Former Apple Employee Thinks Touch Bar Shouldn't Be Forced on Users Who Want Highest-End MacBook Pro

The fact that you have zero ability to use the touchbar in Linux (should you so desire to use your Mac as the x86 PC it really is) and the following link are valid reasons to oppose the Touch Bar: https://blog.eriknicolasgomez.com/2...new-os-activation-for-touch-bar-macbook-pros/

And it only gets worse with the T2 on the new ones (and the iMac Pro): https://www.macworld.com/article/32...e-imac-pro-the-start-of-a-mac-revolution.html

https://appleinsider.com/articles/1...me-camera-functions-previously-managed-by-cpu

Otherwise, it's a gimmick that you can mostly ignore.
 
MobiusStrip said:
The "touch bar" is embarrassing junk. First, it deletes a dozen keys we actually used. Second, it can't be configured to replace them, because it's not palpable and you have to stare down at it to use it. We learned to type for a reason, and that reason is to NOT LOOK AT THE KEYBOARD.

And, after all this, Apple still petulantly refuses to put a real Delete key on its keyboards. Seriously, WTF is wrong with this company? Every other manufacturer manages to put a Delete key on even their smallest keyboards, but Apple only gives you a Backspace key that's mislabeled "delete." You know, I don't backspace files off my desktop. I don't backspace E-mails out of my In box. Or anything else.

So I figure, well, at least I should be able to turn this moronic "touch bar" into one big Delete key finally, right? NOPE. You can't add Delete to the touch bar, even as an option.

Up yours, Jony Ive. You're a pompous hack.
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Agree 1000%. Next they will be putting square wheels on cars. Because they look cool.
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joeswamp said:
The lack of a physical escape key means that large numbers of people (including me) simply cannot buy a machine with a touchbar, period. It's amazing that a company this big could mess up their product line so quickly.
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Agree 1000%. Some things, like the keyboard, just need to be left alone! Hear that Airlines? Stop making the seats smaller. For any reason, ever! Apple, the same to you with keyboards!
 
Cape Dave said:
Agree 1000%. Some things, like the keyboard, just need to be left alone! Hear that Airlines? Stop making the seats smaller. For any reason, ever! Apple, the same to you with keyboards!
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Yup.

Things like muscle memory are important. The touchbar is something that i do not believe belongs on a Mac.

iPad? Sure. But more and more the Mac is being relegated to niche "real work" (lol) device vs. the iOS platform and this just doesn't help that.

If they wanted to build an emoji entering device for Mac they should have put a display in the trackpad. Hold down the FN key or whatever and the touchpad becomes a big emoji (or colour wheel, or whatever) picker.

DON'T replace physical keys that people actually use and have muscle memory for with a non-tactile display that you need to look at because you can't feel what you're touching.
 
It is kind of gimmicky, in some cases I find it useful but it's rare. I do however think it's the right move, I rarely use the fn keys. ESC is kind of weird to get used to but it works.
 
throAU said:
Yup.

Things like muscle memory are important. The touchbar is something that i do not believe belongs on a Mac.

iPad? Sure. But more and more the Mac is being relegated to niche "real work" (lol) device vs. the iOS platform and this just doesn't help that.

If they wanted to build an emoji entering device for Mac they should have put a display in the trackpad. Hold down the FN key or whatever and the touchpad becomes a big emoji (or colour wheel, or whatever) picker.

DON'T replace physical keys that people actually use and have muscle memory for with a non-tactile display that you need to look at because you can't feel what you're touching.
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Me, I would never ever buy a laptop that had that crappy lightbar thing. Change for the sake of change is just a waste of time and money. And usually has a bad result. In this case, less sales.
 
Cape Dave said:
Me, I would never ever buy a laptop that had that crappy lightbar thing. Change for the sake of change is just a waste of time and money. And usually has a bad result. In this case, less sales.
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throAU said:
Yup.

