New MacBook Pro Reviews Mixed as Touch Bar Called Everything From 'Useful' to 'Gimmick'

[b656]

just bought maxed out 2015 MBP instead.
Deciding factor
1) Keyboard (tried the 13" model at the apple store and truly hated it.)
2) Touchbar (didn't even have to try..... apple when you have something like surfaceStudio we'll talk.)
3) Price

 

[BootsWalking]

I think everyone's expectation was sky high because it took apple so long to update the laptop, but I agree with you, what else could they have done?

A 2-in-1 foldable Macbook Pro with a touchscreen would have done the trick I think.

 

[Maxx Power]

While I'm absolutely certain that Apple will spend its resources to polish the Touch Bar and associated applications to get the most out of it, I am still very concerned with certain usage scenarios for touch-typists. I prefer not looking at my keyboard when typing, is the Touch Bar going to rehabilitate me to constantly take my eyes off of the screen and onto the keyboard ?

 

[TechZeke]

If you primarily use your mac with a mouse, the Touch Pad will "do nothing for you."

If you primarily use an external monitor, the Retina display will "do nothing for you".

If you primarily keep your data on external hard drives, the fast SSD will do very little for you.

If you primarily run Windows on your Mac, MacOS will "do nothing for you".

If you primarily watch TV in your living room, or play touch football in the park, your MBP in your briefcase will "do nothing for you."

If you're a reviewer who doesn't use his laptop as a laptop, your review will do nothing for me.

Very True.

I promise you NO-ONE in the industry will copy this. The industry uses full touch screens, and because Apple waited too long and bashed touch-screens, being to prideful is now trying to catch up with a gimmick. A gimmick that doesn't do anything a touch screen laptop can't do better.

PC manufacturers have been trying to do gimmicky things with the function row or area above the function row for years.
However, I think Apple made the right choice in focusing on trackpads instead of touchscreens. I enjoy my Surface Pro 4, but I mainly use the touch screen for drawing. Most of the PC laptops with touch screens simply have horrible trackpads and even mediocre touch screens. For an OS designed to use a precision pointer like mouse, a good trackpad does more good than a touch screen. I have no desire for a touch screen on my rMBP.

 

[Bubba Satori]

But hey its still useful for emojis!

"Language is over rated. Courageous emojis are insanely great." Tim Wittgenstein

 

[MH01]

There lies the problem. There is not a significant performance update since 2013....

These review are fine and all, I'll reserve my judgement for when my machine arrives later this week.

 

[oneMadRssn]

If a product/feature is too soon to review then it's too soon to buy as well.

I agree. This can be said about pretty much every new feature ever introduced. When it's too new, and there is not a critical mass of app support for the feature, there is not much benefit from it. Only those that love to be on the cutting edge and are willing to pay for it and deal with the inevitable bugs should buy it.

3D Touch on iPhone last year was like that. This year, a good number of apps support it.
The original Apple Watch was like that. Now there are plenty of apps for it.
Retina on the iPhone 4 was not really useful until a year later when most apps were upgraded to support it.

 

[Maxx Power]

As a touch-typist, I really do not like the tactile feedback of the new keyboard either. Seems to me that the best, most touch-typist friendly keyboard was on the non-retina models that ended about half a decade ago.

 

[lysingur]

It's not being too prideful. The Mac is going away.

Apple doesn't want to go through the painful transition that Windows went through to make PCs touch-friendly. MS had no choice.

Apple already has a very successful multitouch platform and they'll focus on evolving that and it will eventually do everything the Mac does and more.

Not really. They would then face the same challenge of making pointer device work for a primarily touch-oriented platform. Either way, the challenge is there and there is no way to avoid it. Either come out with a platform that works for key, pointer and touch or accept a compromise and a lesser user experience. Microsoft has taken on that challenge and it's true that they've stumbled and doesn't have a whole lot to show for at this moment but they're on the right path. The same cannot be said of Apple. The new MacBook Pro feels like a product in an eternal limbo, unsure if it wants to embrace a new type of input or steadfastly stick to the old and known.

