What is a touch bar on a MacBook? Is it worth buying a MacBook Pro with Touch Bar? Impressions after three months of use
It promised to become iconic and revolutionary. This year Apple laptops turn 25 years old, the Pro and Air lines have not been updated for a long time, everyone was waiting for a bunch of “amazings”.
Tim Cook and his team tried to keep the public's interest for more than an hour, but at the same time showed only one New Product. year on the Air line (laptops are more powerful and smaller) and installed new standard in the segment of compact but powerful ultrabooks.
The main innovation of the firmware was the second display, or rather the touch panel Touch Bar .
I believe that the new feature is a step back, and not a cool revolutionary innovation; there are a number of complaints about this engineering solution.
1. Why was the top row of keys removed?
Many users regularly use EFKs for work; they often adjust the display brightness or the volume of the device without even looking at the keyboard. Now you can't do this blindly, and when another application's buttons appear in the panel, you'll have to switch to the Finder or desktop to turn down the volume or increase the brightness of the keyboard backlight.
The touch key raises the most questions Escape. The button is quite often used in games and applications, touch input without feedback however, not the best solution.
2. Panel height is too low
During the presentation, we saw how the Touch Bar helps when working in professional applications. The panel contains keys for applying various effects, you can view color palette or timeline depending on the program.
From my experience working in video editors, I can say that sometimes even a third of the screen is not enough to comfortably work with the Timeline, not to mention a small strip the size of a cut-down key.
The display of photo windows with open Safari tabs in the preview panel causes a fit of laughter. On big screen This looks fine during a presentation, but try looking down at the keyboard and imagining a series of pictures the size of the F1 button.
3. There is no feedback
Clicking a virtual button has no feedback. The user will have to control the operation of the keys at all times.
4. Constantly changing panel capabilities
It will be very difficult to learn the location of changing icons, which means that the speed of working at the computer will decrease. Only when working with Photoshop or Final Cut Pro panel may vary depending on the selected tool, the selected operating mode or the selected area of the photo and video.
It’s simply impossible to get used to such a variety of icons on the Touch Bar.
5. Why duplicate hotkeys
Most of the actions that were performed using the touchpad during the presentation can be done by pressing the corresponding hot keys. Shortcuts have been present in the system for a long time, we are used to them and have learned the necessary ones; we can quickly press them blindly.
Why instead shift your gaze to the touchpad and press down on the sensor without feedback?
6. Cross on touch dialing
But I began to master the 10-finger touch typing method and was already accustomed to not looking at the keyboard of my computer. Why is Apple trying to take me back a step again so that I regularly “jump” my eyes between the buttons and the screen.
PC users in the US, 95% of whom have touch typing skills, will have to get used to looking at the keys to perform certain actions.
It was very sad to see how all the presenters at the presentation were forced to bury their eyes on the keyboard in order to convince us of its convenience and usefulness.
A ray of light
The only necessary feature in the new panel is the Touch ID sensor. It significantly expands the capabilities of laptops, allows you to pay for purchases without smartphones and instantly switch between user accounts.
Unfortunately, the fingerprint scanner was not included in the low-end MacBook model without the Touch Bar.
We are very interested in your opinion about the main innovation of 2016.
Apple is criticized for lack of innovation, Apple is criticized for innovation... Well, there must be some drawbacks to the absolute success that has haunted the company for many years. Close attention from the public, including critics who, as they say, are “always ready” is one of them.
And yet, the Apple giant lives under a lucky star and the company magically manages to present even its mistakes (and, whatever one may say - oh, horror - they happen to Apple) with such confidence in its rightness that you involuntarily think - maybe it’s really better this way? However, the American company owes its success not only to luck and the ability to present itself. Add to the above points - advanced hardware, perfect design, stable operating systems... and, of course, the notorious innovations and... you get the magic of Apple.
