I think a big issue was that it was only available in the MacBook Pro. Hard to get wide adoption if it's not available for only a subset of devices and not all Macs.
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Miss the MacBook Pro's Touch Bar? Check Out the Flexbar
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Been wondering for years why Apple hasn’t done this. Could sell one Mac keyboard across all countries. Could be mapped to each language and modified by users. Makes way more sense than the TouchBar as physical key feedback is what people want and that’s the next way to incrementally innovate.
With that being in mind, if you want to take the risk and fund the project anyway, USE A CREDIT CARD!!!!!! (Not debit card, CREDIT CARD)
Usually if you pay with credit card, and the product is not delivered or service wasn’t offered, then you can dispute the charges and let them know what happened. Normally credit card companies will credit you for service or product that was not delivered at all.
Stop using logic, please. Did the touchbar hurt you? Where did the touch bar touch you?
Yeah that’s totally fair.
If nothing else, it should have been added to the Magic Keyboard.
but ideally also to the non-pro Macbooks
It would still be a nice Magic Keyboard addition.
Here is one example:
I posted a reply after the article was published about the mistake/error (included a picture as well). But the information has still never been corrected. Maybe they never saw my comment though. That’s certainly possible.
But it wasn’t the first time I posted a similar comment in November about the same thing happening. Before November as well, but especially in November.
So if I’m looking a little skeptically at MacRumors, it’s because I’ve been seeing these “all-time low” mistakes/errors quite a few time in recent weeks (without any corrections once the mistakes/errors have been pointed out).
Edit: Here is another example below. In this other “all-time low” article, I made a comment about the mistake/error. (And I know it was not an all-time low because — days earlier — I had bought it when it actually was at the all-time low.)
This mistake/error has also never been corrected.
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IMO Function keys are worthless as static buttons.
Paraphrase of Mr Jobs perhaps (2007 iPhone keynote), but once a device is shipped you can't change a button. The function keys here in (almost) 2025 make sense in some context, so bringing them up in a Touch Bar for coding, linux situations makes sense, many other applications, a worthless and pointless waste of device space.
FWIW I do use terminal and do some (albeit) minor coding. Pull them up when needed (Touch Bar), drop them for better controls per application. I love my M2 and M3 Pro systems, but greatly miss the Touch Bar whenever I am working in FCPx.
Why not bring back the typewriter carriage return lever if we want to hold onto antiques on our modern M-Series systems. /s
Paraphrase of Mr Jobs perhaps (2007 iPhone keynote), but once a device is shipped you can't change a button. The function keys here in (almost) 2025 make sense in some context, so bringing them up in a Touch Bar for coding, linux situations makes sense, many other applications, a worthless and pointless waste of device space.
FWIW I do use terminal and do some (albeit) minor coding. Pull them up when needed (Touch Bar), drop them for better controls per application. I love my M2 and M3 Pro systems, but greatly miss the Touch Bar whenever I am working in FCPx.
Why not bring back the typewriter carriage return lever if we want to hold onto antiques on our modern M-Series systems. /s
The Touch Bar sucked, except for BetterTouchTool, which made it work like it should have (as a customizable global shortcut and dashboard bar rather than dumb replacements for hot keys).
If they can work with Folivora to get support for their hardware, they could have a winner on their hands.
If they can work with Folivora to get support for their hardware, they could have a winner on their hands.
A combination of cost and battery life I'm sure.
For starters, keys need to be extremely durable as you're basically punching them with your fingers non-stop all day. Some people punch harder than others. Screens work best with some form of glass so this punching risks breaking that glass. Especially when it is as small as a key. That leads to a very expensive design to manufacture, to warranty, and to service.
Then you have the battery drain of the keys. Since they are now a screen they have to always be powered and will need to be constantly refreshed as all displays do (well except eInk, but that's not what anyone is talking about here).
Both of those alone will likely keep this from ever happening...
This could have been a success if it was backed by Elgato as part of the Stream Deck family. Like a portable Stream Deck….
I don’t think it would take much battery life. They could be fairly low resolution. The thing is, at least Apple could use aluminum machined keys… But I still think the future is OLED keys with displays on them. Better idea than the touch bar ever was. The touchbar would have done better if it was just above the keyboard instead or replacing keys.
I'd use this. I hate going to the menu up top to get to my emojis. lol. I bet there's a keyboard command, but I haven't figured it out.
Apple research showed a Touch Bar was a unsatisfactory substitute for a physical row of function keys. While this product can be used as a supplement.
Personally, i liked it but i hated it because it took the physical function keys, especially the Esc key.
If they bring it back without removing those keys, i would be happy.