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

[Lone Deranger]

This just got posted. I couldn't agree more.


Apple, how could you get the mood and desires of 'The Crazy Ones' so very wrong, when Microsoft got it so right? I'm disappointed by the lack of innovation and shocked at the insane pricing.

 

[JCoe13]

Today was pretty disappointing. They spent an hour talking about a single new feature on the new MacBook Pros. Meanwhile, they spoke about how ancient the function keys were and then kept the function keys in the 13" cheaper model. They also noted how the MacBook Air was thicker than the MacBook Pro but made no effort to update the Air line. Meanwhile, I was so comfortable with the thickness of my MacBook Pro already, did they really need to make it thinner again? On the bright side, more dongles with USB-C!

 

[otternonsense]

Dieter, stop trying to make fetch happen, it's not going to happen.

 

[blacktape242]

is everyone else as sad as i am about MagSafe? That SUCKSSSSSSSS

 

[prasand]

Honestly, I'll be getting one because my MacBook Air decided to go swimming in January and I have been waiting for these things for almost a year. But I think that entry-level touch-bar-less pro is just an excuse to jack up the prices. Apple's team has become ridiculous. For although many like me will reluctantly get the new Pros, I'm sure there are many existing MacBook users that Apple has lost with this move.

EDIT: The 12" MB should've dropped in price, and the others filled the gap above it, with no touch-bar-less model. Even a $200 increase at every level would've been reasonable.

 

[MacFan782040]

HEADPHONES!

Note it has a traditional audio jack, but no lightning connector. How do you use your EarPods that come with your iPhone 7? The included adapter on the iPhone is audio jack to lightning, not lightning to audio jack

Also, if you buy AirPods, that uses the new Apple wireless chip, not Bluetooth, am I correct? The new Macbook Pro does not have the Apple wireless chip.

EDIT: Sorry, AirPods do work with Macs. Not sure how at the moment.

 

[blacktape242]

What happened to "Magic Toolbar"?

I think we are all GLAD that never happened.....

 

[Fzang]

Don't see the reason why they want to blend the touch ID in with the touch bar.
It looks ok from a distance, but once you see it up close, it looks kinda tacky.

It feels like those family vans where they try to blend the door rail in with the windows.
It sound good on paper, but doesn't look good at all.

HEADPHONES!

Note it has a traditional audio jack, but no lightning connector. How do you use your earbuds that come with your iPhone 7? The included adapter on the iPhone is audio jack to lightning, not lightning to audio jack

Also, if you buy EarPods, that uses the new Apple wireless chip, not Bluetooth, am I correct? The new Macbook Pro does not have the Apple wireless chip.

You buy another dongle, duh. Did you really think they were letting you off that easily?

 

[malexandria]

I really don't get the point of this thing. The adobe lady was saying how it was really productive and great to use, but then she was staring at the touch bar and actually not at the screen. Everyone was looking down at the touchbar while they were making adjustments. It seemed counter productive to me.

 

[Jbusick7944]

Magical?

Jokes aside, if I was in charge, I would have made the entire trackpad be a context-sensitive screen. Use of know-gained while developing iPhones and iPads would have made the process relatively simple to implement. That would have justified the price increase. Maybe.

This product release screams short term strategy to retain profitability without considering the long-term implications of pricing beyond reach a significant proportion of current mac owners.

I've been wondering for years why the trackpad isn't another screen. You could even have a stylus if you wanted to draw on the track pad. We know Apple is resistant to the touch screen for ergonomic reasons, so the touch bar is pretty cool, but now that the track pad is about the size of an iPhone Plus, why not just make it...an iPhone Plus?

 

[The Game 161]

HEADPHONES!

Note it has a traditional audio jack, but no lightning connector. How do you use your earbuds that come with your iPhone 7? The included adapter on the iPhone is audio jack to lightning, not lightning to audio jack

Also, if you buy EarPods, that uses the new Apple wireless chip, not Bluetooth, am I correct? The new Macbook Pro does not have the Apple wireless chip.

Should use Bluetooth as you can use the air pods on other devices.

 

[calzon65]

This is absolute crap!!!!

Apple removes the 3.5mm jack from the iPhone 7 forcing the use of wireless or the Lightning port connected headphones (or the use of some stupid Lighting to 3.5mm converter).

So now consumers drink the Apple Kook-Aid go out and purchase Lighting connected headphones and the arrogant Apple clowns release the new MacBook WITH a 3.5mm audio jack and NO Lighting connector.

When asked about removing the 3.5mm jack, Phil Schiller has been quoted saying “the company can't justify the continued use of an 'ancient' single-use port”, and it took “courage” to abandon the 3.5mm jack.

Greg Joswiak has been quoted saying “The audio connector is more than 100 years old. It had its last big innovation about 50 years ago. You know what that was? They made it smaller. It hasn’t been touched since then. It’s a dinosaur. It’s time to move on”.

Isn’t this lovely, Apple just finished telling everyone that the 3.5mm jack is a horrible, outdated, dinosaur technology and we all should run out and purchase wireless or Lighting connected headphones.

Thanks for the inconsistency Apple, or are you now going to say it took “courage” to leave the 3.5mm jack in the MacBook and you left out the Lighting port because that’s the next port on the chopping block.

 

[swordfish5736]

is everyone else as sad as i am about MagSafe? That SUCKSSSSSSSS

Sad to see it go but kind of refreshing to see apple move to a standardized connector for once. Also cool that you can charge from any of the ports. Maybe there's another solution in the works that just wasn't ready yet, apple has been experimenting with wireless charging for a few years now.

 

[heymonroe]

This just got posted. I couldn't agree more.

