No seriously, if it you would really consider it be an improvement, it would make sense to add it to the iMac keyboard as well right?
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If the touchbar is so great, why isn't it featured on the iMac keyboard?
- Thread starter Mr West
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The touchbar is a built in feature so far. It hasn’t made its way to external keyboards, probably because of power or maybe because it’s hard to secure touchID over a wireless connection.
I would imagine it would increase costs of the keyboards by a lot. In a laptop everything is packaged together, in a desktop the keyboard is a separate functional piece. The way the touchbar functions in the macbook pro, the T1 coprocessor works in tandem with the integrated macbook CPU. So for a desktop keyboard to have a touchbar, Apple would have to include the T1 processor in addition to an additional CPU just for the keyboard to be able to function. Of course this would not only cost more but would end up using a whole lot more battery.
We may still see a touchbar keyboard released for the iMacs and mac pros, etc., but it would definitely be a more complex engineering task and I wonder how much such a thing would end up increasing the cost of the respective iMacs or mac pros.
We may still see a touchbar keyboard released for the iMacs and mac pros, etc., but it would definitely be a more complex engineering task and I wonder how much such a thing would end up increasing the cost of the respective iMacs or mac pros.
The touchbar concept was great but the implentation is terrible. Workflow is not better with touchbar and that's the problem. It looks cool and it works but it's not better.
Who says it is great? It works well with a few programs. But for many people it is a quick way to unlock there system. And for some developers it is annoyance because of the loss of physical Escape key.
Because it's OLED and very expensive and the touchbar runs a modified version of WatchOS which would require extra hardware.
The touchbar is fantastic but I can see why it's not included.
I beg to differ. I love the TB and use it every day with increased workflow for the apps i use. I cant see myself going back to a non-tb MacBook. If they somehow get it on the magic keyboatd, ill be the first in line to pick one up.
I dont understand all these comments regarding cost and how itd make it more expensive....That didn't stop Apple from throwing it on the MBP and jacking the price up significantly. Why would the increased cost stop them from putting it on the iMac keyboards - if its truly innovative (lol).
It may not. But it is something to consider. Apple computers are comparatively expensive when compared to other brands with similar specs. That doesn't mean that apple can just charge whatever they want though. Apple still has to do market research to determine which features and at what cost those features may be possible. For example, I bet you apple could have designed the iPhone X without the notch, however if the increased cost in manufacturing was too great and they had to increase the actual cost of the phone the market may not have supported that as well as it supports the current $1000+ iPhone X.
The same is true for a mac. I bet you apple could throw everything under the sun into a mac and price it at $10k each, but if no one buys it, it's not really benefitting apple to go through the production hurdles necessary to actually produce that item.
Also in regards to putting it in the macbook pro, those are easier to pass the cost onto the customer with. Laptops are already magnitudes more costly than comparable desktops so a bump in cost on a laptop may not be as perceivable as one on a desktop. Also laptops make it easier to package things. Like I posted previously, the touchbar needs both the T1 processor (from the apple watch) as well as processing power from the macbook CPU to function. So a desktop keyboard would also need to be designed with a built in CPU (and any supporting hardware such as fans, logic boards, etc.) for a touchbar to even be a possibility. They'd effectively need to build a mini computer just for the keyboard to work with the touchbar. Of course they could probably adopt the A11 chip from the iPhone or something, but again those chips aren't cheap.
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They should use Face ID for the desktop line and move Touch ID off the Touchbar for external keyboards.
Because Johnny dones't code, he only cares about looks.
I doubt very much its related to security. There's not much personal information that can be derived from the touchbar and if that was the case, then using a keyboard where people type passwords and userids would be a bigger problem.
I'd like it on a magic keyboard but it probably does kill the battery life, you have to add a processor and then power a screen. I would't mind because I use wired keyboards anyway but I think that's probably the biggest reason.
The touch bar is actually pretty useful and it would be really useful in a professional environment as well I think. It could show the status of various applications or kick off or kill applications. Better touch tools makes it really programmable if you like to tinker with things. If it's working on it's own it can basically replace a menu system with contextually relevant information, it only show's what you need to see when you would need to see it. I think this is something powerful that Apple is starting to touch on with the watch as well with contextual complications like the Siri face. You are going to be interested in weather updates when leaving work, you want home automation when you are at home maybe navigation weather and Yelp if traveling. It's useful to have information dynamically filter based on the current situation. It is early but there's some cool directions they can take this and I do think it's pretty powerful stuff.
The touch bar is actually pretty useful and it would be really useful in a professional environment as well I think. It could show the status of various applications or kick off or kill applications. Better touch tools makes it really programmable if you like to tinker with things. If it's working on it's own it can basically replace a menu system with contextually relevant information, it only show's what you need to see when you would need to see it. I think this is something powerful that Apple is starting to touch on with the watch as well with contextual complications like the Siri face. You are going to be interested in weather updates when leaving work, you want home automation when you are at home maybe navigation weather and Yelp if traveling. It's useful to have information dynamically filter based on the current situation. It is early but there's some cool directions they can take this and I do think it's pretty powerful stuff.
Refresh my memory...
Why would a developer need an escape key in particular?
As for security-- think back to stories such as this one
https://ifixit.org/blog/9020/no-fix-iphone-7-home-button/
if the security chip is embedded within the computer, the touchID on the detachable, wireless, keyboard can't be trusted. If the security chip is in the keyboard, serets are regularly traversing bluetooth.
Why would a developer need an escape key in particular?
As for security-- think back to stories such as this one
https://ifixit.org/blog/9020/no-fix-iphone-7-home-button/
if the security chip is embedded within the computer, the touchID on the detachable, wireless, keyboard can't be trusted. If the security chip is in the keyboard, serets are regularly traversing bluetooth.
I figured they would have made an external wired tb keyboard esp for the iMac pro. I bet however it would cost about $500 or so and given its mixed popularity, it wasnt worth it.
I prefer having function and escape keys and would choose them over the touch bar esp when dual booting windows. They should have function keys plus a touch bar closer to the screen. The touch bar should also give notifications , act as a stock ticker etc to increase its usefulness.
I prefer having function and escape keys and would choose them over the touch bar esp when dual booting windows. They should have function keys plus a touch bar closer to the screen. The touch bar should also give notifications , act as a stock ticker etc to increase its usefulness.
I'm not sure I understand some people's disdain for the TouchBar. I've enjoyed it on my MBP and I find the customization to whatever specific app I'm in to be great versus a fixed lay-out of physical keys. I've never had a problem tapping escape in the left corner either.
As for why it has not appeared yet in a Apple Magic Keyboard, my guess is battery power.
As for why it has not appeared yet in a Apple Magic Keyboard, my guess is battery power.
I would like to have a TB-like capability, which would be best in an external keyboard, at least for me. To me, the only way to make it great is to have software/app vendors adopt this, and they are most attracted by numbers. A fraction of the MBP market is not enough.
As well, this would play into the Job/Ives vision of "way less is way more." To look at my set up now, I have a Griffen thingy, and a couple of Magic thingies splayed around my workspace. In theory, a well-executed and well-supported TB could simplify my Mac life once again.
As well, this would play into the Job/Ives vision of "way less is way more." To look at my set up now, I have a Griffen thingy, and a couple of Magic thingies splayed around my workspace. In theory, a well-executed and well-supported TB could simplify my Mac life once again.