However, the magic does not apply to everyone. Truly, you can either love or hate this company. And since it’s difficult to find fault with the hardware, design and platforms, critics cling to innovation or the lack thereof. If Apple's innovations are secondary and/or are in some way a variation of competitors' innovations, critics say - “Well, that already happened,” “Too small,” “Apple is not the same anymore,” etc. Well, in the case when an innovation is uniquely declared - “Well, this is so unusual! How inconvenient, ah-ah!” Agree, there is not enough objectivity in such assessments. No, of course, innovations are unusual, this is their essence in general, another question is - what is the sign of this unusual?
In this review, we will try to understand this issue regarding the latest of Apple’s unique innovations - the Touch Bar on the Macbook Pro. Well, we’ll also talk about other characteristics of the laptop.
Since TouchBar is a completely new thing, you'll have to start from the very beginning. What is it and why is it needed...
Concept
Look at the top row of your keyboard. What's there? Basically, keys that the average user uses extremely rarely (well, unless he masters the art of “hot” combinations). And so Apple engineers decided - damn it, why do we need a whole row of unnecessary keys and removed it.
How was it removed? At all? No, of course, instead of the practically unpressable F1-F12, Page U, Page Down, etc., which usually occupy the top row of the keyboard, they created a thing called Touch Bar, designed to rethink computer control.
But this is logical!
However, Apple is saying to rethink it, and we would say to finally make the controls logical. Open any program. For example, Word and start working in it. You've typed some text and now you want to format it. All formatting tools are located at the top of the document, and to “poke” one of them, you point your hand down and find the trackpad, now using it to control the cursor, the hand again “goes” up and, finally, clicks the desired tool.
So what happens? You need the tool on top, but your hand goes down to the trackpad first and then up. Logical? No, not really. Everyone is just used to this scheme.
Now imagine you have a Macbook Pro with Touch Bar. To edit text, you can, of course, use the above-described scheme, because the trackpad has not been canceled. Or you can act more logically. You need a tool on top, and you move your hand up to the touch bar and through it select what you need. And here’s the paradox - it’s so logical, but the force of habit says the opposite.
What is it?
Well, now, actually, about the main thing, what the Touch Bar is and how to control it.
The Touch Bar is a “piece” of the touchpad - narrow and long - it takes up about the same amount of space as the top row of keyboard buttons. How to manage it? Well, of course, “poke” your finger like on any touch panel.
When you turn on your Macbook on the Touch Bar, you will see the message “Unlock with using Touch ID” and an arrow to the right, pointing to the button that has a built-in fingerprint scanner (we’ll talk about it in more detail below). After unlocking, the panel will transform - the Esc button will appear on the left, a group of brightness and volume controls on the right, a Siri shortcut key, as well as a small arrow, tapping on which will provide access to other classic mac OS functions.
If you go into applications, the Touch Bar will be supplemented with new options - they are distributed between Esc and other controls. When editing text in Pages or Word, you will see buttons that allow you to make the text bold, underline, enter numbering, and highlight a fragment with color; and if you go to Safari, the Touch Bar allows you to quickly switch between tabs, access address bar, go to frequently visited sites. Not only that, but the panel will change depending on the content you're working with—for example, when playing a video, the Touch Bar can be used to rewind, for example.
However, such “goodies” await the user only when working with applications adapted from the touch bar, and there are still few of them. If the developer has not yet implemented support for this Apple innovation, then when working with his program on the Touch Bar, only the classic options that we mentioned above will be displayed - sound adjustment, Esc, etc.
Setting details
The location of the classic options is adjustable. If you want to change something on the panel, you need to go to the “Settings” menu, then select “Keyboard” and - voila! You will have enormous possibilities for personalizing the Touch Bar! In just one click you can add the desired button or remove the excess.
Customization of Touch Bar capabilities within applications is also supported. But you need to look for the corresponding item in the application menu. For example, in Safari you need to click “View”, then “Customize Touch Bar”.
User experience: do you get used to good things quickly?
So, at first glance, you will agree that the Touch Bar looks like a very useful thing. And, I must say, users of Apple laptops have previously noted that thanks to the trackpad’s support for multi-touch gestures, they practically do not remember the mouse. What will they say now that the Touch Bar has appeared and further reduced the need to interact with the mouse?
