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Touch Bar
- Thread starter jwolf6589
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Lots of Pros and Cons with a simple Google Search:
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ð MacBook Pro TouchBar complaints - Google Search
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It’s been debated to death on this forum but I can see why some people dislike it. No haptic feedback is probably the most prevalent complaint. (Before the 16” MBP, it was the lack of a physical escape key. I never minded the software one as it was always at the leftmost edge of the bar, so didn’t really affect muscle memory.)
Personally, I like it as it enables things like finer volume control with a slider and the ability to customise which buttons I want on the keyboard, but think Apple should either go all in and put it on the MacBook Air and external keyboards, or make it optional on the MBP. It’s in an odd position at the moment.
Personally, I like it as it enables things like finer volume control with a slider and the ability to customise which buttons I want on the keyboard, but think Apple should either go all in and put it on the MacBook Air and external keyboards, or make it optional on the MBP. It’s in an odd position at the moment.
Who knows they may in the future enable it on the desktops.
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Lots of Pros and Cons with a simple Google Search:
ð MacBook Pro TouchBar complaints - Google Search
I don't trust everything I read on google. So many people treat the web like its some perfect resource of perfect information. There are actually tons of misinformation in google searches and I have seen a bit of it. This is why I prefer to ask in the forums instead of being given misinformation on websites.
Its been 4 years, and the MBP is still the only machine, I highly doubt we'll see it on any other model
What are you doing to your poor MacBook Pro? I find my fingers accidentally set it off occasionally, but break? I’m much gentler on my tech. the touch bar isn't that breakable.
Its many things, but in nearly four years of them I’m struggling to remember maybe one person who had to have it replaced?
I agree, but it's somewhat perplexing - I've showed it to a lot of casual Mac users, and they seem to like it more than the intended 'Pro' audience. Things like emoji selection and sliding colour pickers seem to me to be perfect for the typical MacBook Air user. I wonder if it's a cost thing rather than any ideological opposition to having the Touch Bar on non-MBP models.
For me it's the lack of feedback (i.e. you can't tell whether you've pressed it successfully) and as the location of buttons change its not being able to rely on muscle memory to press keys. I don't look at the keyboard much as I touch type, the touch bar forces me to look at the keyboard. I can appreciate others love it and have found a good use for it, it's just not for me so I would like it to be optional.
I just don’t understand why Apple never did anything with it. Over time, I think the only thing they added was that more system prompts would appear in it allowing you to select the response in the TouchBar which meant you didn’t have to take your hands off the keyboard to go to the trackpad.
The emoji picker was good though. I liked that 😃
The emoji picker was good though. I liked that 😃
I have 5 Macbooks, 1 with TouchBar, i really like the TouchBar, BUT the lack of physical Esc key is my only complaint, which they have now addressed on newer Macbooks.
It does have a similar issue to 3D touch in that unless you put it on every device it does not get adopted as well. So why have Macbook Air's not got it? Need every model to have it.
It does have a similar issue to 3D touch in that unless you put it on every device it does not get adopted as well. So why have Macbook Air's not got it? Need every model to have it.
Here's my take - The response that I've seen with people is that when they first see it, they're impressed and think its wonderful, a very positive initial experience, but as people used the laptop, they found the touchbar not as helpful as they first thought. They didn't hate it, but it wasn't being used as fully.
Again it comes down to ergonomics, do you want to constantly take your eyes and hands off the screen and keyboard to initiate an action? People will generally seek the least disruptive workflow, and that for many uses will not include the TB
As mentioned previously, the Touchbar looks good in the stores, until you have to live with it on a daily basis.
Then you wonder why Apple decided to add something that costs a few hundred dollars more, drains battery life, and provides a worse experience than physical keys.
I have lived with it for 3.5 years - if I’m honest I don’t have massively strong feelings about it. I prefer it to the physical keys, but since I often use an external keyboard, I only use it about half the time. Things like the volume slider, typing suggestions, dialogue box controls, brush size sliders in Affinity etc I do find useful. Though I agree that it’s not been as widely used as I first imagined during the 2016 keynote (think the RDF hit me a bit...).
