Solid evolution of the MBP and looking forward... BUT!!! This is a "Pro" machine and they talk about doing serious creative work... in my case I easily use 30+GB with everything open... They could have offered a 32GB RAM upgrade... as a Pro making my living off of my machine I would have paid their insane RAM upgrade prices (with those margins) for it.
Apple is more interested in their new "Pros".... Kardashians and Chinese fashionistas I guess
"I never thought I'd say this, but having experienced Steve's wrath about ``this is sh**! fix it!'' he would have tossed this one into the can and said, ``integrate it into the keyboard with hot swappable icons with custom command combinations, preload for apps ready, etc.''
Right. After all, who could possibly use things like the slider controls that the Touch Bar supports nicely? Better to limit yourself to only dynamically changing keys instead. (Maybe they'll come along in the future, too, which could be useful as an adjunct, not as a replacement, though.)
"So instead of being able to touch type and keep looking at the screen or looking at the screen and touching what I want, I now have to keep looking down at the thin touch strip on the keyboard to work? That seems very inefficient."
Look at the demos again. It's not either/or. The touchpad/screen functionality doesn't go away, nor do you have to use the touch bar if you don't want to.
Having used desktop touch displays, I know I have no interest in "looking at the screen and touching what I want", unless you're referring to to looking at the screen and using the trackpad to "touch". Which still works the way it currently does anyway.
As far as "looking down at the thin touch strip on the keyboard to work", when I'm using this laptop, the touch screen would be easily visible at the bottom of my visual field while looking at the screen.
So instead of being able to touch type and keep looking at the screen or looking at the screen and touching what I want, I now have to keep looking down at the thin touch strip on the keyboard to work? That seems very inefficient
Would it not be better to try the feature out in a store and comment, rather than just assume that it will be bad? Why does everyone have a negative bias to things they have not used, nor put much thought into?
I had a good laugh at all of the people to immediately panned the AirPods as being no good as they would not stay in their ears...although not a single soul had ever touched the product (since it wasn't available).
Just like the negative comments about the Surface Studio yesterday?
With that being said, I got serious sticker shock at the 13-inch MBP with Touch Bar. I was with them until I saw $1799.
I never thought I'd say this, but having experienced Steve's wrath about ``this is sh**! fix it!'' he would have tossed this one into the can and said, ``integrate it into the keyboard with hot swappable icons with custom command combinations, preload for apps ready, etc.''
No he wouldn't because it's a crap idea. It's been tried before with the Optimus Keyboard and that hasn't really taken off. Namely because it's too expensive and it is frought with issues.
The Touch Bar actually makes a lot of sense and if it does fail it's not going to make the entire system useless.
Having worked around the man, he would have. He would have paired down that strip to basic system functions and quick glimpse actions and extended the other functioning touch capabilities into the keyboard.
Three years from now, Apple will do just that.
The problem with KB Shorcuts is that they are designed for Right Handed people or Lefties who use the mouse on the right. Despite 30+ years of using a KB+Mouse I can't use the rodent anywhere but on the left. I even prefer to use one with my laptop. Complicating the KB is IMHO the last thing I'd ever consider doing. As Apple highlighted Accessibility in the event, complicating the KB would in my mind make that worse. It remains to be seen how effective this toolbar is.
Let me first say that I think touch screens on laptops and desktops are a bad idea. This is because the it's 1) unergonomic 2) the hand blocks UI interface elements 3) screen smudges 4) different form factors needed to prevent the screen from moving when touched.
I think the Touch Bar looks great and seems to work well, but I couldn't help but thinking it looked pretty awkward when in use. Like the Photoshop girl was like "it's fun to use this with two hands". But it still looked awkward. Maybe it works better in real use.
I think Apple needed to have released or announced a 4K AppleTV as well as announce updates to the MacPro. For instance, the MacPro needed to have upgraded to Thunderbolt 3 with USB-C ports and performance updates.
So instead of being able to touch type and keep looking at the screen or looking at the screen and touching what I want, I now have to keep looking down at the thin touch strip on the keyboard to work? That seems very inefficient
Pretty sure the screen and the top of the keyboard area on a laptop are well within the field of vision for everyone who doesn't have eyes on the sides of their head. You'll even be fine with those 5" thick bifocals.