There is no clear opinion here. Owners of Macbooks with Touch Bar are divided into two camps. In the first, everyone is happy, happy about the progress and doing their best to explore the possibilities of the new feature, quickly achieving positive results. The second one is buzzing about how uncomfortable things have become. However, in our opinion, this is only a matter of attitude towards innovation in principle and an inquisitive mind.
Here's a very shining example. Volume control circuit. Previously, in order to quickly increase or decrease the sound, you had to press the corresponding button several times, but now the button has become a touch button and when you click on it, a special slider appears, which controls the sound level.
One journalist in his review wrote that this irritates him greatly, because where there used to be a couple of blind actions, it is now difficult to navigate blindly, because first you need to call the slider, then “catch” the current level and take it to the desired one side.
And here is another review and another journalist who decided what would happen if you press the adjustment button and hold your finger. But here's what - a slider will appear and you can control it without lifting your finger, simply moving it left or right. That is, there is only one movement, and it’s easy to do blindly. Eureka!
And, in fact, this one example can describe the entire concept and the entire perception of the Touch Bar. What’s important here is the attitude, the desire to develop along with progress, and if you’re on this wave, great, the Touch Bar will open up a lot of new opportunities for you. Otherwise, it's a shame, because the Touch Bar is an innovation that requires some effort. And if now you are unhappy with it (you never know, you first bought the device, and only then you decided to read a review of it), spend a couple of days actively mastering it and, most likely, you will change your anger to mercy.
What else is new?
Agree, it would be strange to talk a lot about the main innovation of the new laptop Apple Macbook Pro, not to say a word about its other innovations and parameters. So now let's talk about them.
All that glitters is not gold
Since the first Macbook, the design of Apple laptops has remained virtually unchanged. No, of course, some innovations were introduced, but in general the design initially turned out to be so successful that its main trump cards - an all-metal aluminum body in a noble gray color and a neat “apple” on the lid that glowed in the dark - remained unchanged all this time. But then a Macbook Pro with a Touch Bar appears and - oh, horror - the “apple” decreases in size and stops glowing. Why Apple deprived the new MacBook of such a nice feature is unclear, but the company’s fans were unanimously upset.
However, this is not the only change in the design of the new Macbook Pro - it was given a new mechanism for attaching the lid and screen, the locations of the speakers were changed - they are now located on the front panel, but the ventilation holes, on the contrary, moved to back cover. Also, the body has become thinner and that’s impressive. The Pro-series was already very thin for its parameters, but now the hardware has been upgraded (more on that a little later) and the body has become even thinner. Bravo, Apple!
Butterflies in the stomach
Here's another great news - the keyboard and touchpad, which have always been comfortable on Macbooks, have become even more convenient.
As for the keyboard, the butterfly mechanism continues to improve, which Apple recently switched to in its laptops. The key travel is clear but short. It’s unusual at first, but after a couple of hours of the typing process you’ll begin to experience downright aesthetic pleasure. Fingers do not so much tap as they slide over the keyboard; text is typed with a “light movement of the hand” and much faster than on classic keyboards.
The touchpad, which was already huge, became even larger. Of course, it has become more convenient to work, which will be especially appreciated by those who often work in graphic editors. In short, Apple has put a lot of work into the controls on this Macbook!
Tar break
However, let's stop pouring honey for a minute - because it's time to discuss the Macbook Pro connectors with the Touch Bar.
Apple has never really been in favor of a lot of ports, but Lately the desire to make fewer “holes” turned into some kind of manic thought. The hero of our review has only four USB ports and one classic audio jack. All! For a laptop this is truly catastrophically small and in order to fully work with the peripherals you need to have a bunch of adapters. Inconvenient! And here everyone will agree - it’s better to have a “leaky” Macbook, but without a garden with adapters, than supposedly elegant, according to Apple, with a minimum of ports and the constant hassle of how to connect this or that device.
