Poll

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Do you use your touch bar?

	Yes
	No

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[www.cultofmac.com]

According to reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the next-gen MacBook Pro — the first big redesign of the laptop in half a decade — will come in 14- and 16-inch sizes, feature more IO ports, the return of the MagSafe charger in some form (!), and, of course, Apple Silicon chips.

But it could also see the end of the Touch Bar, the controversial — and never entirely successful — innovation Apple debuted back in 2016.

If Kuo’s report, as seen by Cult of Mac, is accurate, the next-gen MacBook Pro will ditch the Touch Bar for a row of regular physical keys, as existed prior to its introduction. Kuo estimates the new MacBook Pro will arrive in Q3 2021.

The short, uninspiring life of the Touch Bar
The end of the Touch Bar is not something I can see too many Mac fans losing sleep over. Right from the start, the Touch Bar seemed something of an awkward middle ground compromise for those hankering after a touchscreen Mac (which Apple clearly doesn’t want to do). The idea was that, as with the iPhone’s lack of physical buttons, the Touch Bar would offer touchscreen function key replacements that could change depending on the app you were using at the time.

But while this was technically impressive, it also felt a bit awkward. Most users don’t want to stare at their keyboards when they’re working, and have to deal with a dynamic set of changing keys. The Touch Bar sounded neat, but it ultimately solved a problem that didn’t really exist.

It wound up being more of a half-baked gimmick than a transformative user experience.

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Ways to improve web conference image and sound quality. [forums.macresource.com]

It's something I certainly won't miss. Rarely use it and will happy with the Silicone chip in a 15/16 inch MBP.

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The only time I really used it was to skip ads on YouTube as you can scrub right to the end of the ad.

.....when I think about this......I......touch.......

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I reject your reality and substitute my own!

pRICE,

My wife has a machine with the touch bar. Total waste. Hope Apple dumps it in favor of a feature that is actually useful more than once in a century.

Robert

I sometimes use a Lenovo Carbon from 2013 with a dynamic function row, the predecessor to the touch bar. It sucks, too. The functionality it provides is not sufficient to drop physical function keys. If it is to exist in any form, it should be its own row above the function row.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2021 09:16AM by Acer.

Never had one, won't miss it.

I don't think they are useful. They have come in and out of various laptops, not just Apple, and never stick around.

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C(-)ris
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Another new Apple 2021 title...

Is that what kids are calling it these days?

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“Live your life, love your life, don’t regret…live, learn and move forward positively.” – CR Johnson
Loving life in Lake Tahoe, CA

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mikebw
Never had one, won't miss it.

Agreed

My Intel MBP doesn't have this "feature", nor does the M1 MBA.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2021 10:25AM by freeradical.

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freeradical

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mikebw
Never had one, won't miss it.

Agreed

My Intel MBP doesn't have this "feature", nor does the M1 MBA.

All quad core and higher Intel MBPs have this I/O handicap.

One reason we purchased an M1 MBA instead of the M1 'Pro' was the Pro was still compromised with the touchbar.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2021 12:12PM by sekker.

I haven't bought any laptop during this period when only the low end models did not include the Touch Bar, and didn't see any purpose it would fulfill for my usage anyways From reading up on what it could be used for, and what it couldn't, I saw it as a "solution looking for a problem" type of device.

Not the first such tech that I have seen coming out from Apple, or amy other tech company over the years.

(Message typed in using Safari, it autocorrected the name to use caps.)

I see a M-one in my future since my keyboard's number row went out today. I'll use a Bluetooth number keypad until I sort things out. If I buy soon it will be a MBA, partially to avoid the touchbar. I hope I can milk the keypad until the third quarter though to get second generation chip in a MBP without a touchbar.

I'll keep my current MBP to keep access to Photoshop and a few other programs that generally do not need numbers

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“No persons are more frequently wrong, than those who will not admit they are wrong.” -- François de La Rochefoucauld

"Those who cannot accept the past are condemned to revise it." -- Geo. Mathias

The German word for contraceptive is “Schwangerschaftsverhütungsmittel”. By the time you finished saying that, it’s too late

I use Pock to put the OSX dock on the touch bar. It’s useful, but not as useful as having physical function keys.
I won’t miss the touch bar.