While overall I think the Touch Bar will prove to be a useful feature, looking at the photos I was actually thinking it was too bad there was so much distance between the display and the Touch Bar, but it's probably the best you can do because you have to keep it within easy reach of your fingers on the keyboard.
Basically, Apple has just obsoleted the function key row. Considering that most people probably never used it for the function keys anyway (using it only for adjusting volume, display brightness, etc), this makes sense. I wonder how much bandwidth it requires and if this could be integrated into Apple's wireless keyboard?
this touch bar seems like a step backwards in usability. missing so many ports. overall disappointed that we waited 4 yrs for this upgrade. where's the significantly better battery life? the oled screen? and it has a processor that will be last gen in a couple months. and they want $1800 starting!!!
So instead of being able to touch type and keep looking at the screen or looking at the screen and touching what I want, I now have to keep looking down at the thin touch strip on the keyboard to work? That seems very inefficient
For those of us who use it for work, I am sure it will integrate into our touch-typing routines pretty quickly.
On the right side of the Touch Bar is a sapphire-covered power button with second-generation Touch ID fingerprint sensor, allowing users to login with just their fingerprint.
Incredibly useful but oh-so-hard to discover. If you hadn't watched the video or received any instruction, it would be easy to miss it. Then again, it's right where the power button has been on all recent generations of MBP. Just without a logo of any kind on its keycap, and without the signature iPhone/iPad "home button ring."
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Right. After all, who could possibly use things like the slider controls that the Touch Bar supports nicely? Better to limit yourself to only dynamically changing keys instead. (Maybe they'll come along in the future, too, which could be useful as an adjunct, not as a replacement, though.)
"So instead of being able to touch type and keep looking at the screen or looking at the screen and touching what I want, I now have to keep looking down at the thin touch strip on the keyboard to work? That seems very inefficient."
Look at the demos again. It's not either/or. The touchpad/screen functionality doesn't go away, nor do you have to use the touch bar if you don't want to.
Having used desktop touch displays, I know I have no interest in "looking at the screen and touching what I want", unless you're referring to to looking at the screen and using the trackpad to "touch". Which still works the way it currently does anyway.
As far as "looking down at the thin touch strip on the keyboard to work", when I'm using this laptop, the touch screen would be easily visible at the bottom of my visual field while looking at the screen.
With that being said, I got serious sticker shock at the 13-inch MBP with Touch Bar. I was with them until I saw $1799.
The problem with KB Shorcuts is that they are designed for Right Handed people or Lefties who use the mouse on the right.
Despite 30+ years of using a KB+Mouse I can't use the rodent anywhere but on the left. I even prefer to use one with my laptop. Complicating the KB is IMHO the last thing I'd ever consider doing.
As Apple highlighted Accessibility in the event, complicating the KB would in my mind make that worse.
It remains to be seen how effective this toolbar is.
Like your comments, welcome to the block list.
I think the Touch Bar looks great and seems to work well, but I couldn't help but thinking it looked pretty awkward when in use. Like the Photoshop girl was like "it's fun to use this with two hands". But it still looked awkward. Maybe it works better in real use.
I think Apple needed to have released or announced a 4K AppleTV as well as announce updates to the MacPro. For instance, the MacPro needed to have upgraded to Thunderbolt 3 with USB-C ports and performance updates.
Is this true? Did they remove the cutout from the top of the laptop?
Basically, Apple has just obsoleted the function key row. Considering that most people probably never used it for the function keys anyway (using it only for adjusting volume, display brightness, etc), this makes sense. I wonder how much bandwidth it requires and if this could be integrated into Apple's wireless keyboard?
I agree. I think they should have included a Lighting port which would allow any iOS hardware to work with a MacBook too.
I wish someone would release OS X drivers for the Optimus video so I could just run OS X on a MSI PE70
So really Microsoft took one and bolted it on to a computer and branded it. Otherwise, I'm not seeing a whole lot of innovation there.
Apple does need to come out with it's own Cinema display, but it sounds like they are working with manufacturers to make 5K displays.
If you hadn't watched the video or received any instruction, it would be easy to miss it.
Then again, it's right where the power button has been on all recent generations of MBP.
Just without a logo of any kind on its keycap, and without the signature iPhone/iPad "home button ring."