And you know what's the funniest thing? Let's imagine that you have everything in order with income, you own a Macbook Pro with a Touch Bar and a flagship Apple smartphone iPhone 7, which, as everyone remembers, was deprived of a standard audio connector. You listen to music on your iPhone from the headphones that came with your smartphone, but now you suddenly want to plug them into your laptop. Nothing will work! iPhone headphones 7 end with a Lightning connector, but the Macbook Pro with Touch Bar does not have this. And, yes, you understood everything correctly - there are either other headphones or an adapter! A curtain.
And again honey...
Well, unfortunately, Apple’s strange “port” policy can only, as they say, be understood and forgiven, because the company is not going to stray from the path of reducing connectors. On the contrary, it is worth preparing for the fact that every year there will be even fewer of them. Fortunately, there will be no more fly in the ointment, only good news.
Let's talk about the display... Macbook Pro Retina This is not the first time we have seen this. However, a laptop with a Touch Bar doesn’t just have a super-sharp retina display; compared to previous indicators, the picture is basically improved on all fronts. The most important innovation is the expanded color gamut - the display now displays even more shades, which will certainly delight designers.
As for screen sizes, the hero of our review is presented in two Apple models Macbook Pro with Touch Bar 13 and 15 inches. Which one to buy is up to you, the Macbook Pro 13-inch Touch Bar is, of course, lighter and more compact, you can even carry it under your arm and it will be comfortable. However, with a 15-inch device there will be no hassle either, it just requires a slightly different approach. You can, for example, buy a case for a Macbook Pro 15-inch Touch Bar in the form of a case and put not only your laptop, but also all your documents there.
Faster than your thoughts...
Depending on the price, the user can get a Macbook Pro with Touch Bar with an i5 or i7 processor in different modifications, 8 or 16 GB of RAM and 128/256/512 GB or 1 TB of internal memory. However, rest assured, even with the simplest assembly, the laptop will simply fly. This is what Apple promises, this is what many review authors write and real users in your reviews.
This device is truly always ready for use - it comes out of standby mode in an instant. For example, you are at home, quietly having dinner, and suddenly a brilliant working concept has come into your head and you urgently need to formalize it, otherwise both the thought and the inspiration will go away. And so you run up to the Macbook, open it and that’s it - while you opened the lid, it’s already woken up and ready for quick work. And this is really cool! Any application launches instantly, no matter how heavy it is.
Now let's get back to Touch ID - we promised to talk about it when we talked about the Touch Bar. The hero of our review is the first Macbook with a fingerprint scanner. When you turn on the device for the first time, you are prompted to configure the scanner and then use it to unlock the laptop. There is nothing unusual here, everything is like on the iPhone and iPad - you can add several fingers, each one needs to be applied n number of times until the system completely counts and remembers the fingerprint. The scanner works clearly and quickly, no problems.
...and sometimes louder
Macbook Pro with Touch Bar sounds really cool. Even unexpectedly cool, so cool that I would like to advise manufacturers of “musical” laptops to take a master class from Apple engineers. There is volume, depth, and a gorgeous panoramic sound, which especially “plays” in instrumental and calm compositions. And it’s worth mentioning separately about the volume - its range is more than sufficient - enough to even anger your neighbors.
Will it last long?
And finally, another important point is autonomy. And this point is very controversial. On the one hand, Apple announced 10 hours of operation without recharging in office and entertainment mode. On the other hand, the battery capacity was reduced by 30% (!) compared to the previous model - something had to be sacrificed to make the case thinner. However, at the presentation it was noted that the reduction in capacity will be compensated by new energy saving technologies.
What's the reality? The authors of tests and reviews cannot come to a consensus, but in most cases the hero of our review does not last 10 hours, but he does not work less than 8 hours. And, whatever one may say, even this figure for an ultra-thin and super powerful laptop with a super clear screen is a very good figure.
Let's summarize: how much does a revolution cost for the people?
And now about the “bad” numbers - prices for Macbook Pro with Touch Bar. Of course, no one expects an Apple product to cost a budget, especially when it comes to the most sophisticated device in the laptop line.
