Thanks, I didn't know this. Of course this makes sense. This thing is going to get complicated (not in a bad way)
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Touch Bar discussion [merged]
- Thread starter Starfyre
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Thanks, I didn't know this. Of course this makes sense. This thing is going to get complicated (not in a bad way)
to force quit press cmd+alt+esc. oh wait...
Where can i find that background in the screenshot? Is it something that comes with the new mac?
I have to admit I was very skeptical about this but having got my head around the layered nature of the interface and made some customisations, it does make things a lot quicker/easier for someone like me who hasn't taken the time to memorise all the various keyboard shortcuts to do stuff. It means I don't have to move my hands from the natural keyboard typing position to use the trackpad as much. Or even change hand position to maybe use one of the modifier keys + another key.
The word suggestions when typing are a bit useless though - works well on iOS but seems redundant at best. The flip side to that is using something like iMovie and having buttons for features I use regularly like the "split clip" really make a difference to how I work.
I guess its usefulness is really going to depend on how you use your machine at the moment and also how developers choose to use it, but I can see how it could be painted as a gimmick and as I said, I was a skeptic who bought a non-TB model at first.
The word suggestions when typing are a bit useless though - works well on iOS but seems redundant at best. The flip side to that is using something like iMovie and having buttons for features I use regularly like the "split clip" really make a difference to how I work.
I guess its usefulness is really going to depend on how you use your machine at the moment and also how developers choose to use it, but I can see how it could be painted as a gimmick and as I said, I was a skeptic who bought a non-TB model at first.
After a lot of debating touch bar mbp or sans touch bar mbp, I broke down and forked over the extra 400 bucks for the TB edition (given some of the processor, port, and graphics benefits).
I've only had the computer for 2 days, but while the TB seemed completely useless with the exception of the Touch ID for login at first, I've started forcing myself to use it and I'm starting to take a liking to it. I think it's like 3D Touch on the iPhone. Useless at first, but handy if you force yourself to use it.
My favorite feature of the new laptop though is the display and the keyboard. I can fly through word docs on this new keyboard.
I've only had the computer for 2 days, but while the TB seemed completely useless with the exception of the Touch ID for login at first, I've started forcing myself to use it and I'm starting to take a liking to it. I think it's like 3D Touch on the iPhone. Useless at first, but handy if you force yourself to use it.
My favorite feature of the new laptop though is the display and the keyboard. I can fly through word docs on this new keyboard.
Had a chance to play with the touch bar MacBook Pro. My first impressions:
- It's so high res that it doesn't look like a screen. It looks like a regular part of the keyboard that can magically change in appearance, until you press it and there's no tactile feedback. If Apple can implement force touch on this, it will be awesome.
- It dynamically changes even within an app, that it does take time to get used to as sometimes I expected it to be a static toolbar.
- Apps need to be optimized for it. Currently, the touch bar seems redundant since it simply duplicates some of the on-screen buttons/menus/toolbar. It would be better for apps to have an optimized UI when the toucher is present (ie. giving more screen space by relegating some functions exclusively to the touch bar).
Unfortunately Final Cut Pro was not installed on the machine I was playing with.
This is obviously "first gen" of an Apple product. What can really add to the experience are force touch and optimized apps. I have a feeling next version will have force touch (after they make iPhones with OLED screens, what a coincidence)
- It's so high res that it doesn't look like a screen. It looks like a regular part of the keyboard that can magically change in appearance, until you press it and there's no tactile feedback. If Apple can implement force touch on this, it will be awesome.
- It dynamically changes even within an app, that it does take time to get used to as sometimes I expected it to be a static toolbar.
- Apps need to be optimized for it. Currently, the touch bar seems redundant since it simply duplicates some of the on-screen buttons/menus/toolbar. It would be better for apps to have an optimized UI when the toucher is present (ie. giving more screen space by relegating some functions exclusively to the touch bar).
Unfortunately Final Cut Pro was not installed on the machine I was playing with.
This is obviously "first gen" of an Apple product. What can really add to the experience are force touch and optimized apps. I have a feeling next version will have force touch (after they make iPhones with OLED screens, what a coincidence)
It's a little to early to tell.
However, I streamed 6.5 hrs of video (finance lectures) nonstop yesterday and the battery went from 100% to 22%. This was with 80% brightness and no keyboard backlight.
