A touchscreen wouldn't be "particularly useful" or particularly profitable? I completely understand if having a touchscreen would undermine ipad sales, Apple is a smart company.
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MacBook Pro Touch Bar's T1 Chip Runs 'Variant' of watchOS, Also Secures Touch ID and FaceTime Camera [Updated]
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You don't see them as innovative bc you don't understand the technical challenges they presented. I could give you a good long technical explanation for these, but I rather spend my time elsewhere.
On the other hand, Microsoft revealed their products without those features AND still at that price.
That has not been talked about yet. They would have to be incorporating it into a new keyboard.
Are you arguing that the Function keys were more useful than the touchbar?
It may not be the most useful thing ever, but it's a good deal more useful than the function keys were.
"“This week marks the 25th anniversary of Apple’s first notebook; through the years each generation has introduced new innovations and capabilities, and it’s fitting that this all-new generation of MacBook Pro is the biggest leap forward yet,” said Philip Schiller"
Wow! The chutzpah!
The bar is a nice touch, literally. But a leap it is not (unless into desperation)!
We get a Touch Bar to pick emoticons and fingerprint authentication (on the most expensive models only, even though they have been on cheap Windows laptops for years now).
The competition does stuff like this:
http://bgr.com/2016/10/17/lenovo-yoga-book-review-release-date/
Wow! The chutzpah!
The bar is a nice touch, literally. But a leap it is not (unless into desperation)!
We get a Touch Bar to pick emoticons and fingerprint authentication (on the most expensive models only, even though they have been on cheap Windows laptops for years now).
The competition does stuff like this:
http://bgr.com/2016/10/17/lenovo-yoga-book-review-release-date/
It's a easier and faster way to securely log into your mac without having to type in a password. At least for those of us that don't have an apple watch. But you're right, not a huge selling point, just a bonus for those who are going to purchase a new macbook pro.
Use the mouse. There is software on my Mac and iPhone I don't use. It's ok. We don't have to use every feature of every device.No idea how you can edit video with the precision that is possible with a mouse. It's probably another gimmick (as opposed to an innovation) but I'll await judgement until I try one in the store. Nevertheless if it means taking eyes off the screen it'll instantly negate any advantage of any intended ergonomic integration - and it's wayyyyy too expensive which means even if it's useful then I can't afford one anyway. Oh no!
Oh come on mate, you only do this for a living. These commenters in Mac Rumours who've only ever played with iMovie for 10 minutes have a far better idea of how it'll work, and it's rubbish and they't afford it anyone, so.
I can think of a lot more useful functionality that could have been added instead of the touchbar, esp. for the premium that Apple is charging for it.
Now that you say it I think that a virtual touch bar on the screen with either a narrow banded trackpad or using the top (or bottom) of the existing trackpad on the laptop would actually make more sense since you could actually see where your finger/pointer is. There's a reason the keyboard with every key being a mini-LCD didn't take off - it's overkill and users didn't see enough ROI.
[doublepost=1477674185][/doublepost]I'm almost as excited about the Touch Pad as I am the revolutionary Digital Crown.
But the Surface Studio is pretty amazing. This is a weak upgrade wrapped in a really really weak gimmick.
Touch bar is a gimmick? Don't be ridiculous. Content aware function bar that replaces 14 fixed plastic keys is a gimmick? /facepalm.
Agreed. I typically look down when I am using the function row to change volume, or keyboard or screen brightness anyways so not sure this will be an inconvenience. I obviously know the general area to go for the key but do most people have those ones fully memorized?
There's a lot of negativity here on macrumors and it's hard to get away from. There was a couple of thousand posts yesterday reacting to the new MacBook Pro and the majority were negative. People are more inclined to post when they want to give out about something rather than praise it. The only negative i can think of is the price but then again it is 2016 and the price was always gonna rise. Yeah the ports were removed but as a mature student in my freshman year at college the majority of 17/18 year olds laugh at USB sticks. They all use google drive or an equivalent. In a few years time we will have forgotten entirely about USB A and the new macs have 4 of the best ports available. MagSafe will be missed but I know for a fact there will be approved charging leads with the feature. For anyone interested I was a MacBook Pro owner from 2009-2012 until an incident with water destroyed it and I returned to windows. I missed OS X/macOS very much but couldn't afford another MacBook Pro (I like to have the flagship models of things) I finally saved enough and the price hike hurt a little but hasn't deterred me. Can't wait for my new mac to arrive.
I would argue that is is actually less useful than function keys to pros. Almost anyone that works with a computer full time does not look at their keyboard while they use it. The reason for this is every time you look away from the screen you lose a lot of time and waste a lot of mental processing power. And how do people do this? By learning the layout of their keyboard. The
bar means that you lose this connection. Rather than immediately interacting with the application using mouse or keyboard, you now have to look down. And every app will have a different layout. And there is no tactile feedback at all. Compare the the Surface Studio, where you can touch the thing you are interested in or place a physical object on the screen and interact with it.
The
bar is essentially a pathetic halfway-house between touchscreen and passive screen. Microsoft might have blundered around trying to do this for years, but they have made it out the other side in a big way.It wasn't that long ago that the argument was "how can you edit video with the precision possible with a jogwheel when using a mouse?"
The magnetic timeline in FCPX answers most of your question.
[doublepost=1477675144][/doublepost]
A lot of people seem to think that being hypercritical makes them appear smarter. It doesn't.
How about a matching virtual touch bar on-screen that tracks your finger across it so your eyes never leave the screen? It doesn't have to overshadow the content on the screen.
If you're using the iPad Pro docked, you should know all the keyboard shortcuts to navigate around iOS easily. Rarely have I ever touched my iPad Air 2 screen when it's docked on a keyboard. Apple needs more keyboard commands for iOS.
When drawing or performing actual touch required things, your iPad really shouldn't be docked. This is especially when using the Apple Pencil.
Please don't. The cynics here don't appreciate input from people that actually might find Apple products useful.
I don't know about that. I spent 35+ years as a technical writer and editor, I've been touch typing for (hmmm...carry the three...) right on 50 years, and still generally glance down at the keyboard to use the function keys. The touchbar seems a lot more flexible to me than a fixed set of physical keys on the upper row of the keyboard.
You don't have to close the MBP when you connect to an external monitor, you know. I almost never do, the laptop's screen is too useful just keeping palettes and the like away from the image on the external screen.