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Touch Bar - disappearing buttons

ctyrider

ctyrider

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 15, 2012
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I have seen a few others report this issue in various places, but wanted to start a new thread, as this has been bugging the heck out of me.

So, basically, my Touch Bar either loses multiple buttons or goes completely blank, while the keyboard is active. Usually, this happens immediately after Touch Bar wakes up from "sleep". The way to "recover" the buttons is to touch on a blank area, where the missing botton then re-appears.. or hitting Fn key restores the whole bar, at least temporarily until it happens again.

This seems to have gotten worse since 10.12.2 update, but maybe I am just noticing it more now.

How many more people are having this issue? Have any of you contacted Apple, and what have they suggested?

touchbar-missing-key_zps3krtgms9.jpg
 
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I have noticed similar behavior, but honestly, I chalked it up to not knowing how the touchbar is supposed to behave. It sounds like it is buggy. Still getting used to it, since I only use my MBP undocked maybe 25% of the time.
 
Same issue here. I was about to start a new thread but found this one. It's seemed to get progressively worse recently. And like you, I mainly notice this behavior after the touchbar wakes from "sleep".

Screenshot 2017-01-04 20.34.34.png
 
I've had it happen to me 2 different times when waking from sleep. Just a few random buttons are blank and then once you touch the missing area the button returns and functions as normal. Feel likes its a very small minor thing that will be addressed in an update soon.
 
I ave also just experienced this issue. My only concern is that given the touch bar is controlled by the T1 Chip which is separate to the CPU, could this be a hardware problem?
 
Yep, there are some bugs here and there. For example, my TouchBar consistently crashes in Messages when I want to use an emoji. Its probably an app-specific bug though.
 
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Mine totaly died, no buttons, config option disappaered in system preference. Did several resets and clean install. But no touch bar at all. Bring it back to shop and now waiting .......
 
Anyone was able to narrow it down? maybe some software?
The missing touch bar icons is happening quite often to me.
 
hadschii said:
Anyone was able to narrow it down? maybe some software?
The missing touch bar icons is happening quite often to me.
Click to expand...

I saw another post somewhere that always seems to work for me. If I hit the Function key to bring up the function keys, when I release it the Touchbar is fixed.
 
natebookpro said:
I saw another post somewhere that always seems to work for me. If I hit the Function key to bring up the function keys, when I release it the Touchbar is fixed.
Click to expand...

Yes, that's a workaround I mentioned in my original post. It is not a "fix" by any means, as the issue re-occurs later.
 
ctyrider said:
Yes, that's a workaround I mentioned in my original post. It is not a "fix" by any means, as the issue re-occurs later.
Click to expand...

Sorry about that, saw it somewhere a few weeks ago and just wanted to help out. I understand it's only a workaround for the time being, but it does fix the issue a lot quicker than the resetting and other things I was seeing in the thread. Didn't mean to offend anyone or try to steal credit.
 
I have called Apple regards this and Im working directly with an AppleCare Engineer to fix this in the next software release. I have identified that this happens whenever you connect the Macbook to an external monitor. Then let it sleep, and disconnect it to use it without the monitor. The Touch Bar will glitch that way. only way to fix is reboot or hit the Function key. Will bookmark post and keep you updated.
 
I have the same issue and filmed a video. I have found this issue before I update 10.12.2. I have brought my laptop to the Genius Bar and the technician diagnosed and report indicates no hardware issue with my 13" new MBP.
 
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This happens to me VERY often. Including the TouchID button taking 4-6 seconds to appear after the laptop wakes up from sleep.

I'm an optimistic person who figures this is most likely a software issue and will get fixed, hopefully sooner than later.
 
This happens all the time - across two units now. The keyboard on the first unit also began to fail.
 
ab8 said:
This happens all the time - across two units now. The keyboard on the first unit also began to fail.
Click to expand...

It looks like the latest beta of Sierra has solved the disappearing buttons issue on my side. Haven't that problem in about a week.
 
Turpentine222 said:
It looks like the latest beta of Sierra has solved the disappearing buttons issue on my side. Haven't that problem in about a week.
Click to expand...

I just found this thread while searching around for others having the same issue with buttons disappearing. It's very obnoxious. I figured it was a software issue that would be easily fixed. Glad to hear that seems to be the case.
 
So I had this issue. It seems that Apple associates on the phone and the Genius Bar have not really experienced this issue frequently. My MacBook went out for repairs twice. They replaced the top case the first time. Second time the logic board and the cable that goes to the control stripe. The third time they said there was no more parts to really replace. They did a fresh o/s install at the Genius Bar, did not fix. Finally after all that, they replaced my unit. Just received my new unit and it happened after 3 hours when waking from sleep. This must be a software bug. Whatever you do not try to send out for fixing, it will not help.
 
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