Phil Schiller Discusses 16-Inch MacBook Pro, Says Virtual Esc Key Was Number One Complaint About Touch Bar

[Plutonius]

Many of us would also like to see MagSafe rise from the dead as well🙂

Companies make USB-C / MagSafe adapters so MagSafe does not need to be built into the Macbook Pro.

 

[alpi123]

So they were initially thinking of removing the Touch Bar... nice

 

[aaronhead14]

And the number 2 complaint about the Touch Bar was the rest of the Touch Bar.

Nix it, Apple!

 

[jonblatho]

I don't believe they will, because their answer to that question is the iMac.

The iMac doesn’t suit everyone’s needs, though. Many people simply do not want an all-in-one machine. Not to say the iMac doesn’t have a market — I’m typing this from my own 27” iMac right now — but to say that it sufficiently fills the gap currently left between the Mac mini and Mac Pro is absurd.

 

[sw1tcher]

Apple's marketing chief Phil Schiller has spoken with CNET's Roger Cheng about the new 16-inch MacBook Pro, reflecting on the new Magic Keyboard, the Touch Bar, and many other aspects of the notebook.

When asked about the redesigned scissor keyboard on the 16-inch MacBook Pro, Schiller quipped: "Can't innovate anymore, my ass!"

 

[1146331]

Right.... because using a tablet will really set kids up for success versus a computer they can type on and do real work. What a crock, put a touch screen on the Mac already, you're not innovative anymore Apple.

 

[johannnn]

My question is, don’t they do any market research before they they release a new product? I can’t imagine they had thousands of users saying they want to get rid of the escape key.

I would however happily change the caps lock key to a Siri key!

 

[1146331]

Apple's marketing chief Phil Schiller has spoken with CNET's Roger Cheng about the new 16-inch MacBook Pro, reflecting on the new Magic Keyboard, the Touch Bar, and many other aspects of the notebook.

When asked about the redesigned scissor keyboard on the 16-inch MacBook Pro, Schiller quipped: "Can't innovate anymore, my ass!"

There's nothing innovative about fixing a miserable screw up that they tried casting as innovation. There is nothing innovative about fixing a keyboard that is literally the most important input device on a laptop.

 

[BornAgainMac]

I am glad I am not the only one complaining about running "vi".

 

[Achiever]

At the very end of the interview, Schiller takes a shot at Google's Chromebooks in the classroom, describing them as "cheap testing tools" that do not allow kids to succeed. Naturally, Schiller said Apple thinks the iPad is the "ultimate tool" for a child to learn on and be the most engaged. "Chromebooks have gotten to the classroom because, frankly, they're cheap testing tools for required testing. If all you want to do is test kids, well, maybe a cheap notebook will do that. But they're not going to succeed."

Dear Phil,

Husband to a teacher (and a taxpayer) here to tell you you are wrong. Not only are the Chromebooks succeeding in classroom penetration, they are likely to do so for a long, long while. You see, school districts are on increasingly tighter budgets, and they don't have the extra disposable funding available to pay the Apple Tax for admittedly better hardware or software. Equally important, Google has spent a lot of time, effort and money to build an infrastructure for school IT admins to easily manage a school systems worth of devices. Apple has nothing close to this available. A few years ago, a school initiative was announced, and some mediocre software released, but it doesn't come close to what Google gives away for free and maintains regularly with updates. Apple has essentially abandoned it along with its textbook initiative.

Basically, Apple needs to learn what many politicians are learning: despite the merits of what works better in a debate, it is hard to dissuade people from wanting "free".

Thanks,

Achiever

 

[Geurt]

The Touch Bar was a solution to a problem no one had, or needed. I would love to see the actual numbers on people who actually consider it useful.

All right sorry.... it's me.

 

[mdnz]

Missing a physical escape key was minor for me. I adjusted to that quickly.

My #1 complaint with the Touch Bar is that it is too close to the top row of physical keys. In the beginning I was consistently hitting items on the Touch Bar accidentally. I finally rearranged the “virtual keys” to move stuff like volume and play out of the way. Instead now I accidentally hit the screen brightness buttons and save myself embarrassment from sudden sounds coming from my speakers. I finally got used to it, and was grateful for the customization options, but this was annoying.

On the 16" the Touch Bar is placed slightly higher, leaving a larger gap between the normal keyboard and the Touch Bar, maybe that will help you out whenever you buy a new one.