The minimum configuration of a Macbook Pro with Touch Bar will cost 102,990 rubles (this is the price of the official website), the maximum configuration for Russia is 207,990 rubles. However, for some reason this moment A version with a terabyte drive is not available. So 207,990 is not the limit. And, yes, the Macbook Pro with Touch Bar is currently the most expensive Apple laptop, but this is not about the innovative panel, or rather, not only about it, but also about the fact that the hero of our review, we emphasize again, today the newest and most advanced laptop from the Apple giant.
In general, you can talk a lot about the fact that Apple asks too much for its products, but if we can still argue about the company’s smartphones and tablets, then with the Macbook the situation is as simple as possible. Does Macbook Pro have competitors? No. Even if we ignore the Touch Bar, you won’t find a model on the market that so successfully combines excellent design, advanced hardware, a magnificent screen and... further down the list.
However, within the framework of this review, it is important to answer not so much the question of whether it is worth buying a Macbook Pro, but rather whether it is worth buying a Macbook Pro with a Touch Bar. And here you need to take into account at least three features - the “apple” will no longer light up, the only ports at your disposal will be an audio jack and USB, and, of course, you will have a Touch Bar. Do you want to keep up with progress? Buy! Today everyone criticizes the Touch Bar, but tomorrow competitors will also have similar assistants. But if, nevertheless, you want to work the old fashioned way, take a closer look at the other Macbook Pros that are officially on sale today on the Apple website - in model range There are devices that are only slightly inferior in hardware to the hero of our review.
Oktyabrskaya Apple presentation 80 percent was dedicated to the new Touch Bar. DJs played their tracks on it, Photoshoppers tested it, scrolled through videos and emails with it. This is the main innovation in MacBook Pro. What's good about it?
OLED touch display
For starters, MacBooks have lost the top row of the keyboard (the one above the numbers and plus/minus). In its place is now an OLED touch display. The buttons on it now change to suit the situation. You can adjust the brightness or volume, switch music tracks. Log into your browser and your favorite sites will appear on the touchbar. IN mail application- and there are buttons “Reply”, “Write” and so on.
The touchbar helps with typing, just like the iMessage assistant. It analyzes and shows you the words you are supposed to type next. Faster allows you to change the text color, make it bold, or write it in italics.
The new technology is good at photo processing. It takes care of all the navigation, with it you can flip and scale pictures, make them brighter, change contrast and exposure, and add effects.
Adobe and Microsoft are working closely with Apple to implement touchbar support in their Photoshop and MS Office. On the small display in the laptop you can see all the stages of work on your document or photo. You can click on the preview on a small screen and go to the corresponding stage of work on a large one.
Touch ID fingerprint scanner
On the right side of the touchbar in the MacBook Pro there is a Touch ID fingerprint scanner, combined with the power button. You can turn on devices without a password, using your fingerprint. The same thing applies to the “login/password” form on websites (there will be no need to endlessly fill in your data to enter the next website) or with payment by Apple Pay. Touch ID also helps you switch between different users using the same laptop with one click.
MacBook Pro will now be available in three versions: the regular 13-inch without touch screen above the keyboard (and 2 Thunderbolt ports), a more powerful 13-inch with a touchbar (and 4 Thunderbolt ports) and a 15-inch with a touchbar (and Thunderbolt). Prices in the States are $1499, $1799 and $2399. In Russia, new Macs are about $140-$500 more expensive.
You can order today! Deliveries of the first version of the MacBook Pro have begun, and shipping for two cool models will start in 2-3 weeks.
Buy products from the USA at a discount in one click. Everything is already in our warehouse - just add the product to your account, arrange delivery and receive it at home!
When describing the design, we paid a lot of attention to the main innovation of the model: the Touch Bar touch panel above the keyboard. But it is important that this is not only hardware, but also software solution. Moreover, the effectiveness of its use directly depends on the software and settings. In this article, we decided to look at the Touch Bar in all aspects and talk about the panel from the point of view of its application in various use scenarios.
To start - general information. So, Touch Bar is an OLED touch panel found in the 13-inch and 15-inch 2016 MacBook Pro models. Touch Bar resolution is 2170x60. The panel replaces the top row of keys and can display various information- depending on the running application, custom settings and actions.