Yeah, I had my first little go on it yesterday...must admit to being a little bit 'meh'...It may, given time, come into it's own...or they may drop it.
Personally, I don't see much difference in performing the task on trackpad on screen v the Touch Bar really, I'm not quite sure why they've gone down this route other than to have something 'new and different' to competitors currently on th market with full touch screens!?!?!?
I mean if you want to touch controls, get a touch screen/ipad..right!?!?!?
I think a lot of it comes down to how you use your keyboard and trackpad at the moment. Before I'd used it I thought just that and I think I posted on this thread - that they're just duplicating things which a trackpad is more suited to. I think some of the things they've put on the touchbar are just that, a bit of a novelty - scrubbing through photos springs to mind - why would I choose to do that on there when I have the big trackpad.
But, for some things it does mean I can carry on what I'm doing with having to move my hands from the typing position - I can just use the touchbar where I'd normally have to move hands to do a shortcut or switch to the trackpad. Which sounds like a real first world problem... Little things like the calculator functions work well for example which is small beer in the scheme of things I know. I think its success will be down to how app developers use it.
Its definitely more natural and less intrusive than reaching over to touch the screen though. As I said, I'm not totally convinced but its much better than I thought it would be and some of the customisations I've made in apps like Mail really have improved what I can do and how quickly I can do it.
But, for some things it does mean I can carry on what I'm doing with having to move my hands from the typing position - I can just use the touchbar where I'd normally have to move hands to do a shortcut or switch to the trackpad. Which sounds like a real first world problem... Little things like the calculator functions work well for example which is small beer in the scheme of things I know. I think its success will be down to how app developers use it.
Its definitely more natural and less intrusive than reaching over to touch the screen though. As I said, I'm not totally convinced but its much better than I thought it would be and some of the customisations I've made in apps like Mail really have improved what I can do and how quickly I can do it.
I've had my MacBook for just over a week and honestly I'm not very impressed with the Touch Bar. It hasn't really added anything to my usage and has merely been a bit of an annoyance due to the complete absence of a physical escape key. Yes the scrubbing can occasionally be convenient, but it is very little improvement over just using a button (which I could locate much easier). My initial impression of it was more positive than I was expecting, but now, after.about a week of usage, it's very much declined. Touch ID is genuinely fantastic, but the touch bar is something I wish was gone as I can't find a genuine use for it so far which actually justifies its existence.
The only real use I can see myself getting from it is if support for LaTeX is added and maths symbols can be placed in there, but even then it's hardly going to have a major impact on my work flow, it just makes it less essential to remember some keyboard shortcuts.
The only real use I can see myself getting from it is if support for LaTeX is added and maths symbols can be placed in there, but even then it's hardly going to have a major impact on my work flow, it just makes it less essential to remember some keyboard shortcuts.
I really don't mind the Touch Bar...Honestly, the only reason I bought it was "future proofing" the machine and the upgraded graphics and extra ports.
However, after about 5 days of playing with it, my flow time in Safari has definitely decreased, and it helps crack through my 500+ daily emails pretty quickly. Other than that, I don't find myself using it as I have been using Mac OS keyboard shortcuts since I first got a mac back in 2005.
I am in love with the keyboard on this thing though.
However, after about 5 days of playing with it, my flow time in Safari has definitely decreased, and it helps crack through my 500+ daily emails pretty quickly. Other than that, I don't find myself using it as I have been using Mac OS keyboard shortcuts since I first got a mac back in 2005.
I am in love with the keyboard on this thing though.
Glad you're enjoying your new MacBook.
IMO the touchbar will be more useful for the younger users and the non-experience users. Both lack the knowledge of keyboard shortcuts (as you and I), plus the touchbar will help them "discover" some of the functionality in each software.
Most people I know do not have a clue they can do this or that in Finder, Safari, Mail, etc. not everyone is proficient in software even using computers every day for the last 10 years... they just use it. Like cars, people drive them, not everyone races them.
I wonder if the people who have purchased the new MacBook are indeed the intended people, don't get me wrong i am in no way telling people they can't or shouldn't purchase the new MacBook Pro's or indeed anything!! what i mean is, the Touch Bar seems to benefit people like editors. The average individual who may be buying one to write powerpoint's, check their emails and so on may not see the benefit of the Touch Bar. The only reason i haven't upgraded my 2011 MacBook Pro is simply because i tend to use my iMac and iPad Pro more these days. However it has beeb tempting.
