Just when you think things can’t get any better, Apple makes a move like this and WOW what an innovation – the Touch Bar!
I won’t go in-depth on the discussion because if you watch Apple’s presentation, that’s all you need to know and that’s what you should know BUT what I can tell you is that they’re moving forward.
How often do we touch the function keys? I know I don’t touch them, other than for ALT + F4 and F5, with the occasional F9, F10 for game recording and F11 for full screen and F12 (or F7) used for UEFI screen capture. Put it simple – RARE.
What the Touch Bar does is that it brings your COMMONLY USED functions of an app into that tiny display area so you can access faster, or use it to aid in your work.
Is it for everyone?
I feel that the Touch Bar is as relevant to people as Touch Screen. Personally I find touch screen computers more appealing but whatever floats your boat really. Once my hands are on the keyboard, I prefer for them to stay there than having to reach out to that tiny screen there BUT I think it’s cool if the tiny screen can be used for displaying notifications.
Overall, neat stuff is neat – there’s no 2 way about it. Great job Apple!
Neat does not mean useful though. 😛 Demo on stage is easy but to use it on daily basis, I think it’s alright for shortcuts but to do editing and what not, I’ll go with the trackpad because moving upwards to the bar means I have to spend energy levitating my hands so it doesn’t touch any keys.
About the MacBook Pro
As for the Macbook Pro itself – I’m quite surprised that Apple didn’t throw in the newest range of processors. 6th Generation Skylake processor instead of 7th Generation Kabylake, DDR3 instead of DDR4, and they use AMD Radeon GPU instead of Nvidia’s offerings. All this probably added quite some power draw to the system so the operating hours on battery hasn’t improved.
Apple also introduces a whole bunch of USB-C connectors, replacing even the MagSafe connection and that’s quite sad. I love the MagSafe connection as you need not fear tripping over the wire and bringing your notebook to destruction.
What I’m most surprised is that the Macbook Pro comes with a headphone jack when they were promoting Wireless listening on the iPhone. 😛
Pricing
– 13″ 2.0Ghz Core i5 (8GB 1866Mhz Memory, 256GB storage) model retails at $1,499.00 (RM 6,299)
– 13″ 2.9Ghz Core i5 (8GB 2133Mhz Memory, 256GB storage) model with Touch Bar retails at $1,799.00 (RM 7,599)
– 13″ 2.9Ghz Core i5 (8GB 2133Mhz Memory, 512GB storage) model with Touch Bar retails at $1,799.00 (RM 8,399)
– 15″ 2.6Ghz Core i7 (16GB 2133Mhz Memory, 256GB storage, Radeon Pro 450) model with Touch Bar retails at $1,799.00 (RM 10,199.00)
– 15″ 2.7Ghz Core i7 (16GB 2133Mhz Memory, 512GB storage, Radeon Pro 455) model with Touch Bar retails at $1,799.00 (RM 11,999.00)
Visit the official product page.
