Zero mention of Touchbar improvements in WWDC

[senttoschool]

A good sign if you're hoping that Apple gets rid of it.

It seems like the touch bar is getting 3D touch treatments. No mentions of it in keynotes. Then dropped/replaced entirely.

At this point, Apple either needs to go all in or all out. It's not on the Air. It's not on any external keyboards which are used for iMacs, Mac Minis, and Mac Pros. Apple hates fragmentation. Only two out of six Mac models have it.

I stand by my theory that Apple has good reasons to get rid of the touchbar with the arrival of ARM Macs:

Will Apple get rid of the touchbar with the arrival of ARM Macbooks?

I maintain that the main reason the touchbar was pushed down our throats is that Apple wanted to differentiate from PCs more than just the OS. Unlike on mobile, Apple could only use the same Intel CPUs that PCs also use so it can't lead in performance. So to differentiate, Apple decided to push...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[Dhock_Holiday]

Its definitely on the chopping block, or at least should be. They spent a lot of time on the demo showing off the new volume and brightness "sliders" in Big Sur. Hopefully that R&D time and money can go towards developing miniLED/borderless screens.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

My first thought when they showed off the new control panel in Big Sur was that the touchbar wasn’t long for this world.

 

[tranceking26]

I can kinda see it being helpful for some people sure, but I'd much rather have the original keys back. Keeping touchID too!

 

[darkgremio]

I could see them building off the architecture of the software layer of the touch bar (similar framework to WatchOS) and implementing it in the supposed miniLED rumors that have been circulating for awhile. I imagine that Mac Laptops are going to get slimmer, since they are now using their own SOC, which will allow for even more thermal dynamic management, as opposed to using the leaf blower intel chip

 

[iRun26.2]

I think it works pretty well now. Why would they need to change it?

 

[senttoschool]

I think it works pretty well now. Why would they need to change it?

Because:

1. It doesn't work well now.
2. People don't like it due to reason #1.
3. It adds $100-$200 to the price tag.
4. They don't need to change it. They aren't improving it at all which is the point of this thread. Even the HomePod got some improvements.

 

[iRun26.2]

Because:

1. It doesn't work well now.
2. People don't like it due to reason #1.
3. It adds $100-$200 to the price tag.
4. They don't need to change it. They aren't improving it at all which is the point of this thread. Even the HomePod got some improvements.

1) I think that is just your opinion. I like it and I think that it works well.
2) I've seen other people on these forums who also like it.
3) I highly doubt it is >$100. I bet it comes down to <$50 (probably less when in mass production, we're talking very very large quantities)
4) There are probably some improvements that just weren't mentioned. We will have to wait and see.

 

[chengengaun]

I guess another reason not to develop the Touch Bar further is the cost/barrier of bringing it to the desktop Macs (and "external" Magic Keyboards). Having one subset of Mac with Touch Bar and another without does not make for a consistent user experience. Kind of like iPhones with 3D Touch and iPads without.

 

[senttoschool]

1) I think that is just your opinion. I like it and I think that it works well.
2) I've seen other people on these forums who also like it.
3) I highly doubt it is >$100. I bet it comes down to <$50 (probably less when in mass production, we're talking very very large quantities)
4) There are probably some improvements that just weren't mentioned. We will have to wait and see.

1. It's a popular opinion.
2. See #1. There are people who believe the Earth is flat. You can find all sorts of people.
3. Non-touchbar Macbook Pro 13" were several hundred dollars less than touch bar ones.
4. The point is that they didn't think it was important enough to mention it. Even the HomePod got mentions and explicit improvements.

 

[maflynn]

I don't see why they would mention it. I mean they'll only say anything if they had a product to show it off. I do think its a red headed step child and Apple will kill it off, maybe with the new ARM based MBPs

 

[- rob -]

Also hoping this heads toward the bin.

I thought I read some narrative where someone suggested the touch bar was part of a multi-step process to getting Arm into the Mac.

It possibly could have been a good feature as well, but it didn’t need to be if it’s actual purpose was to help the architecture shift.

 

[Quu]

I've had my touchbar equipped mac for almost 8 months now and it still annoys me to be honest. Buttons would just be so much more convenient.

Just yesterday I was typing something out and accidentally touched the screen brightness down button making the screen go off. Would never happen with physical buttons since you need to push them down vs just lightly brushing the touch bar.

I'm still of the opinion Apple made the laptops worse usability wise in an attempt to appear to be innovating.