Things like muscle memory are important. The touchbar is something that i do not believe belongs on a Mac.

iPad? Sure. But more and more the Mac is being relegated to niche "real work" (lol) device vs. the iOS platform and this just doesn't help that.

If they wanted to build an emoji entering device for Mac they should have put a display in the trackpad. Hold down the FN key or whatever and the touchpad becomes a big emoji (or colour wheel, or whatever) picker.

DON'T replace physical keys that people actually use and have muscle memory for with a non-tactile display that you need to look at because you can't feel what you're touching.
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Definitely belongs on a Mac. The biggest mistake was just not putting it up above the existing function row. That way no one could complain that anything was being taken away- only added- so i agree with you on that bit. The other mistake was not immediately bringing it to desktop Macs. There are lots of creative app uses for the touchbar, as an additional independent context sensitive touch control/slider. So it is for "real work" if you consider video and audio apps to be real work:rolleyes:. But I actually use mostly desktops, so I can't even use this feature.
 
AgustoPinochet said:
It is kind of gimmicky, in some cases I find it useful but it's rare. I do however think it's the right move, I rarely use the fn keys. ESC is kind of weird to get used to but it works.
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The bigger issue to me isn’t the existence of the bar but that software designers haven’t figured out how to use it in their programs yet. so it still feels like a gimmick. There’s a part of me that wishes there was a way to do the adapting presentation on all the keys so that it will adjust to the language you have set, or the hot keys for things like Final Cut Pro. No more covering up keys with a cover or stickers. And I think Apple might be thinking that direction at some point, but they have to get the tech working better so their ‘beta’ is the bar.
 
charlituna said:
The bigger issue to me isn’t the existence of the bar but that software designers haven’t figured out how to use it in their programs yet.
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That should tell you something right there. First of all, why would a developer spend engineering and design time on something that doesn't exist on ALL keyboards, or even all of Apple's keyboards?

Second, you're not supposed to be staring at your keyboard while using an application. Developers should spend their time designing on-screen UI that works, in concert with the standard pointing devices available.

Finally, Apple's keyboards were already gimped by their baffling lack of a real Delete key. Every other vendor of even small keyboards manages to put a Delete key on them, but Apple only gives us a Backspace key mislabeled "delete." The elimination of the Eject function freed up a key to use for Delete, but no... Apple managed to do NOTHING with the extra key. With function keys, you could at least use Karabiner to remap F12 to be Delete.

But I checked the "touch bar" customization options and sure enough, Delete isn't one of the keys you can put in there. Then there are the actual professional users, who use function keys to step through code while looking at the screen. The lack of palpable buttons on this asinine strip hoses them too.

Apple deleted a dozen useful keys and replaced them with an embarrassing emoji bar that makes the word "pro" a monumental joke in the name of its product.
 
MobiusStrip said:
That should tell you something right there. First of all, why would a developer spend engineering and design time on something that doesn't exist on ALL keyboards, or even all of Apple's keyboards?

Second, you're not supposed to be staring at your keyboard while using an application. Developers should spend their time designing on-screen UI that works, in concert with the standard pointing devices available.

Finally, Apple's keyboards were already gimped by their baffling lack of a real Delete key. Every other vendor of even small keyboards manages to put a Delete key on them, but Apple only gives us a Backspace key mislabeled "delete." The elimination of the Eject function freed up a key to use for Delete, but no... Apple managed to do NOTHING with the extra key. With function keys, you could at least use Karabiner to remap F12 to be Delete.

But I checked the "touch bar" customization options and sure enough, Delete isn't one of the keys you can put in there. Then there are the actual professional users, who use function keys to step through code while looking at the screen. The lack of palpable buttons on this asinine strip hoses them too.

Apple deleted a dozen useful keys and replaced them with an embarrassing emoji bar that makes the word "pro" a monumental joke in the name of its product.
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Finally! Someone who gets it! Thank you for your intelligent clarity. That piece of crap has NO BUSINESS on a keyboard. If the software is not functional, fix the SOFTWARE, not the keyboard.
 