Speaking for myself, I've always loved what Apple came up with. I was a bit skeptical for the upgrade but after using it for one day now I am really loving the new MBP 15".
As for the Touch Bar I am not using it so much, I wish there was a way to have all the "buttons" like changing brightness, dashboard, volume etc. always visible BUT with the Esc-button also available because I use Esc button a lot.
There might be some tricks to get his done like the one @frankgrimes recommended in the last post. As for now I am struggling to find my correct monitor cable and a good hard plastic case
As for the Touch Bar I am not using it so much, I wish there was a way to have all the "buttons" like changing brightness, dashboard, volume etc. always visible BUT with the Esc-button also available because I use Esc button a lot.
There might be some tricks to get his done like the one @frankgrimes recommended in the last post. As for now I am struggling to find my correct monitor cable and a good hard plastic case
that's actually pretty cool, you can do a lot of things with that tool over time
As a (web) developer, I find the touchbar not so attractive possibly because I do not use photoshop (or just minimal usage) or DJ ? And I work on two external monitors typically.
Function keys are generally useful, and being used all the time. I use these keys to jump between functions and locations, and look ups. Ah, and I don't look at these function keys when I use them.
When I'm doing coding/writing, my focus point is the cursor, and around 70% of the screen. I even get into distraction-free mode sometimes. Touchbar becomes a distraction. And typical articles can be written in markdown without colors. And I constantly switch to different apps, imagine this, when you switch apps and your eyes still be able to see a fraction of the touchbar. The icons on touchbar are constantly flickering...
A lot of the (potential useful) functions/features (not photoshop or dj) discussed can be achieved by Alfred Workflows. We are the 'Pro' users, aren't we?
TLDR: Focus is needed. Introducing habits that's not applicable on other machines (<late 2016, windows etc.) seems a waste of time.
Function keys are generally useful, and being used all the time. I use these keys to jump between functions and locations, and look ups. Ah, and I don't look at these function keys when I use them.
When I'm doing coding/writing, my focus point is the cursor, and around 70% of the screen. I even get into distraction-free mode sometimes. Touchbar becomes a distraction. And typical articles can be written in markdown without colors. And I constantly switch to different apps, imagine this, when you switch apps and your eyes still be able to see a fraction of the touchbar. The icons on touchbar are constantly flickering...
A lot of the (potential useful) functions/features (not photoshop or dj) discussed can be achieved by Alfred Workflows. We are the 'Pro' users, aren't we?
TLDR: Focus is needed. Introducing habits that's not applicable on other machines (<late 2016, windows etc.) seems a waste of time.
Thought I would chime in with some glitches I've experienced and ways I think the Touch Bar can be improved.
Glitches:
Glitches:
- The weird tab outline glitch in Safari.
- When the iTunes song progress bar is open, it often freezes and doesn't show the current song location.
- The emoji picker will randomly stop typing emojis into text fields. The only solution is a full reboot!
- It could do with more pixels. Making it the same as the Apple Watch screen would be nice (though would require a 50% pixel density boost).
- The feature for media seeking, i.e. the thing in the screenshot below, is pretty poorly implemented:
- When you have multiple media playing, it gets totally confused:
- For example, I might be streaming music but have a live stream of some sport playing silently in picture-in-picture mode. Every single time I switch to an app that isn't iTunes the media seeker switches to the Safari media, which is annoying - and useless anyway because if it's a live stream you can't even seek or pause! Switch from Messages to Safari, and you lose your iTunes controller! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- There seems to be some hierarchy of app priority for the media seeking view, and Safari is at the top of that list. I wish you could disable the media seeker altogether for non-full screen Safari content - I don't need a media seeker for incidental Facebook audio (e.g. the message received sound), for instance.
- The position marker moves irregularly. It will jump forward twice, then stays still, and then jump forward three times, and then stays still, and then jump forward once, and so on. It's very inelegant, especially considering it doesn't move in single-pixel increments, but several pixels at a time!
- This is especially perplexing given the Touch Bar runs on Apple Watch software and, to an extent, hardware. Much effort went in to making the second hand move fluidly on the Watch. Why wasn't the same done to (what should be) constantly-moving elements on the Touch Bar? Both the Touch Bar and Apple Watch have 60Hz screens so the hardware would support fluid movement. It is a disappointing missed detail that I hope is improved with an update.