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

Cole Slaw said:
So touchscreen IS professional, according to Apple, on an iOS device (iPad Pro), but NOT professional on an OS/X (MacOS) machine?
Got it.
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That is correct. And I'm not defending the position but Apple has been pretty clear and vocal about their opposition to touchscreen laptops because they view the natural input and style of use to be different. Touch is obviously king on tablets for a reason, but laptops?

I'm in the camp that doesn't care for touchscreen laptops at all. I think it's pretty gimmicky but that's because of my workflow.
 
So, after all Tim fans insisted again and again that the new MBP was an awesome update, the obvious got finally obvious even for them: New MBP review = Touch Bar review
 
The Touch Bar will suit my needs fine. Although, the auto-dimming function would be nice if there was a way to Control the settings.
 
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ppcebay said:
Hard to review the unit in a couple of days, any reviews saying it is a good thing or a gimmik by using the device a couple of days it is juts looking for headlines!

EDIT:
Christina Warren at Gizmodo said the feature is a "gimmick" that's "not worth the money" yet.

Means had not time to test it as I should, nor apps are out to make use of a new interface....hence too early for a review!
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I don't think it is too early for a review, but it is certainly too early to draw any conclusions about the usefulness of the touch bar. From my perspective, this is like drafting a boom-or-bust player in the NFL. It is either going to be a smash hit with most developers supporting it over the next 12 months or it is going to bust as a niche feature which Apple and only a few developers will be able to utilize. The lynch pin in this discussion may be the developers who may want to support users both with and without the touch bar.
 
Trusteft said:
Are you trolling or just don't know what you are talking about?
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Let's see; Skylake chips only support 16gb of LPDDR3 Ram
The Kaby lake chips supporting LPDD4 (which is needed if you want 32gb ram) aren't out yet.

Would you have expected that Apple made an entirely separate logic board to accommodate 32gb DDR4 for the small amount of users that want 32GB of Ram.

I understand that some users (including you) want 32GB of Ram but with Apple choosing for Lpddr Ram you'll have to wait for Kaby Lake.

Why doesn't the new MacBook Pro have 32 GB of RAM? | iMore
 
They are clearing a space on Apple's museum shelf for the 2016 MacBook Pro right next to the G3 Cube.

Instead of the TouchBar, they should have made the larger trackpad sensitive to the Apple Pencil. That would have been a Pro feature. Then I could have used it on the road without traveling with my Wacom tablet.
 
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Apple is pushing a paradigm shift. It was bound to be controversial. Wonder what people will think in a year when developers have started to take advantage and USB-C becomes prevalent. Someone had to do it.
 
AllergyDoc said:
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.
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Presumably a new Magic Keyboard with the Touch Bar is coming. I don't doubt the new MacBook Pro will support that new Magic Keyboard, so I don't know that clamshell mode means that you shouldn't get it.

Although if you're using clamshell mode 90% of the time, I have to wonder... why not just buy a Mac Mini? You're spending $1K+ extra for the mobility that you use only 10% of the time?
 
AllergyDoc said:
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.
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Me too with my 2012 MBP..be cool if Apple or some other company comes out with a separate keyboard with the touch bar
 
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I really believe in the touch bar is a future step, and not a touch screen laptop!
But i also agree that the function keys should be more convenient than a hustle and right now as apple did it
i thik its wrong.

The best way is to have the function keys as normal and when an app want to change it an image should shine on the touchbar asking you to enable the features so that if you dont want to use it and want the function keys instead you should be able to have them locked there !
 
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MacBook Pro redesigns always come with a higher price tag, I don't know why reviewers seem to be treating this as permanent (although it does make sense when recommending it).

So what if you don't find yourself using the Touch Bar for more advanced functions? It doesn't take away the function it had previously and that doesn't represent the use case of millions that have bought/will be buying it.
It has been out for less than 24 hours and there are complaints about a lack of app support....

The only valid complaint I can see for the longs run is the lack of ports required by professional users.
 