Needless to say, the panel can only fully function in an environment macOS Sierra and only if the specific application is optimized for use with the Touch Bar. Of course, all pre-installed macOS applications have this optimization, but third-party developers can also use its functionality. In particular, we will look at how this is implemented in Microsoft Office.
In order to take screenshots with the Touch Bar, you need to install the current beta version of macOS Sierra. Any user can do this by registering in Apple program, however, you need to be prepared for the fact that the MacBook Pro will quickly discharge.
To the right of the Touch Bar is the Touch ID fingerprint scanner. It is physically separate from the Touch Bar and is not part of it, but when we open the lid of the laptop, the Touch Bar displays the words “Unlock with Touch ID” and an arrow pointing to Touch ID.
As we noted in the first article, the MacBook Pro 2016 is the first Apple laptop with a fingerprint scanner. And its support first appeared in macOS Sierra. Below we will tell you how to use this feature on your MacBook.
Touch ID
So, when you turn it on for the first time and initial setup MacBook offers us to add a fingerprint.
The procedure is the same as for iPhone/iPad. We put our finger on the scanner several times, and the screen shows how the gray grooves are filled with red.
Once a fingerprint is added, you can add another finger and also specify what types of operations Touch ID can be used for. Besides unlock Mac this can be used with Apple Pay and confirmation of purchases in iTunes Store and Mac App Store.
Touch Bar: Standard Options
Now let's get back to the Touch Bar itself. We have already seen what the panel shows before unlocking the computer. And this is what we see by default after unlocking. The screenshot shows the right side. On the left there is only the Esc button, between it and the one shown in the screenshot there is black space. The original screenshot is available by clicking.
So, on the right is the Siri call button. Starting with Sierra, macOS supports Siri, and Apple immediately decided to make its launch as clear as possible. Moreover, during operation you often press this button by accident, because previously the volume up button was located in this place. And it turns out that we are being deliberately pushed to use Siri, willy-nilly.
The remaining icons do not need comments. Except for the arrow. If you touch it, a row will open touch buttons, identical to what we see in the top row of the traditional MacBook keyboards. Here is a screenshot divided into two halves: at the top is the left part, below is the right.
The decision seems quite controversial, firstly, to make this view not the main one, but accessible only after touching the small arrow (hit it again!), and secondly, to leave the Siri call icon in this row. However, if desired, all this can be configured. We will tell you how exactly further.
Touch Bar in apps
Now let's see how the Touch Bar works in applications. Once again, if the application is not optimized for the Touch Bar, the bar will always display what is shown above. However, in the case of your pre-installed applications Apple, of course, made sure that each of them really takes advantage of the capabilities of the Touch Bar. For example, Safari. The screenshots below show fragments of Touch Bar screenshots, but the original screenshot is available by clicking.
As we can see, thumbnails are displayed here open tabs. You can move between them simply by swiping your finger. Comfortable? Perhaps. On the other hand, I can’t say that it’s very clear - the thumbnails are too tiny, and they don’t always allow you to understand which site is which. And switching between tabs in the usual ways is no more difficult. But it's certainly a spectacular opportunity.
Another useful thing on this panel in Safari is “search” and “open new tab”.
The panel may also change depending on what is open in the browser. For example, if a video is playing there, the video navigation panel appears.
And here we come to understand the main quality of the Touch Bar: it is complete variability, that is, in one application there can be an infinite number of Touch Bar options. Everything depends solely on the imagination of the developers. The main question is that the functionality of the panel complements, and does not duplicate, the already easily accessible application options.
A good option is in the “Calendar”. There, you can easily switch between different weeks using the Touch Bar.
Less successfully done in text editors Pages and Word. The problem is that, for example, marking a piece of text in italics is much more convenient simply with the mouse, because we select this piece with the mouse. It turns out that in order to use the Touch Bar, we first need to make some kind of gesture with the mouse, then drop it, press the button on the Touch Bar, then grab the mouse again.
