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

Grolubao said:
I want a 15" laptop and it's unfortunate there was no touch bar option on the 15" otherwise that's what I would have gotten
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According to Ars Technica, you're set for a good while with a 2013 - so buy a refurb sans magic special Apple bar - and crappy battery life and the dongle port?

In the end, we can expect as much demand and usage for it as the firewire port and the thunderbolt port.

It was fine when Apple added that junk as "extra specials" on top of what we actually needed - but seriously, REPLACING the function keys? And the sad little dongle port?

That there's mah dongle - hands off, don't ye touch it! Can't do nuttin' without it. I says HANDS OFF MAH DONGLE!
 
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Mildredop said:
If touchscreen isn't any good for your line of work, don't use it. But it'd be good to have the option.
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Throw an iPad onto the guts and keyboard of a MBP. Wait.... MS has done it already. Seperately upgradeable. Two different entitities. With in reason pick the chasis and iPad that is right for you. Completely interchangeable.
 
ipedro said:
It's a "gimmick" until the rest of the industry copies it next year.

I think it's a great use of space otherwise occupied by little used function keys.

For a generation used to contextual keys, it's the best hybrid between real keyboard and one tap access to functions that would be hidden in complex shortcuts or under a hierarchy of menus. Going from iOS to macOS felt increasingly jarring and unnecessarily laborious.
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The rest of the industry is limited by Microsoft Windows, they won't copy it, because the software won't work with whatever screens they put there.
 
hackenbacker said:
Adding a touch bar, rather than making the whole screen touch sensitive, is not necessarily a bad idea.

But removing the function keys - which have useful system functions for most people, and are really essential for some, like developers - is an absolutely TERRIBLE idea.

It has, at a stroke, made the MacBook Pro less useful for anyone that is visually impaired.

If you are going to introduce the touch bar, then it should have been placed above or below the screen, where you are already looking for visual information. At worst, it could have been placed above the standard function row of the keyboard.

But to remove the function row. No. Just no.
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I'd guess that most users don't really use the FN keys much. Not many programs took advantage of them. It's a throwback to the DOS and early Mac eras.
 
MacRumors said:
When running Linux, however, he said the basic function keys available in Windows don't appear until the Boot Camp installer has installed all the necessary drivers.​
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Wow, wait, wait, wait: Apple offers Boot Camp drivers for Linux now? When did this happen and why didn't I hear about it?
 
MacRumors said:
Cunningham noted the Touch Bar's display dims after 60 seconds and turns off completely after 85 seconds to preserve battery life. You can tap the Touch Bar, the keyboard, or the trackpad to wake it back up. He said there is no option to change this behavior in System Preferences.
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I'd just note, for those perhaps not paying attention, that this will routinely mean two keystrokes instead of one.

Actually, maybe two and one-half or two and two-thirds, four or some other—depending upon how counted, as unless remembering position you'll first have to wake up the TouchBar to determine where they desired key might be, so some searching.
 
CrashX said:
According to Ars Technica, you're set for a good while with a 2013 - so buy a refurb sans magic special Apple bar - and crappy battery life and the dongle port?

In the end, we can expect as much demand and usage for it as the firewire port and the thunderbolt port.

It was fine when Apple added that junk as "extra specials" on top of what we actually needed - but seriously, REPLACING the function keys? And the sad little dongle port?

That there's mah dongle - hands off, don't ye touch it! Can't do nuttin' without it. I says HANDS OFF MAH DONGLE!
Click to expand...

it's almost like everyone had the same idea because the refurb store, at least here in Canada, looks like Old Mother Hubbard's cupboards - it bare, son.

EDIT: they must have heard me because Canada's refurb store is re-stocked, and looking mighty appealing right now...
 
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> Want to lower the volume? You can either hit the volume icon and hit the slider, or hit the arrow key and tap the volume up or down key. That's less efficient than just pressing a dedicated volume button in the function row. It's inconvenient enough that I eventually started using my mouse to do things like pause Spotify or raise the volume on

I can't believe they actually did it like that. For a music lover it is just a nightmare.
 
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I think they will put a touch bar into their wireless keyboards in the future. That i would find more useful then at the top of a laptop...
 
BootsWalking said:
A 2-in-1 foldable Macbook Pro with a touchscreen would have done the trick I think.
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Or perhaps rethinking power and portability like the duo and duo-dock concept .... Making the duo dock portable as well like an add-on (where u have ports, additional HD, upgradable video card etc)
 
coolfactor said:
Wow, this guy sounds like a real whiner....



Nobody forced him to buy the Touch Bar version of the MacBook Pro... Apple still offers one with a standard Function Key row, and he can always use an external keyboard.

