Roundup: Hands-On With Touch Bar on New MacBook Pros

[Mefisto]

My facts are perfectly straight and I fully understand the meaning. The reference, in general American culture, to "Kool Aid drinkers" refers to people who follow mindlessly as in the Jonestown people who drank that Kook Aid. It's a reference that is used many times in American business and other settings.

Yep, I'm quite aware of the usage around the globe. I'm also quite aware that facts rarely have any place in what people want to say, do, or think. Just that we're clear, this really has nothing to do with you specifically, just the way a hive mind behaves.

Also, this has nothing to do with the topic of this thread, so I'm off to the pub. Have a good one.

 

[calzon65]

Yep, I'm quite aware of the usage around the globe. I'm also quite aware that facts rarely have any place in what people want to say, do, or think. Just that we're clear, this really has nothing to do with you specifically, just the way a hive mind behaves.

Also, this has nothing to do with the topic of this thread, so I'm off to the pub. Have a good one.

If off to the pub references a pub in the UK or Ireland ... I am quite jealous ... I love those pubs.

 

[tkatz]

Ok, well we can agree that it's NOT on the right, as you claimed earlier? If you want to nitpick the millimeters, I'll concede that to you, as long as you concede that likely after 2 or 3 days of using it you aren't going to notice anymore.

Sorry, I said it was "offset" to the right. Meaning its to the right of where it should be. And keyboards are generally pretty standard up on the top left corner. On any other keyboard if i start pressing a few millimeters over to the right, I'll be hitting the F1 key. Why change something thats a standard and didn't really need to be changed? They could have added the bar above the F-keys, or somewhere below like in the massive touch pad area.

 

[alfonsog]

So, those of us that still plug in our iPhones can't do it without a dongle. Wonderful, that would be more stuff to carry. So not worth the wait. Looks good, my 2013 15" would have to die before I even consider this.

http://www.apple.com/us/search/usb-c-to-lightning-cable?src=globalnav

 

[anthonymaw]

Yawn....more of reinventing-the-wheel. Fingerprint biometric based login and authentication has been around for a LONG time in the PC world. And a touch control strip above the keyboard has also been around on some Windows laptop models for decades. Besides they did away with the row of keys that has been the Function keys for as long as anyone can remember in both the Mac and PC world. Apple does it again with what is old...is "new". I'm out.

 

[komone]

Apple pretty much killed the Macbook, Air, Mac Pro, Mac Mini, and Cinema Displays today.

Yep, and dashed the final vain hopes of a huge section of a previously loyal fan base who were thinking that Apple just *must* come through on the desktop. Sadly we are now thrown into a wilderness of having to look elsewhere to satisfy the need - Apple should realize that they have made those wallets fat, and that the money in them is going to have to go elsewhere owing to being given zero choice. I'm somewhat bemused by Apple's short-term thinking here... are they figuring to close their business down to being just a competitor in the mobile space (and of course evermore kool emoji)?

 

[Analog Kid]

How did I wake up in a world where so much of our technological advancement and industrial power is applied to cartoon smiley faces?

 

[Rocketman]

LOL good one
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Oh Joy, yet another adapter.

They will put it on the LG v 2.0 display.

 

[LimerickRunner]

When apple are comparing their latest Pro laptop with a 25 year old laptop, that says everything..

 

[friedmud]

Yeah man! Let's yell at the people who pay for their Laptops themselves...

Even if you're paying for it yourself... if you're a professional, using it to make money, it should be easy to see the value proposition.

If you're not making money with this machine it's not for you.

 

[tino1970]

Along with the iPhone 7 and iOS10, the new MBP with Emoji Bar is a no brainer for me.

I will spend my money to upgrade to a Canon 5D MkIV.

Disappointments to painful to write here.

Me and Apple
1996 - 2016
R.I.P.

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

 

[dominiongamma]

Along with the iPhone 7 and iOS10, the new MBP with Emoji Bar is a no brainer for me.

I will spend my money to upgrade to a Canon 5D MkIV.

Disappointments to painful to write here.

Me and Apple
1996 - 2016
R.I.P.

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

You want a cookie? Bye!

 

[nofear1az]

There should be a physical esc key in the same position as the touch ID on the other side, moving the esc key over for the sake of visual balance was a poor design choice. The esc key is one of the most used keys.

Space bar is one of the most used keys.

 

[Zellio]

Space bar is one of the most used keys.

wasd as well. etc is probably one of the least used

 

[nofear1az]

My thoughts:

It is much too small. Look at the size of a physical key compared to the Touch Bar. Such a pain to use.

It is in the wrong place. It is so awkward to be constantly reaching over the keyboard to use these buttons.

Touch means that you have to be constantly looking down. This goes directly against a large pat of the functionality of using a laptop or desktop; the advantage of only needing to look at the screen is dashed by the Touch Bar.

