In some form it will survive but a dedicated dark space with a led strip above it doesn’t make sense nor would not customizing it due to orientation. The better HUD options will remain but the island itself won’t last as long as the home button to put it mildly. There is no need for it to be an island beyond current tech limitations and it’s an elegant solution to a problem that won’t exist much longer.
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Touch Bar Fully Discontinued on New MacBooks After Seven Years
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I agree that the physical ESC key fixed many of the concerns but it was a screen on another plane that forces you to move your eyes beyond their natural resting position to see what you're tapping. People don't look at their keys when they're typing (most people at least) and this forced them to.
It was a good idea in principal that just didn't work in practice.
The touchbar is my least favourite feature of my 2018 MacBook Pro. The keyboard is a close second. The touchbar was an interesting concept but it failed because it knee capped the traditional function keys. Adjusting volume and brightness took at least two steps. The worst were the media controls which never seemed to respond unless push and held. A quick tap never did anything. Good riddance to this thing. It might have worked as an additional tool above the traditional function keys but it looks like we will never see that either.
To each their own, but it was one of the reasons I did upgrade. While under utilized it was innovative.
As a person running 90% in clam shell mode with a corded old Apple keyboard (due to Bluetooth issues with modern keyboards, three Macs, phones, headsets and iPads) I have zero love for Apple’s keyboards.
Working as a software developer actually using function keys, TB was set to display them all the time. Still TB was a pain because it was so easy to hit a “key” by accident if you hit a top row key a bit too high, triggering the function of that key.
Working as a software developer actually using function keys, TB was set to display them all the time. Still TB was a pain because it was so easy to hit a “key” by accident if you hit a top row key a bit too high, triggering the function of that key.
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Just over seven years after it was introduced, the Touch Bar has now been fully discontinued on all new MacBooks sold by Apple, marking the end of an era for a hardware feature that was loved by some users and derided by others.
![Touch-Bar-13-Inch-MacBook-Pro.jpg]()
The first MacBook Pro models with the Touch Bar were released in October 2016, as part of a controversial redesign that also included a defective butterfly keyboard and the removal of many ports, including an SD card slot, HDMI, and MagSafe. Physical function and Esc keys were also removed in favor of the Touch Bar.
Apple initially described the Touch Bar as a "revolutionary" and "breakthrough" interface, but it was clearly not popular enough to stick around.
It was a slow death for the Touch Bar:
For now, the Touch Bar can still be found on some refurbished models sold by Apple.
- In 2019, Apple released the first 16-inch MacBook Pro with a physical Esc key, but the Touch Bar lived on in place of physical function keys.
- In 2021, Apple removed the Touch Bar from higher-end MacBook Pro models, switching back to full-size physical function keys.
- This week, Apple discontinued the 13-inch MacBook Pro, the final model with a Touch Bar.
It's possible that the Touch Bar could return at some point in the future, especially if the 13-inch MacBook Pro is ever re-released as a lower-cost model, but at this point there is no firm evidence to suggest this will happen.
Article Link: Touch Bar Fully Discontinued on New MacBooks After Seven Years
I saw some pretty novel uses for the touchbar but it, as a concept, dates back decades. Sure, older Touch Bars weren't the equivalent of a smart phone screen, but they were fairly sophisticated for their days.
Apple's Touch Bar is the bane of my existence.
Something in the 2017 MacBook Pro generation causes them to fail to launch when rebooting from bootcamp, meaning you can't increase the brightness easily. I had to set up a workaround for that. Almost 7 years of this problem and no amount of terminal resets for the touchbar service or otherwise would fix it while booted. Also, personally, while coding or gaming, switching between keys and a touch screen is very awkward.
What baffles me is that they kept the Touch Bar but back peddled on the thudnerbolt 3 only setup.
I absolutely LOVE my MBP with the only ports being 4 thunderbolt 3 ports. That set the stage for everyone to push towards a universal standard. Unfortunately, everything from Donglegate to chronic complainers caused the regression. So, we lose something hyper progressive like that but keep a silly gimmicky touchbar...
Glad they finally ditched it. (Also, Apple is trying to boost laptop sales right now, so don't be surprised if the touchbar makes a comeback when they feel satisfied with new computer sales...I mean, cmon, Apple long since decided not to do touch screen computers like Microsoft and others, the touchbar was flirting with breaking that commitment)
It was one of many reasons I skipped the entire Butterfly generation.
I breathed a big sigh of relief when they released the 14/16" M1 Pro/Max MBP's and realised they weren't duds.
Apple sure did pull off one massive rescue operation with the Apple Silicon machines. And I'm not even talking about the impressive performance and efficiency of the M-chips. I'm talking about fixing all the terrible design decisions of the preceding several years.
Totally agree. I've actually used a separate keyboard and mouse for my 2017 MBP because the touchbar has been nothing but a pain. Lots of nifty things people did with it, but just gimmicks.
I have a 2016 MBP with the Touch Bar and it was never a big issue. I had better touch tool installed back when I was using the MBP more often and it was useful. The lack of a number pad is always a bigger issue for me. I guess I use numbers a lot more than the esc key.
That being said, if I ever update my laptop (I use a Mac mini and iPad combo for the most part these days) to another MacBook, I won't miss the Touch Bar.
That being said, if I ever update my laptop (I use a Mac mini and iPad combo for the most part these days) to another MacBook, I won't miss the Touch Bar.
Now if Apple would only put a real Delete key on its laptops. WTF is up with only having a Backspace key (mislabeled "delete," no less)? Everybody else manages to put a real Delete key on their computers. There was never any excuse for Apple not to; but when the Eject key became obsolete, the lack of Delete went from incompetence to petty douchebaggery.
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Amen. These functions are crucial to maintaining flow/concentration and should be accessible without taking your eyes off the screen for any sort of fiddling. No use for muscle memory if you have a Touch Bar, unless ice is running through your veins you'll be off by a pixel and have to try your action again, adding an exponent to the amount of time and concentration it takes. Small numbers, but dozens of times a day.
Having to essentially take your eyes off your content every time you need to make these kinds of minor but crucial system level adjustments made this whole machine feel like a piece of crap.
As I've said before, the problem with the Touch Bar is not that it existed. It just replaced the function keys. If apple had not gone "all-in" and removed the function keys, the Touch Bar would probably still exist. Imagine a half-height row of function keys, with a Touch Bar above it. Apple could easily do it.
I, personally, would pay extra for a Touch Bar on my MacBook Pro, if it didn't remove the function keys.
I, personally, would pay extra for a Touch Bar on my MacBook Pro, if it didn't remove the function keys.
Yeah, I was working at a company that issued me with a first gen one and it didn't go down very well every time I had a shell into something and needed to use vi
Yep, that would have solved the issue and let people that liked to use the touch bar still have access.
That makes zero sense - an option to add the touch bar would have kept everyone happy - those who like the touch bar could option it, those who dinner wouldn’t option it - how exactly is that making no one happy?