And as for this...



I think Apple really needs to address this market by offering a "Mac mini Pro". Small, affordable desktop computer with a the flexibility of a laptop in terms of portability, when needed. I think it's wasteful to complain about the design of a laptop when it's being used as a desktop.
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Well this is an issue I've had

With the marketing you see Apple pair the MBP with big 5K screen and keep mentioning about plugging in super fast HDDs.

They're orienteering this to be a mobile workstation with primary use on the desktop. The thin and lightness is only really mentioned when transporting rather than using away from a desk
 
ipedro said:
It's a "gimmick" until the rest of the industry copies it next year.

I think it's a great use of space otherwise occupied by little used function keys.

For a generation used to contextual keys, it's the best hybrid between real keyboard and one tap access to functions that would be hidden in complex shortcuts or under a hierarchy of menus. Going from iOS to macOS felt increasingly jarring and unnecessarily laborious.
Click to expand...
For most users, I agree. For me, though, I prefer dedicated function keys that I use a few dozen times a day. Many users don't, though, as they probably don't change locations (brightness), use iTunes for music (volume and song control), do full screen activities (escape), or (an dive forgotten the correct name) mission control and multi-desktop organization.
 
ceedge said:
it's almost like everyone had the same idea because the refurb store, at least here in Canada, looks like Old Mother Hubbard's cupboards - it bare, son.
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Refurb looks good in U.S. Bare bones 13 inch pro for $1,099. Only the basic specs, but you still get a retina screen and 8gb of RAM and the price is nice. And 15 inch pro i7 with 16GB RAM and 256gb SSD for $1,699. That is a serious machine that should give you long life at a well sub $2k price. You aren't gaming or doing graphics work with either of those machines. But you are getting OS and nice hardware that should last a long time at a very reasonable price.
 
Sam_Taunt said:
I think they will put a touch bar into their wireless keyboards in the future. That i would find more useful then at the top of a laptop...
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At some point I think they need to do something. I'm not sure how much developers will dedicate a lot of time and energy if Apple only includes the Touch Bar on two models (13" and 15") of the their lineup.
 
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it's just another overpriced apple laptop that will soon be behind the times when Intel releases the new series 7 chips in a few weeks.
 
btrach144 said:
it's just another overpriced apple laptop that will soon be behind the times when Intel releases the new series 7 chips in a few weeks.
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Ok? And so will everything else that doesn't have them...remind me when Intel's series 7 chips will be ready for widespread production of quad core mobile computing machines.
 
This generation of MBP's have made something painfully obvious about Apple. For once, I'm looking for a hardware alternative. The problem is, I need it to run macOS. Apple - it's time to make macOS available elsewhere.
 
oneMadRssn said:
Every review mentions how few apps support it, and how support from more apps is coming soon. Maybe this means it's too soon to review it?
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BootsWalking said:
If a product/feature is too soon to review then it's too soon to buy as well.
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With that logic, the App Store "feature" of the iPhone/iPod touch back in 2008 was a gimmick too early to release because it didn't have enough apps in the first few weeks. You guys simply amaze me.
 
bernuli said:
The ethernet dongle I use on my MacBoook Pro gets pretty warm. One of the few things I like about this new MacBook Pro is the advertised battery life, which I think will get obliterated after you hook up a few dongles. Then we back to square one.
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I use the ethernet dongle for my mid 2015 15" and it does get hot, but doesn't seem to affect battery life at all. Usually, when you're using a dongle it will also be plugged in, unless you're offloading content from a camera which doesn't take much time at all. This will hardly be an issue unless you take an external drive on the road and edit while driving, but then you can just plug in your laptop in the car, most have ac outlets now.
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CliftonHighgrov said:
Wow, wait, wait, wait: Apple offers Boot Camp drivers for Linux now? When did this happen and why didn't I hear about it?
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This has been available for a really long time now. Who told you you couldn't load linux?
 
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The touch bar is absolutely useless, without a doubt. If you are saying it isn't, it's likely because you have purchased one of these ridiculous machines and have begun telling yourself lies in order to reduce cognitive dissonance you would otherwise face.
 
All the reviews I have read/watched consider this an over priced entry level computer. They list its lack of ports, dongle-centred slow performance, sealed impossible to repair/clean internels, stupid price and Apple's spiteful must-do-it-our-way attitude to its customers. Apple now needs a touch screen, 6 core, 2 gpu, 17" all SSD, multi-ported laptop to professionally replace any desktop. And it must forget about thinness and think about proper cooling and cleaning and greed free pricing. Then Apple can call its products Professional. It's not going to happen and we can kiss goodby to all we used to admire at Apple.
 
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