I'm not as lucky as you.
I'm a developer who doesn't use an external keyboard, types for a living, travels a lot, has to present a lot, and has tap to click enabled.
Imagine putting yourself in my shoes when I first bought the new Macbook Pro in 2016:
Developer => No physical ESC key gave me nightmares when coding.
Touchbar => Developers don't like to look at the keyboard
Types for a living => Couldn't stand low key travel and stuck keys
Travels a lot => 2016 had worse battery life than 2015
Has to present a lot => Must carry a dongle with me at all times
Has tap to click enabled => Oversized touchpad results in my palms resting on the it which often moved the cursor slightly when coding, causing many typing errors
And oh, Apple upped the price significantly between 2016 and 2015.
I sold the 2016 and continued to use the 2015 till this day.
I don‘t disagree with you but I think a lot of these are personal preference. I am also an iOS developer (admittedly part time) but don’t mind a software Esc key and actively enjoy typing on the Butterfly keyboard (though I do not like the reliability, so I am happy that the scissor keys are back). I think the USB-C question is pretty much settled now - I would still like an SD card slot - but I’m having to use dongles a lot less than in 2016.
I’ll admit that I’m probably lucky that my circumstances and preferences lined up with what the 2016 MBP offered. Maybe it helped that I never used those ‘golden generation’ retina MacBooks of 2012-2015 - I upgraded from a 2011 15”... Working at a desk and external monitor half the time definitely mitigates a lot of potential issues, as it doesn’t really matter what kind of laptop is plugged in. If the Touch Bar was optional, I think the current 16” (and hopefully 14” in the future) would offer a good option for the both of us. Maybe that will happen in the future.
I don't know if others do this or not, but I rest my ring finger on the ~ key. I would from time to time, accidentally touch the software ESC key during coding. This gave me nightmares.
Perhaps going from 2011 to 2016 was big enough of an upgrade for you. To me, the 2016 was a downgrade in just about every area that mattered while being more expensive.
The touch bar is pretty useful for video editing and other apps that take advantage of the bar. I only really missed the escape key- I hardly ever used the F keys on any computer newer than the 80s.
If you touch type, the lack of physical buttons for tactile feedback is a deal breaker.
The "who knows what this button does at the moment without looking at it" behaviour is a deal breaker.
Apple really screwed up and should have integrated the Touch Bar into the trackpad (not the keyboard, which provides tactile feedback on proper keyboards). Replace the trackpad with a touch screen and I'll be all for it.
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That's understandable. You can however trust everything you read on MacRumors.
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It's a solution looking for a problem that does not exist, and as per above, apple made the wrong choice for where to put a software configurable touchpad. There's already a massive trackpad on the front of the machine - add a display to it!
The fact that it increased the price of the new machines for something that was most certainly not a clear win and for many users was a step back (especially combined with the butterfly keyboard) means that it didn't (and likely won't ever) take off.
Expect it to go the way of 3d-touch.
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Realistically, how much time do you think it saves you? If the answer is "pretty much none" (for me it would if anything waste my time due to lack of tactile feedback and changing functionality of the buttons) it is a useless trinket that upped the price of the machines by 20 percent.
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I'm a big fan of the Touch Bar (although on one of the newer models with a physical Escape key). It adds quite a bit of functionality that wasn't there before (quickly swiping through photos, scrubbing through video editing, having quick access to Microsoft Office tools, etc.) and is extremely extensible through apps like BetterTouchTool. If you use it with an app such as that, it also supports haptic feedback, gestures, can provide a quick information area, and much more.
I disabled the schizophrenic per-app switching behaviour which was distracting and annoying, and now I don’t mind it.
I like that you can set custom actions, which technically you could do before but at least now they can have an icon that better reflects the action, like the lock screen action having a lock.
I like that you can set custom actions, which technically you could do before but at least now they can have an icon that better reflects the action, like the lock screen action having a lock.
What I don't understand is why Apple didn't just add the trackpad Touch Bar above the keyboard. It seems like there is enough space. Then we wouldn't need a debate.