 

[svenning]

The number one complaint about the Touch Bar must be the Touch Bar...
At least the are making minor adjustments, really happy about that! But make it an optional “upgrade” and see how many people choose it.
And yes MagSafe and HDMI would be nice too.

 

[Zaft]

If the iPad and Mac are separated then why the keyboards for the iPad?
In my opinion iPads are and always were consumption devices. Even with a keyboard doing anything productive on an iPad is a chore. That’s my experience so others maybe different.

 

[Bawstun]

It’s good that they’re able to admit that and call them ‘complaints’. And at least they’re fixing notebooks with issues free of charge.

Now please let‘s get to the iMacs and Magic accessories! Lol

Yes, it is good that they are fixing their defective premium-priced product free of charge.

 

[vampyr]

Hoepfully, with Johnny Ive now gone.. they'll start listening to their customers create reliable, functional technology instead of trying to create technological 'art'.
Apple needs to make their products more useful, not more 'beautiful to look at'.

I actually like the touch bar... while I haven't used to for 'everything'... those feature I have used it for (playing videos, etc...) have made me say "WOW... that's really cool, and a lot easier than moving my mouse and trying to perform the same task"

 

[dgdosen]

My number one complaint about the touch bar is that the touch bar exists and triggers 'phantom touches'
The lack of an escape key is a close second.

 

[avanpelt]

Internally, I suspect Apple wants to put the butterfly keyboard debacle behind them. If it takes three iterations of a keyboard over four years to “get it right”, something is wrong. They wouldn’t have reverted back to the scissor mechanism on the new 16” MBP if they truly believed today that the butterfly mechanism is superior. I’m glad they finally reversed course, but I feel sorry for all the people who have had to deal with keyboard issues for the last four years.

 

[Whathappened]

Liking what they’ve done but....no wifi6 or hdr = no sale!

Believe me they will do A LOT of sales...

 

[CanyonLizard]

Many of us would also like to see MagSafe rise from the dead as well🙂

Hear! Hear! 👏

 

[Whathappened]

Internally, I suspect Apple wants to put the butterfly keyboard debacle behind them. If it takes three iterations of a keyboard over four years to “get it right”, something is wrong. They wouldn’t have reverted back to the scissor mechanism on the new 16” MBP if they truly believed today that the butterfly mechanism is superior. I’m glad they finally reversed course, but I feel sorry for all the people who have had to deal with keyboard issues for the last four years.

Why don’t you read the article? Many users have no issues. I like the latest butterfly on my 2019 13 inch and I use the Touch Bar all the time.

 

[JPack]

Looks like the butterfly will continue to be used in some machines.

Apple doesn't want to Osborne their MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro.

It's marketing speak for "we're transitioning away from butterfly."

 

[AxiomaticRubric]

If the iPad and Mac are separated then why the keyboards for the iPad?
In my opinion iPads are and always were consumption devices. Even with a keyboard doing anything productive on an iPad is a chore. That’s my experience so others maybe different.

Oddly enough I find that using an iPad with a keyboard to be extremely productive.... when I’m using it to connect to a PC using the Microsoft Remote Desktop app or Jump.

 

[JPack]

Internally, I suspect Apple wants to put the butterfly keyboard debacle behind them. If it takes three iterations of a keyboard over four years to “get it right”, something is wrong. They wouldn’t have reverted back to the scissor mechanism on the new 16” MBP if they truly believed today that the butterfly mechanism is superior. I’m glad they finally reversed course, but I feel sorry for all the people who have had to deal with keyboard issues for the last four years.

Agreed. Actions speak louder than words.

 

[LV426]

The Touch Bar was a solution to a problem no one had, or needed. I would love to see the actual numbers on people who actually consider it useful.

I use the TouchBar a fair bit, but only for quite specific use cases. Like
- clicking the speaker icon to smoothly and quickly adjust the volume to an acceptable level. Much nicer than volume+ volume-
- scrolling video or, when a video is playing full screen, seeing video progress without interfering with the picture
- locking/unlocking the laptop
- hitting ESC. I'm not sure why a lot of people are fussed about having a physical ESC key. It's fairly in-your-face as far as I'm concerned.

Like other users, I don't bother looking at the TouchBar when I'm typing.