Craig Federighi Says Touch Bar on New MacBook Pro Has 'So Much Potential' For Developers

[gopo]

when the iPad type of device will diminish as importance (see sales decline continuously) we may see a combo device iOS and macOS, independent to each other but with possibility of working together at some levels....we take off iPhone from this equation because we need its size in a pocket...but the iPhone will greatly benefit in future connections with the MacBook and iMac (macOS) because of the direction of the development between the macOS and iOS on the same machine: MacBook

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This would be immense, expensive, but immense. The iPad Pro is 6.9mm 'thin' with a brilliant display and touch interface. Design a connection that would allow a Mac to drive the display and use the touch input and you'd really get the best of both worlds.

Alternatively have a native 'trackpad' mode for the iPad that would turn it into a context aware second screen/tablet input for MacOS with, if you're using an iPad Pro, full Apple Pencil support!

YOU got it!

 

[mi7chy]

On the contrary, developers use function keys regularly and will hate Tool bar since it doesn't provide the physical touch confirmation of real keys when reaching for them.

Touch screen would've made a lot more sense or expand the track pad.

 

[Khemsmtl]

Well I think the Touch Bar is a fantastic addition, although I have no interest in MBPs. I just hope they release an Apple keyboard with TouchBar/TouchID integration.

Me too

 

[Gudi]

Well I think the Touch Bar is a fantastic addition, although I have no interest in MBPs. I just hope they release an Apple keyboard with TouchBar/TouchID integration.

They will eventually, but the Magic Keyboard without TouchBar/TouchID is already $99/€119.
Where will the price for this keyboard end up?

 

[chiefsilverback]

They will eventually, but the Magic Keyboard without TouchBar/TouchID is already $99/€119.
Where will the price for this keyboard end up?

My thought on this is that TouchID on a wireless keyboard would be difficult to implement. They would need to incorporate the SecureEnclave into the keyboard and then have some funky impenetrable mechanism whereby the keyboard can tell the Mac it is safe to unlock...

 

[Gudi]

On the contrary, developers use function keys regularly and will hate the Touch Bar since it doesn't provide the physical touch confirmation of real keys when reaching for them. Touch screen would've made a lot more sense or expand the trackpad.

There are still 65 real keys on the MBP, more than on any touchscreen and the trackpad already has a purpose for mouse pointer navigation.

 

[moonjelly]

I am disappointed in the pricing though. IMO true innovation is introducing something new and useful near the same or lower price point as before. Apple should want more users of the MBP, not fewer, since this price hike has the real potential of scaring away new and existing uses.

Congratulations on your order Anson. The sticker shock will wear off. Everyone will have to decide if its a good deal for themselves. I'm going to wait until they ship to retail.

It would be nice if they could have met the same price point. But go price a 30 GB/s SSD upgrade to another machine. You might feel better. Price an I/O card with 4x Thunderbolt3 or any IO card with 120-160 GB/s combined in any connectors. Price the best track pad on the market. Oh wait, cant get it on anything else. Once it arrives set it next to a Dell with 4k display and see which has better image quality.

Now there are some people who want Xeon 6 core, 128 GB, 10 terra flop GPU transportable workstations from Apple. This is not that machine. But you bought a very nice machine that is going to age well and be a pleasure to live with every day.

 

[Gudi]

My thought on this is that TouchID on a wireless keyboard would be difficult to implement. They would need to incorporate the SecureEnclave into the keyboard and then have some funky impenetrable mechanism whereby the keyboard can tell the Mac it is safe to unlock...

You mean like encryption?

 

[Apogius]

Anytime anyone says 'I want touchscreen laptop' all I can think about is this

okay ,but there is software like Cakewalk Sonar avail for pc atm ,being under development for osx with FULL touch screen support.Just clean the screen anyou are ok.

 

[routine_analyst]

This interview sucked. The fact that it was exclusive sucked. The editing sucked. The camera was shaky and sucked. The audio was suck. The questions sucked. The interviewer was much suck.

This is what our society is today - mediocrity.

I can think of one glaringly obvious reason why this guy was able to interview this man.

 

[Michael Goff]

So you're saying they shouldn't have put that in there?