It seems that this misguided Touch Bar is an apt metaphor for the mess that Apple is in at the moment. Apple used to represent focus under Steve Jobs. Laser-sharp focus. That was his mantra. Yet with this Touch Bar, one is constantly losing focus by glancing down at the keyboard then glancing up at the screen. That seems to represent the lack of focus that typifies Apple under Tim Cook.

One or two others have mentioned this: I think that if they wanted to introduce additional touch functionality, they should have used the existing trackpad and created some icons around or in it. There is a large amount of space around the trackpad, and it is more natural to use that space for touch. That, to my mind, would have represented an organic development of the trackpad, and been a better application of touch.

and if you're like me when at home, the laptop lid gets closed and external keyboard and mouse is used. no Touchbar there. So any professional is instead going to use a jog dial instead which in my opinion is much easier and more precise than any touchbar when doing edits. And you don't have to look at the jog dial when adjusting. Touchbar looks very cool to me but i'm afraid it also may (but still undecided yet) be too gimmicky.

 

[soucisyl]

Ha I never used 3D Touch on my 6S and went to an SE. Don't miss it at all.

If you are a pro user your MBP spends most of its time tucked away while you use an external display, external keyboard and mouse. So not much use for the touch bar in that instance.

One question in mind.

What happens, if I use an extended monitor with bluetooth keyboard. Does the new configuration will ignore my keyboard function keys.

 

[cocoua]

I don't get it, they remove the fn keys because most people doesnt use them but they do this in the "pro" version??

Pro users can use the keyboard almost without looking at it, now your focus wont be just at the screen or multiple screens if you are editing in final cut as they pretend you do)

And four usc-c ports my god!! Not even a port for native connect to iphone!!

F**k

 

[zaphon]

Can I assume that the OLED touch bar will work under boot camp as a normal series of function keys? I'm worried about some strange driver conflict that leaves me without keys that are absolutely necessary to my dual boot system.

Yeah I'm wondering the same. I won't buy another one, because of the escape key. But I buy a lot of these where I work, and half the people load up Windows 10 in Boot Camp. How do the function keys work and escape key work in Windows? I seriously am looking for a comparable Windows computer at the moment.

 

[341328]

Only 16GB RAM... WTF!
[doublepost=1477613022][/doublepost]

MR forums has turned into a major cesspool of complaints. Every comment has been positive from people that have used it. The people that haven't are crying foul.

Because the media would be fine with a 486 processor and 64MB of RAM. Meanwhile, REAL users are on Macrumors.
[doublepost=1477613069][/doublepost]Congrats on getting 5K out in a single cable!! yeah for that.

 

[nofear1az]

The Touchbar is OLED, right? Wondering if it is going to susceptible to screen burn-in down the road like many other OLED panels?

 

[341328]

25% more color gamut then sRGB. Big whoop. That's because sRGB sucks. My screen I've had to 8 years does that.

 

[nofear1az]

I let friends use my MacBook Air all the time. My screen has a bunch of fingerprints from them trying to use its touch screen.

Oleophobic coating helps a lot in reducing those fingerprints which your Mac does not have but if they did add a Touchscreen they could easily add that coating to it to reduce those smudge prints.

Compare a Samsung J3 phone without Oleophobic coating against any other flagship phone to see what a huge improvement it does.

 

[lysingur]

They should've just gone for a full touch screen rather than a tiny strip of Touch Bar. If Touch Bar is deemed as something so essential as to warrant the removal of all physical function keys, then it really should've been larger and/or better placed. I can't imagine anybody having to "reach over" to that tiny strip for a spelling correction without tiring her arm after a while.

 

[nurban1992]

FFS Emojis? is that really what the pro line up has come too??
Been a reader of Mac Rumours for years and years, I've have read through comments often but never had the inclination to comment. So flipping disappointed with this today, was looking at upgrading my 2013 Macbook pro in Jan...why remove Magsafe? I'm very used to paying the extortionate apple tax but why so little so ***** expensive, doesn't make any sense!

You're aware that the easy access to emojis is one small practical use of the Touch Bar, right? Watch the keynote — it provides access to commonly used functions for both system actions and just about every built in Mac applications... many third party updates impending, too. It greatly reduces the need to use a mouse/trackpad for pointer navigation. It has the potential to be great for productivity.

They removed MagSafe because the Thunderbolt technology coupled with USB 3(.1?) adds more versatility per port. It's a transition to new standards. At least Apple is bold enough to make these changes to create forward-thinking products.

 

[s!ke]

The touch bar will be one of those things that people are skeptical about until they use it, and then when have that moment of realisation they use a device without it.

Happened to me with 3D Touch.

I use my MBP in a vertical stand clamshell style, with external monitors. So this Touch Bar is pretty much useless for me. I doubt they will release a keyboard with the Touch Bar either.