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redheeler said:
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.
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I would have even been happy with 16 in the top model. That was the only BTO change I made and I know that's gonna be standard in the next release too.

I don't know why they didn't just make a USB-C to MagSafe 2 adapter similar to MagSafe 1 to 2. Heaven forbid you quiet all the people who wanted MagSafe and give us a flexible option, and let us use our existing chargers and the chargers on existing monitors.
 
maflynn said:
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?
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Perhaps the realisation that their hobbyist mentality to their supposed 'Pro' line was not only stupid, but ultimately will be destructive to their bottom line? For the price of a fully loaded 15' you get a Razer Blade Pro with a mechanical keyboard, an 8GB GTX 1080, 32GB of memory, a 2TB SSD, and a 17.3" 4K display. Beyond the Apple logo and an OS with an increasingly infantile interface and feature set, what reason at all do professionals, the ones with the money, have to buy into Apple's absurd hardware philosophy?
 
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Derekuda said:
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.
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I guess it depends on how good the touchscreen is and if you use the laptop as a laptop and not with a monitor.
I used my girlfriends HP laptop..had many nice features but the touchscreen and windows is kind of a kludge and when you go to watch a movie or edit a document or video you have crap all over the screen.
I think the touch bar could be handy when you are editing video or audio..I'd rather have it on a stand alone keyboard though.
 
Since the MBP were not updated since a long time (no GPU and no new CPU), users will buy them and Apple will say it was all because of the Touch Bar. The new Apple knows how to move in the corporate world, the user seems to be left behind (No USB3, No MagSafe, no real keyboard)
 
Cole Slaw said:
So touchscreen IS professional, according to Apple, on an iOS device (iPad Pro), but NOT professional on an OS/X (MacOS) machine?
Got it.
Click to expand...
Correct, because they're designed to use in different ways. I personally bought an iPad 2 and it's now sitting in its box. My iPhone is a good size for a touch screen, but I prefer a laptop interface for productivity, and I have no desire for a touch screen. You have to remember that a laptop and a tablet have touchscreens implemented differently. I would find it annoying to use a touch screen at that angle and have to clean off the screen when I'm using it the standard way 99% of the time, and that's what Apple's stance is. I'll probably be purchasing one of these, though. Not for the touch bar, but for everything else and because I could use an upgrade. The touch bar will hopefully be somewhat useful. I would rather have $300 off of a fully loaded 15" than it, though.
 
maflynn said:
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?
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They could have focussed on brute force performance with an albeit slightly thicker pro laptop that was user expandable with a couple of legacy ports to greater enable portability. Possibly kept the card reader, and built in a sim card option.

I'm not saying that these are things I want or not, but there's plenty Apple could have done to update the 'Pro' version of it's laptops.

The Keyboard looks great, the trackpad improved, faster SSD and Graphics - check. But this is more refresh than revolution.

The Touch Bar looks pretty enough, but if one can't see that this is the reality distortion field in full effect then one is probably the right kind of customer for this computer.
 
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thejadedmonkey said:
Nobody really seems to be mentioning the MacBook keyboard on the MacBook Pro. I can't imagine they have anything good to say about it, but it's curious that it's so blatantly ignored.

edit: and when it is mentioned, the reviews are all over the place.
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I've heard night and day reviews on the travel and feel of the keyboard. But the changes Apple made were very minor so it's confusing. Some say it's essentially the same as Macbook keyboard while others say it's completely different and feels great.
 
Trusteft said:
One of the worst reviews (the video) I have ever watched.
I will just copy and paste what I typed on the video's comment section.
Cool shots of the reviewer, terrible review. 3/4 of the review you speak only about the touch bar and not anything else. Shots of the touch bar are too short, bad angles and not enough light in general. Not even mention the specs of the machine you are reviewing. and on and on. One of the least informative reviews I have watched in years.
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tech reviews--certainly at the verge--seem to be more about fim montages of the reviewer using the product than
the product itself. its keeping with a trend toward media self reference. its works when done with humor like joanna stern at wsj. Otherwise i'll take the MobilTechReview approach
 
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