen you had to look at was unbelievably arrogant and stupid.

And to do it in a PRO machine, even more so. Thus, backpedal they did.

Fairly sure the C key is far more consistent across computer applications than function keys are. But I do understand your overall point.

And Typewriters existed for decades before computers and did fine without function keys, and were used by thousands of PROfessional journalists, lawyers, doctors, etc for as many decades.

As someone who edits videos, photos, and even dabbles into programming the TouchBar is FAR more efficient than static function keys that can't change into a slider, control surface or otherwise. In the rare occasion I actually need a Function key, I simply turn that on in settings. I understand they aren't tactile keys, however we have been using touch surfaces (track pads, iPhones, iPads) for decades now and people can adapt.

All arguments aside, I feel the situation would have been less of a pain of Apple made it an option to have function keys, as well as Touch Bar at the point of launch. The dropped HDMI, SD card readers and other ports at the same time, making the 2016 MacBook Pro feel like a slap in the face to some (not all) professionals.

When are we getting Dynamic OLED keyboards? I would love that option too