View attachment 668513
Apple, how could you get the mood and desires of 'The Crazy Ones' so very wrong, when Microsoft got it so right? I'm disappointed by the lack of innovation and shocked at the insane pricing.

But.......one is a laptop, and one is a huge desktop You bringing that surface studio on a plane with you homie?

 

[FliccC]

It's a true pro product. Finally

 

[malexandria]

Considering the ridiculous prices regarding SSD-Ram-Upgrades you wouldn't dare to imagine the price for such thing

An SSD upgrade in an Apple Car would cost more than the car

 

[heymonroe]

I really don't get the point of this thing. The adobe lady was saying how it was really productive and great to use, but then she was staring at the touch bar and actually not at the screen. Everyone was looking down at the touchbar while they were making adjustments. It seemed counter productive to me.

IT'S TECHNOLOGY THAT IS TWO HOURS OLD OF COURSE PEOPLE ARE STARING AT IT. Eventually, just like EVERYTHING ELSE people will get used to it and it will become second nature. You people have no foresight whatsoever, christ.

 

[SBlue1]

It's worth it.

Just spend the money, buy it, and you'll never complain about it.

The only people that ever complain about tech products are the people that don't spend money to buy the expensive version.

I used to buy Apple products because in the long run it was cheaper. Besides the Mac OS. Macs lasted longer, you could upgrade the RAM and HD to make they useful and brand new again. They had the latest and best internals. You may not know how it was. People now complain because this is no longer the case. Apple has lost its focus. Its showing more and more and people are getting angry.

They fear that Apple has peaked and will go downhill from here. I feel like this too. I used to have an Amiga computer when I was a teen. I know how it feels when an once powerful system stops innovating and starts loosing ground. They lose money and one they they fold. You lose your loving system and the products you love. You have to find a new computer. Luckily I could the Mac. But what if Tim drives Apple off the cliff in 5 years? What computers will I use then?

 

[arkmannj]

2 Questions I have
1) How does the toolbar perform in bootcamp, etc...
2) Is there any chance the toolbar could make its way into the Apple keyboard for use with desktops, or situations where you plugin your MacBook Pro into a docking type situation with the screen closed and using only external devices (Mouse/trackpad,keyboard,monitor)

 

[MacFan782040]

This is absolute crap!!!!

Apple removes the 3.5mm jack from the iPhone 7 forcing the use of wireless or the Lightning port connected headphones (or the use of some stupid Lighting to 3.5mm converter).

So now consumers drink the Apple Kook-Aid go out and purchase Lighting connected headphones and the arrogant Apple clowns release the new MacBook WITH a 3.5mm audio jack and NO Lighting connector.

When asked about removing the 3.5mm jack, Phil Schiller has been quoted saying “the company can't justify the continued use of an 'ancient' single-use port”, and it took “courage” to abandon the 3.5mm jack.

Greg Joswiak has been quoted saying “The audio connector is more than 100 years old. It had its last big innovation about 50 years ago. You know that what was? They made it smaller. It hasn’t been touched since then. It’s a dinosaur. It’s time to move on”.

Isn’t this lovely, Apple just finished telling everyone that the 3.5mm jack is a horrible, outdated, dinosaur technology and we all should run out and purchase wireless or Lighting connected headphones.

Thanks for the inconsistency Apple, or are you now going to say it took “courage” to leave the 3.5mm jack in the MacBook and you left out the Lighting port because that’s the next port on the chopping block.

Exactly. Are they offering an adapter to buy? Because I don't want to carry around 2 pairs of Earphones, one for my iPhone and one for my MacBook...

 

[MacDarcy]

Why on EARTH are they keeping the MacBook "Air" when it is now THICKER than the MacBook Pro??? At least change the friggin name! That's like calling it the MacBook Super Thin!...while it's their THICKEST laptop! Lol. Come on Apple.

 

[Munky]

The esc key is one of the most used keys.

Absolutely not. the ESC key is the cleanest key on my keyboard. Almost never use it. I know this doesn't apply to every user, but you can't say it's one of the most used keys.

Just re-map the tilde key to the ESC key. No one ever uses the tilde.

 

[ebika]

I won't argue with everyone that the price increase is lame, especially when *everything* is going to need an adapter for at least the next few years. I'm trying to figure out Apple's angle on dumping all the "legacy" ports instead of phasing them out. To be fair, macs have a really long lifespan relative to how it used to be, and to an extent, how it is now for non-macs. Maybe they think those of us using mac professionally will just not buy one while we wait for the rest of the peripheral world to catch up?

I'm really hesitant to buy any more adapters and dongles at this point. Dongle fatigue has set in! My mDP/VGA, mDP/DVI, TB/Ethernet, and USBA/Ethernet adapters (from Apple), which were already irritating to buy, are no good with the new MBPs. My gaming mouse, old logitech rf presentation pointer thing, any of the tons of free and bought thumbdrives, my numerous lightning cables, apple watch charging cable, and my multicable charger USBA/µUSB/mUSB/Lightning... all not supported. At least my headphones still work

As a professional in IT, that will have to plug in to client projectors via VGA/DVI for the foreseeable future (because they built into the wall of the buildings with faceplates and everything), and adapt to various IT needs with cabling and drives, how do they expect that to work? I can't tell if Jony Ive is the gypsy or cursed guy:

 

[prasand]

HEADPHONES!

Also, if you buy AirPods, that uses the new Apple wireless chip, not Bluetooth, am I correct?

You are incorrect. The chip is based on Bluetooth and compatible with bluetooth. They merely extended the Bluetooth standard.

 

[vixster1901]

My thoughts:

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.

I so agree, why reach over the keyboard, use the space on each side of the track pad or even on the side of keyboard. But to reach over the keyboard is a distraction.