I'm saying this isn't innovation.
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Anytime anyone says 'I want touchscreen laptop' all I can think about is this

Fingerprints less noticeable when in use.

 

[timlot]

Knew I seen something similar to this before.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2138...eview-slightly-overdone-but-plenty-tasty.html

 

[Mactendo]

People who tried touch bar really like it but those who never touched it call it a disaster. I'm wondering if the latter are the same who praised apple watch and iPhone 7 for its "innovation". Why so much negatitivty at the touch bar. Great idea with great implementation, adding new ways to work with apps. If someone doesn't like it then he can still use his trackpad.

 

[Sonmi451]

The touch bar is silly. As a designer I want to interact with my models on screen. Making my Wacom tablet obsolete. As much as I love Mac, maybe it's time to let go. The Surface studio and book have so much more potential.

You have never even used it.

 

[phpmaven]

It is. A touch sensitive screen on a laptop from the company that has said for years that laptops and touch sensitive screens don't belong together. Not sure what this offers that making the whole screen touch sensitive doesn't.

Unfortunately, I'm a sucker for these things. Perhaps in a few years, when my 17" MBP gives out...

You'll probably have to shoot it

 

[xnu]

I think a OLED track pad would have been more useful... maybe double as a dock... slide down to access things beyond the track pad, like you swipe the iPhone... seems more natural for providing additional screen controls access.

Really Apples advantage is the making the entire product, hardware ... software... why can't they introduce technologies across different products much faster. I love my Apple pencil, love it on the iPad Pro... why aren't they using on different products..

I know they hate a "stylus", but selling $100 pencils seems like a good business to be in. And i like that Microsofts pencil/pen is magnetic, so much more of a thoughtful design.

 

[Jmausmuc]

ok...but what's the limit of the price people are gonna get mad? Steve Jobs $10k's NEXT? after 2008, prices remained at the same maximum threshold...over that threshold, the vessel is sinking and people may run (Steve Jobs' experience)....I think that the complaints, 95%, are not essentially for the touch bar and connectors but for the NEW prices.....Apple products are already expensive even they are durable....it's already a BIG effort for many mac users to upgrade....they will find themselves out of the macOS that they really love.....and that is depressing!

I only complain about the price. I like the new MacBooks themselves. But the price in combination with the Skylake processors is a deal breaker for me.

 

[moonjelly]

The touch bar is silly. As a designer I want to interact with my models on screen. Making my Wacom tablet obsolete. As much as I love Mac, maybe it's time to let go. The Surface studio and book have so much more potential.

Perfectly legitimate if your work benefits from touch screen. Maybe there is a market for a 15" iPad Pro, with extra cores and RAM. There are certainly desk top and creative applications expanding onto that platform. And you have the option to easily attach or detach the keyboard, which seems much more flexible than laptop form factor, if touchscreen is a priority.

I agree - Surface is ahead in that arena.

I think I will always prefer having a pristine workstation display, and a detachable tablet dedicated to my fingerprints. The pen support on the iPad pro combined with the ability to take my project to the couch or hammock has been pretty tempting.

 

[chiefsilverback]

You mean like encryption?

Isn't it more than just encryption though? TouchID on a wireless keyboard would effectively mean Macs could be unlocked via a bluetooth command, so they would need to do a lot of validation and authentication of the command coming from what is ostensibly a 'dumb' peripheral. This would require the keyboard to have far more technology in it then it does today, substantially increasing the price. Based on the MacBook Pros, the TouchBar costs ~$500, who's going to pay $600 for a keyboard?

 

[sofila]

But that's not even the biggest problem the biggest problem is, they've gimped the standard MBP 13 inch version. WTF would have been the problem with keeping it more oldschool, keep the old ports add the 2 tunderbolt ports, keep the design language and just improve the damn specs...I would have paid 1.700 bucks for that

This is the point. Apple don't want you to choose for the cheaper way. And just to be sure you're not going to have bad ideas, directly removes the cheaper choice

 

[myscrnnm]

Isn't it more than just encryption though? TouchID on a wireless keyboard would effectively mean Macs could be unlocked via a bluetooth command, so they would need to do a lot of validation and authentication of the command coming from what is ostensibly a 'dumb' peripheral. This would require the keyboard to have far more technology in it then it does today, substantially increasing the price. Based on the MacBook Pros, the TouchBar costs ~$500, who's going to pay $600 for a keyboard?