In general, despite the fact that the capabilities of the Touch Bar in text editors are very wide, in fact it turns out that you either need to relearn and get used to completely new movements while working, or simply perceive the Touch Bar as some kind of optional addition that we, maybe , someday we’ll use it purely for fun, but for now we’ll do it the old fashioned way - with a mouse and keyboard.
This applies not only text editors, but also most other applications. For example, QuickTime Player.
Yes, we see a pause button, but in order to pause the video, just press the space bar on your keyboard.
And this is the main problem of the Touch Bar concept and the main challenge for developers: how to make using the Touch Bar intuitive and simpler than usual keyboard shortcuts and mouse commands? It is clear that a lot here depends on Apple itself, because it is necessary to give an example third party developers, to show that the Touch Bar can actually be used intelligently. And there are such examples. We have already given several examples and we can give more.
Let's say Pages has word suggestions that pop up. This is exactly the option that is impossible, or at least impractical, without a touch screen, and the Touch Bar is just right for its implementation.
Setting up the Touch Bar
The Touch Bar can be customized to suit you, not only in general, but also for each application separately. General settings can be accessed through Settings/Keyboard.
You may notice that the “Configure Control Strip” button has appeared there. This is exactly what you need for Touch settings Bar. At the top you can also specify what should be displayed by default on the panel.
Control Strip are standard icons on the right side of the Touch Bar. An extended version of the Control Strip opens if you click on the arrow. But if you don't want to do this regularly, you can set the extended Control Strip to show immediately.
So, click “Customize Control Strip” and we see a window with icons, and above them there is the inscription: “Drag frequently used items to the Touch Bar at the bottom of the screen.” Actually, from this it is already clear how exactly we can replace any icon on the Touch Bar with another. Just take the mouse you need and drag it down to the edge of the screen, after which it “jumps” to the Touch Bar and shakes there, like on iOS after a long press.
There is quite a large selection here. There are also useful things. For example, “Screenshot”, “Sleep”, Launchpad, “Show desktop”, “Do not disturb”... So don’t miss the opportunity to create the optimal set.
Thus, outside of applications, we have two levels of Touch Bar customization: the first level - what is displayed by default, the second level - what is the composition of the Control Strip (regular and extended options). But in addition to this, you can also customize the composition of the Touch Bar icons in individual applications. For example, below is how this is done in Safari. In the “View” menu we see the line: “Customize the Touch Bar.”
Click on it - and we see a window similar to the window Control settings Strip, but with a set of icons directly for the browser. Well, then we proceed according to the familiar scheme: drag the necessary icons with the mouse and pin them to the desired place in the Touch Bar.
Therefore, software developers must take care not only about the fact of using the Touch Bar, but also about the options for customizing the panel within their application and choosing additional icons. That is, on the one hand, there must be a clear relationship between user actions and the icons that appear on the Touch Bar, and on the other hand, the initial set can be adjusted by the user.
conclusions
Touch Bar is one of the main innovations in recent years. This is a very interesting and promising solution that can significantly expand the user’s interaction with the laptop and make it easier to perform a number of tasks. Hypothetically. In practice, a lot depends on how specific application the functionality of the Touch Bar is implemented and how easy or difficult it is for the user to customize it and start using it in real life.
We can't say that the Touch Bar is really useful yet. And expecting your productivity to increase if you upgrade from a previous generation MacBook Pro to a MacBook Pro with Touch Bar would be reckless. And if you consider that most third-party software manufacturers have not yet managed to optimize their applications for the Touch Bar, there is no need to be under any illusions. But, at the same time, the idea itself seems very promising, its implementation is as competent as it can be in real conditions, and the prospects are impressive, given that Apple has already demonstrated more than once how it can convince the entire industry of the need to implement those or other innovations. Will it work this time?
Apple MacBook Pro (Late 2016) deserves our Original Design Award for its innovative Touch Bar and its deep implementation hardware element into the software component of the laptop.