 

[redheeler]

I think everyone's expectation was sky high because it took apple so long to update the laptop, but I agree with you, what else could they have done?

16 GB RAM to start out on the 13", as well as a bump in screen resolution, to justify the high cost of the upgrade. A MagSafe USB-C port, leaving in a USB-A port (or at the very least include a USB-C to USB-A adapter in the box) and SD card slot. As for Touch Bar vs. Touchscreen, the lack of a touchscreen on a Mac doesn't bother me, and I never expected Apple to introduce one.

 

[Cole Slaw]

So they should add the Touch Bar to external iMac keyboards?

I wouldn't count on that when you consider they can't even come up with a backlit (external) keyboard.

 

[GabrielMoro]

Seeing a person using it makes me think it's even worse than I first thought. Geez, you have to remember the settings for each app or look at it constantly to use some features that could be done in a second using the natural keyboard.

 

[swester]

Heck, they should've made a 15" without the Touch Bar and started it at $1999. Those would have actually been a fairly good deal for those of us who don't need this yet.

 

[kemal]

I seem to remember a story about Steve Jobs prying the row of function keys off an Apple Extended keyboard with his car keys. I bet he would like this touch bar a lot.

 

[heimo]

Useful gimmick may not sound too positive but it's still much better than what Apple is trying to achieve 2017. Next year we will get new iMacs and Mac mini and the word is already out there - they're not a complete and utter disaster.

 

[AppleNewton]

The specs otherwise are quite nice, 2.9Ghz i7 + 4GB GPU and 2TB SSD. not bad. steep pricing, but overall a powerful machine. Just wish the 13-inch obtained at least a dedicate GPU, and quad core would have been nice..but at this point its not fundamentally necessary as theyre still good CPUs. But does not negate it as a pro machine IMO.

I think the Thunderbolt 3/USB-C, heres hoping the next gen iPad has that instead of Lightning...keep a fluid consistency.

 

[Mildredop]

I honestly think they're not too prideful. Have you used a touchscreen for professional work? I have and it's horrible. You have to clean it everyday and the smudges get in the way of my color grading and overlay work.

If touchscreen isn't any good for your line of work, don't use it. But it'd be good to have the option.

 

[wilhelmer]

I didn't know it turns of after 85 seconds...I imagine it gets super annoying to keep waking it up every time you want to do something. It's good I'll never buy one....

Yeah that's pretty awkward. Didn't know either.

 

[efktd]

Which is why I'm shopping for a used space grey MacBook for around $1,000.

 

[appbear]

I use clamshell mode 90% of the time now so the Touch Bar would be useless for me. I think I'll go for another 2-3 years on my late-2103 rMBP.

Wish I had your time machine !

 

[vkd]

If you primarily use the MacBook Pro with a Thunderbolt Display and keyboard, for example, he said the Touch Bar will "do nothing for you."

I am so glad he pointed that fact out for us, it really required somebody of acute perception to resolve that great doubt.

 

[Trusteft]

I think everyone's expectation was sky high because it took apple so long to update the laptop, but I agree with you, what else could they have done?

Remove the touchbar, have a sd card slot, allow 32GB of ram and none of the BS about battery life, and perhaps cut 300-400 from the price.

 

[niun]

I think everyone's expectation was sky high because it took apple so long to update the laptop, but I agree with you, what else could they have done?

I don't think they needed to do anything!
A speed bump on the previous one, more battery, more GPU Oomph, a couple of USB-C ports along with a USB-A, SD Card and a lower price point. Hell, even a delay for the next round of processors.

More, not less for more would have nailed it on a Pro machine.

 

[Bubba Satori]

Next year we will get new iMacs and Mac mini and the word is already out there - they're not a complete and utter disaster.

Source?

 

[Mr. Dee]

The keyboard is the worst part of this revision. Honestly, I think Apple should consider returning to the previous chassis with better key travel.