Blizzardman said:
I actually find it quite useful when I use BetterTouchTool to have easy view of widgets no matter what app I am using or while I am in fullscreen.
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I was going to recommend it. It costs about £6 and I love it. You can customise the touch bar along with the other input devices. I can switch to dark mode with one touch, for example.
 
MacRumors said:



Chuq Von Rospach, a writer and former Apple employee, has penned a blog post in which he opines that customers shouldn't be forced to pay extra for the Touch Bar in order to have the highest-end MacBook Pro currently available.

touch-bar-mbp-800x451.jpg
In other words, Rospach believes Apple should sell a 15-inch MacBook Pro configuration without a Touch Bar, and he isn't the only one with that opinion. A quick check of Twitter reveals dozens of users who believe the Touch Bar is a gimmick.

After purchasing a new 5K iMac and migrating away from his late 2016 MacBook Pro, Rospach said he didn't miss the Touch Bar at all and missed the Touch ID fingerprint sensor only "a little bit," but "a lot less" than he expected to.Rospach thinks Apple needs to either expand Touch Bar and Touch ID to its entire Mac lineup with a new standalone keyboard, which would be compatible with iMac, Mac Pro, and Mac mini desktops, or expand its notebook lineup to include more models without the Touch Bar going forward.Beyond old models, the lowest-end 13-inch model is currently the only MacBook Pro with a standard row of function keys. It starts at $1,299.

Via: The Loop and Techmeme

Article Link: Former Apple Employee Thinks Touch Bar Shouldn't Be Forced on Users Who Want Highest-End MacBook Pro
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[doublepost=1544739490][/doublepost]And why is his opinion important? Come on guys...
 
Why is this newsworthy?

Opinions are like *******s: Everyone has one and they usually stink.
 
I love the Touch Bar. It has made me 2 x more productive. It was very painful to become disciplined enough to use it but it really does make me so much quicker. Especially in Keynote and Mail. I can definitely see why some would think that it’s a gimmick but when I’m on my 12 inch MacBook I really really miss it. It almost makes me never use my Macbook anymore because Keynote is such a big part of my workflow.
 
appleofmyibook said:
I love the Touch Bar. It has made me 2 x more productive. It was very painful to become disciplined enough to use it but it really does make me so much quicker. Especially in Keynote and Mail. I can definitely see why some would think that it’s a gimmick but when I’m on my 12 inch MacBook I really really miss it. It almost makes me never use my Macbook anymore because Keynote is such a big part of my workflow.
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The exception that proves the rule :)
 
MacRumors said:



Chuq Von Rospach, a writer and former Apple employee, has penned a blog post in which he opines that customers shouldn't be forced to pay extra for the Touch Bar in order to have the highest-end MacBook Pro currently available.

touch-bar-mbp-800x451.jpg
In other words, Rospach believes Apple should sell a 15-inch MacBook Pro configuration without a Touch Bar, and he isn't the only one with that opinion. A quick check of Twitter reveals dozens of users who believe the Touch Bar is a gimmick.

After purchasing a new 5K iMac and migrating away from his late 2016 MacBook Pro, Rospach said he didn't miss the Touch Bar at all and missed the Touch ID fingerprint sensor only "a little bit," but "a lot less" than he expected to.Rospach thinks Apple needs to either expand Touch Bar and Touch ID to its entire Mac lineup with a new standalone keyboard, which would be compatible with iMac, Mac Pro, and Mac mini desktops, or expand its notebook lineup to include more models without the Touch Bar going forward.Beyond old models, the lowest-end 13-inch model is currently the only MacBook Pro with a standard row of function keys. It starts at $1,299.

Via: The Loop and Techmeme

Article Link: Former Apple Employee Thinks Touch Bar Shouldn't Be Forced on Users Who Want Highest-End MacBook Pro
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I’m ex Apple and totally agree- Gimmick!! Makes this spoof look plausible
 
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