Will people please stop this "$500 Touch Bar" nonsense? Are you all just going to ignore the new Skylake CPUs, 2133MHz RAM, faster SSDs, Thunderbolt 3, butterfly keyboard, larger trackpad, new displays with wider color gamut and higher brightness, and of course slimmer form factor? Yes, as far as development and manufacturing costs go, the OLED Touch Bar is probably one of the largest expenses, but it's not like that's the only thing Apple changed on the MacBook Pro. This generation is a complete redesign (personally, I think it's more significant than the 2012 redesign was over the 2008 model), so of course it's going to cost more initially.

 

[chiefsilverback]

Will people please stop this "$500 Touch Bar" nonsense? Are you all just going to ignore the new Skylake CPUs, 2133MHz RAM, faster SSDs, Thunderbolt 3, butterfly keyboard, larger trackpad, new displays with wider color gamut and higher brightness, and of course slimmer form factor? Yes, as far as development and manufacturing costs go, the OLED Touch Bar is probably one of the largest expenses, but it's not like that's the only thing Apple changed on the MacBook Pro. This generation is a complete redesign (personally, I think it's more significant than the 2012 redesign was over the 2008 model), so of course it's going to cost more initially.

I stand corrected, the price difference between the entry level new 13" MBP and the TouchBar enabled version is $300. Assume the higher specs on processor are worth $100, that's still $200 for the TouchBar, so who's going to pay $300 for a wireless keyboard?

 

[colbertnation]

He really does seem like the last surviving remnant of the Jobs era. He should be the CEO. Tim has no clue. I doubt he knows anything else besides increasing profits. Which is what he's supposed to do, as CEO. But he doesn't have any vision.

Increasing profits and having great products doesn't have to be mutually exclusive. Satya of Microsoft is the perfect current example. A product oriented CEO that's increased Microsoft's profits while pushing out genuinely great products for consumers and enterprise. Look at how well MSFT stock is performing under him (all time highs), and look at the burgeoning Microsoft product offerings.

That's what happens when you put a product oriented leader with a vision in charge (Steve Jobs, Satya Nadella, etc.): great products will automatically lead to higher profits. But the pursuit of higher profits rarely leads to great products.

 

[Ramius]

Perfectly legitimate if your work benefits from touch screen. Maybe there is a market for a 15" iPad Pro, with extra cores and RAM. There are certainly desk top and creative applications expanding onto that platform. And you have the option to easily attach or detach the keyboard, which seems much more flexible than laptop form factor, if touchscreen is a priority.

I agree - Surface is ahead in that arena.

I think I will always prefer having a pristine workstation display, and a detachable tablet dedicated to my fingerprints. The pen support on the iPad pro combined with the ability to take my project to the couch or hammock has been pretty tempting.

Holy hell guys.

This whole topic made me just want to check whats newest in the competition. And since Apple insists on not including touch in their screen, but now has in reality included a small touch screen on the keyboard, and expanded their existing multi touch pad, Microsoft has done something alot smarter.

They just allowed you to detach the whole screen and re-attach it in reverse. So you can use it as a tablet with extra battery and processor power. I actually am seriously considering it. They have really improved in the industrial design department too. Anyone who has this Surface book?

Honestly I´m actually surprised Apple didnt think of this and DO THIS.

 

[Grohowiak]

Holy hell guys.

This whole topic made me just want to check whats newest in the competition. And since Apple insists on not including touch in their screen, but now has in reality included a small touch screen on the keyboard, and expanded their existing multi touch pad, Microsoft has done something alot smarter.

They just allowed you to detach the whole screen and re-attach it in reverse. So you can use it as a tablet with extra battery and processor power. I actually am seriously considering it. They have really improved in the industrial design department too. Anyone who has this Surface book?

Honestly I´m actually surprised Apple didnt think of this and DO THIS.

I got few people at the office that use them and they love them.
Two of them were previous MBP users that were mac "attached" since 2006.