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While I don't use Apple products other than the iPhone and iPad, here is my take on the new MBP. First, this touch bar to me is a gimmick. I believe it might have a place in a very small market place, very small. Second, I truly believe that Apple has different teams working on all their products and they never communicated with each other. Let's talk about the new iPhone 7 and the Lightning Headphones and now the MBP that doesn't have a Lightning connector. I just don't know how you say in one breath, that it takes COURAGE to remove the OLD ANALOG headphone jack from the iPhone, and then in the other say we kept it on the MBP. Now all your users are required to either get another adapter or different headphones to carry around to work with the MBP. Third, you took about all the useful ports that existing MBP users are using and now forcing them to purchase some kind of USB-C adapter for those devices to work. Forth, Touch Screen, missing. This is just the natural progression of a laptop, it seems the PC world has pretty much moved into that direction, but Apple still decided to leave it out, instead, they put a small touch screen where the "F" keys used to be, again, just doesn't make since except for the very limited market place that will use it...maybe. And Fifth, the price to me seems really high, but if I have learned anything from buying my iPhones/iPads over the years, Apple has always charged a premium for their products, so why change that now.
 
"Touch surfaces don't want to be vertical" - Steve Jobs

Isn't it funny how everyone says Jobs would be rolling in his grave and he wouldn't do this or that and Apple is dead now etc yet they all want a touch enabled macOS with a vertical touch screen...

...not doing this and making an uncompromising pure design of 4 symmetrical USB-C ports and making people upgrade all their cables in one go is the most "Steve" thing Apple has done since he passed away!
 
but then who would make all of the aluminium housings...

I have a lot of respect for Jony Ive and the work he's done for Apple, but I think his canonization within the halls of Apple has been a terrible blow.

People DO make mistakes (even geniuses), and he is undoubtedly going down a road in which thinner/lighter automatically means better (which is a fallacy once function and convenience -- two of Apple's hallmarks -- are ignored). It seems he must be surrounded by "Yes men" these days, and he could definitely use a reality check or two.

I only hope Apple gets its ducks in a row before I have to replace my mid-2012 rMBP, which is still an amazing machine. I can't see downgrading to the current lineup, no matter how thin, light and aluminiumy it is.
 
Isn't that what the larger trackpad is for? You can do things like pinch to zoom and other multitouch gestures that are also done on touchscreens. To be honest I prefer doing all that stuff on my trackpad than on my screen.
Having played with touch screen laptops, ones without now seem very clunky.
 
I'd like to see these prototypes.

The touch bar seems like it's a bit of a gimmick. I can't see it increasing workflows.

I take your point but would argue that the touch bar is more about saving/re-organizing screen real estate than anything else. In that respect I think it has a high productivity potential.
 
If I can find one, I'll be sure to ask.
I'm one. Don't forget; PCs outsell Macs ten to one and, although the total number of PCs and Macs being sold is falling, the market share of Macs is falling faster and has been for a year or more. I can't see anything in this latest release reversing this trend.
 
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A touch screen on OSX in it's current form, meh.

Touch Bar, meh meh meh.

A fictional MBP with a detachable screen & pen support, a touch screen would be great.

Unfortunately, Apple is sticking to old paradigms until at least 2019.

That Schiller moment of "innovate my ass" is looking increasingly embarrassing now, doubly so given the state of the Mac Pro.

Sad times.
Buy a surface book then, I have one and it's ok, but I'm really looking forward to getting my new MBP, when you use Windows for a while you just realise how fantastic macOS and iOS are. They are totally different products and that's what I love about them unlike Microsoft trying to be everything to everyone.
 
...making an uncompromising pure design of 4 symmetrical USB-C ports and making people upgrade all their cables in one go is the most "Steve" thing Apple has done since he passed away!

The idea is great; the implementation, horrific -- when your two flagship products -- released within two months of each other -- cannot communicate with one another or share accessories, you've made a terrible mistake.
 
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Touchscreen is useful for certain particular software on the OSX/Win/Linux level and that is it. The use of touch screen on a daily basis on computers makes no sense, imagine your fat fingers trying to press the X to exit out of a browser or clicking the corner arrow on MS Word Ribbon...I'm more interested in seeing the Pen work with the laptops for high precision instead
 
They must have prototypes iPad's running OSX floating around...

After last weeks event, I ordered a Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga 14". Gonna take it for a test ride and see where it goes...
 
A touch screen on OSX in it's current form, meh.

Touch Bar, meh meh meh.

A fictional MBP with a detachable screen & pen support, a touch screen would be great.

Unfortunately, Apple is sticking to old paradigms until at least 2019.

That Schiller moment of "innovate my ass" is looking increasingly embarrassing now, doubly so given the state of the Mac Pro.