It's now officially Apple's newest toy—and quite an expensive one, considering the $1,799 price tag for the entry model. Touchpad The Touch Bar opens the door to a whole new world of how we interact with the MacBook while working on it. Developers get access to API codes and the panel will work flawlessly with third party applications. And of course, Apple developers have already taken care of deep integration of the touchpad with macOS Sierra, where it will definitely find great use.
Most importantly, the Touch Bar changes depending on what you're doing. When you use one application, you get one set of controls and, accordingly, when you use another application, you get a different set of controls. This is a very flexible system that instantly adapts to the user's needs.
Over time, developers will very soon dramatically increase the potential use of this panel. In the meantime, let's figure out how, here and now, we can use the Touch Bar in the MacBook Pro.
No. 1. Use the Touch ID scanner to make purchases with Apple Pay
A small bonus in the appearance of the Touch Bar in the MacBook Pro is the placement of a fingerprint scanner on it. At first glance, it appears to be built into the touchpad, but it's actually part of the Power button, located on the very right side of the strip. This means that Macs finally have decent support for the Apple Pay service. If the web page or application supports Apple service Pay, you can simply touch your finger and make a purchase online.
No. 2. Edit photos
The Photos app, and perhaps other similar apps, can provide a convenient Touch Bar interface for photo editing. It not only provides instant options for making small changes like rotating a picture, but it also displays more advanced sliders for editing brightness or rotating the horizon of photos.
No. 3. Video editing
The Touch Bar brings further development to the control of playing video fragments, since now the entire video fragment is displayed on the panel in the form of icons. By moving your finger you can start viewing a fragment from any place. This option will likely work with video files hosted on your computer and with existing projects in iMovie/Final Cut Pro, but it would be great if in the future it would also be possible to do tricks like this on sites like YouTube.
No. 4. Switch between browser tabs
The Safari browser also received deep integration with the touchpad. When surfing the web, your bookmarks will appear as icons. With a light touch, you can switch from one tab to another without literally taking your hands off the keyboard instead of using the mouse for these purposes. To go to new page all your bookmarks are located right there, under your fingers.
#5. We use the Touch ID scanner to unlock your Mac and switch between accounts
The most practical use for the Touch ID scanner on new MacBook Pro is switching between user accounts on a computer, as Phil Schiller demonstrated at the presentation. If your computer has multiple user accounts, then all you need to do to switch to the appropriate profile for other users is just to put your finger on the scanner and macOS will identify the user and switch to the appropriate profile. In the same capacity, the scanner can be used to instantly unlock your computer, which will allow you to continue working on it from where you left off for a break.
No. 6. Develops creativity
An Adobe representative has teased the possibilities of what the Touch Bar in Photoshop will be capable of in the very near future. You can change the brush size on the fly, view the entire color range and select the desired color for the brush, and much more. Another plus is the fact that the Touch Bar allows you to add shortcuts to the panel for the most frequently used actions, which are usually deeply hidden in the commands and settings menu.
No. 7. View and send emoticons
The real question is: would the Touch Bar exist if there wasn't a need to invent a super way to add emoji? All jokes aside, the ability to view emojis on the keyboard sounds great. This method is more intuitive than scrolling through and selecting emoji icons using the mouse. You can expand any category of emoticons, select the appropriate one and send it with a simple touch of your finger.
No. 8. Edit and view Keynote slides
The Touch Bar makes it easier to work with any text-based application, including Keynote. But in addition, the Keynote app lets you swipe and view your slides. In a long list of slides, you can scroll through the icons and switch between them.
No. 9. Add live effects to your music
Music apps like GarageBand provide tools for managing your music right on the Touch Bar. If you participated in the creation of musical compositions, then you will definitely like this. Not only will you be able to edit your projects using menu options, but as demonstrated by DJ Algoriddim at the presentation, it will be possible to add live effects. While music is playing, you can change the sound in real time and add effects directly from the Touch Bar, just like DJs usually do.
#10. Change operating system settings
Last but not least, you, of course, have the opportunity to change system settings and gain access to so familiar buttons. Such as volume level, playback control buttons, display brightness and keyboard lighting control buttons, and of course, the favorite ESC button.