Sad times.
Seriously? You'd have to huge shake up OS X to make that work. However, iOS was designed for touch/pen support in that regard as it was based on OS Xs strong points in terms of dev support, software modules to support UI etc etc. Microsoft are still trying (and failing) to justify their Win10 is suitable for touch, keyboard and pen. The design philosophy doesn't work. This is why a separate OS for iPhones/iPads work and have done since 2007. We really don't want to go back to pre-2007 until someone can come up with an OS/sub-system that can cater for all inputs somehow. If you add touchscreen to a MBP, you're asking the user to change the way they work as the trackpad and now TouchBar add to the functional inputs to a MBP system.

Apple might be cooking a iPad/MBP hybrid right now and won't show their cards until the time is right. We're all on the tech gravy-train where any radical changes to design are limited because of a lack of tech advances. Batteries, VR, storage all need to move on before we see anything "brand spanking new".

I see TouchBar as a bridge to get there. It looks good and well executed (with it's own modded WatchOS to control access and I/O). Has potential. But it doesn't make up for things they've changed in the newest edition (all USB-C, no MagSafe etc etc).
 
Seems like Apple execs are trying to justify the design of their new "baby".
I didn't got a chance to try it. But for what I've seen looks like an ergonomic fail to me. With the trackpad you are able to keep your eyes on te screen. With the changing touch bar you're forced to look at it, move your fingers away from trackpad and keyboard, same for your eyes. Nothing can be done in a natural way. Also the price hike is unforgiven. You had aging hardware being farmed (no price compensation for cheap yesterday technologies) to the last drop. The journalist who asked Tim Cook if they've a focus nailed it with that question to me. I don't see any focus on a certain direction at all except price.

I really hope market will force Apple to rethink their strategies and I'm aware they've got billions in the bank to be safe for a long time. China is a good test bed in my opinion. People are price consensus and want the latest tech available. Something you expect from a premium (correction past premium) brand.

I've never seen such a dull presentation from Apple in history. Although I don't recommend Apple to my friends since the past year anymore (used to be great advocate of Apple related stuff to friends and family), I'm starting to feel ashamed of the brand. Apple definitely lost it's cool and innovation. If the touch bar, something in the works for 4+ years, is any indication what's coming, I'm holding my breath.

People are telling me that Apple is focusing on mobile first and not on computers anymore. If this was the truth we should see some better offerings on the iPad, iPhone.

Keep telling there are great things in the pipeline you can't live without Tim! After 5 years of waiting and hoping and only seeing price increases, dongle mess and mediocre designs, I'm done believing.

WISH I COULD TURN BACK TIME!

Hope you are reading this Mr Cook!

If you were my wife, I would ask for divorce!
 
During the event Apple showed how you could rotate an image by dragging along the touchbar. Like Apple, I'm not sold on a touchscreen on a laptop. At the same time I am 100% convinced that it is easier, simpler and more intuitive to rotate an object on screen by using the two fingered rotate gesture on the screen rather than drag a finger across a horizontal strip.

The fact is Apple already make a touch screen laptop - the iPad Pro 12", with smart keyboard.
 
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Im pretty shocked at the lack of imagination here.

Take a surface book for instance. Do you need to touch the screen in laptop mode? No! You have a trackpad and keyboard that take care of 100% of the things you need to do - as they also do on the new MacBook Pro's.

However... That's not the only way you interact with the device. It's a wacom, mixing desk, notepad, book.. it's pretty much whatever you want it to be..

It's the way Apple have been telling people to interact with content since releasing the first bleedin' iPhone.

What did they use to say? Think Different?

There are two different strategies here.
If you can afford it, you get to choose whatever suits you.
 
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I'm one. Don't forget; PCs outsell Macs ten to one and, although the total number of PCs and Macs being sold is falling, the market share of Macs is falling faster and has been for a year or more. I can't see anything in this latest release reversing this trend.
Tablets do most of what most home users need. But the main reason is that most computers now in whatever form, tablet desktop, phone, laptop are more than good enough for whatever the majority want to do most of the time and they probably have one of each of them anyway. Though maybe a laptop or a desktop.
 
Apple's innovation is doing some different... not doing something better for their users...
 
My issue currently is that they aren't at least giving the user the option. So what if you think it's not a useful application? It is for some, and for those some, they're going to your competitors. Windows 10 makes using a touchscreen a not-too-bad experience. I think they'll be completely standard in all laptops within the next few years, as will SSDs.

But none of this is new, as we all know that Apple is far too controlling of everything (and they are seemingly going downhill a tad because of this).

My next laptop will for sure have a touchscreen, and much likely won't be an Apple product. I'd rather touch the screen to scroll and zoom through web pages than using a trackpad (regardless of how large it is).
 
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I don't use a laptop, so don't really care about the Touch Bar on the MacBook line. And I also agree with the sentiment that touchscreens aren't meant to be used vertically. That's what makes the MS Surface Studio such a phenomenal device, at least in terms of innovation and forward thinking. Keep it upright to use the traditional mouse/trackpad/keyboard, and then slide it down to use a pen or gestures. It's brilliant. i have no idea why Apple didn't have that idea first, and you can't tell me there isn't a team of engineers there who can't figure out how to marry iOS and macOS for something similar.
 
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