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| ▲ | csunbird 4 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | I think the problem with touch bar was that, it completely replaced the function keys, instead of complementing them. Other than that, I actually liked it. | | |
| ▲ | reddit_clone 6 minutes ago | parent | next [-] | | That. And I had to look down every time I had use it. I am glad to see it go. | |
| ▲ | plomme 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Hah, that reminds me! My first work issued Mac didn't have the ESC key, just the touch bar. IIRC a program hung in fullscreen, freezing both the app and the touch bar. So I had to reboot to get out of it because the esc key didn't work. | | |
| ▲ | vel0city 4 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Its interesting the touch bar was also hung up, as from what I recall the touchbar was actually driven by a separate processor (the T1/T2 chip) and had its own version of watchOS running. I would have thought it would have continued working, just unable to continue syncing with the rest of the Mac. | | |
| ▲ | Forgeties79 3 hours ago | parent [-] | | It’s rare but I’ve definitely seen my touchbar lock up or go dark and require a restart. It also could get mad hot on my 2016 MBpro when video editing. Still love(d) that computer though… | | |
| ▲ | Groxx 2 hours ago | parent [-] | | Yeah, it locked up on me every couple months or so. Very glad to see it gone (as the primary ESC + F-row input). I also would not mind it in addition to regular keys, there are some great interactions in there. But it's an extremely poor keyboard-emulator. Splitting off the escape key made a huge improvement, but it's nowhere near enough. | | |
| ▲ | Forgeties79 an hour ago | parent [-] | | Yeah Apple has had a few missteps like this over the last 5 to 10 years. They assert themselves with that Steve Jobs mentality of “we know what’s best for you,” but he got it right more often than the current iteration. The touch bar was definitely not properly assessed by users before shipping. |
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| ▲ | prewett 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | You should have been able to Cmd-Tab to a different app; if that wasn't working, something more serious was going on. Also, if you have Spaces enabled, you can three-finger swipe, since a full screen app gets its own Space. |
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| ▲ | pants2 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Another issue with the touch bar is that part of the laptop gets quite hot (especially on Intel CPUs), and so did the touch bar. I recall a few times feeling like I burned my finger just pressing esc during video rendering. | |
| ▲ | wtallis 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | I think the lack of haptic feedback is what doomed the Touch Bar. If they'd been able to solve that problem, it could have been an acceptable replacement for the function keys. |
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| ▲ | dhosek an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Even without BTT, I liked the touchbar (especially on the Macbook “Esc” which restored the escape key). It was nice having keys that actually said what they did. Maybe someday, keycaps with an LCD-generated display will be feasible (or maybe e-paper for power consumption needs) | |
| ▲ | dkga 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Same. I still have my intel Mac as a secondary, backup device and I still love using it, in part because of the touchbar. | | |
| ▲ | garbageman 3 hours ago | parent [-] | | Interesting to hear a different perspective on the touchbar. I have yet to meet someone who liked it. Removes touch typing, requires you to refocus attention, etc. Changing the volume is easy, button same place always - but with touch bar I have to look down and do the slidey thing. If they implemented real keys with that display built in...now we're talking! | | |
| ▲ | tpmoney 2 hours ago | parent [-] | | The touchbar was great when apps used it for useful things. It’s main sin was replacing the physical escape key and I suspect if even just that key had remained physical most people would have been fine with the touchbar because most people don’t really use the f-keys by touch. Most of the time when I’m using the f-keys, it’s to use the debugger for an IDE. And that’s where the touchbar really shined because instead of remembering whether f6 or f5 was step over, the touchbar could just display the expected symbol. Personally I’d love to see the touchbar make a comeback either as an addition to the fkeys row, or as a set of e-ink/oled physical buttons where the fkeys are. Allow the displayed legends to update while still keeping the physicality. |
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| ▲ | vel0city 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | I think the touch bar was a neat idea with a lot of potential but IMO they should have kept the row of physical function keys as well. | | |
| ▲ | Cockbrand 4 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Another thing was that not all Mac notebooks had a touch bar, so developers couldn't put any vital features onto it. | |
| ▲ | alex7o 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | The thing is I have never used the function keys on my laptop so that was not a problem form me, but also some of the custom functions I hard can just be mapped to fn keys so it is bit like it it us a huge loss | | |
| ▲ | dismalaf 4 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Fn keys usually double as media keys so I use them a lot, as do most laptop users I know. | |
| ▲ | vel0city 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | I don't necessarily use the numbered function keys all the time (as in F1-F12), but I use those physical buttons constantly. Brightness, volume, play/pause, mic mute, are all buttons I press a good bit. Many of those I'd rather just have be a single quick button, especially things like speaker or mic mute. | | |
| ▲ | pie_flavor 4 hours ago | parent [-] | | Volume and brightness are exactly the place the touchbar shines: tap and start dragging and you're adjusting a slider, which is much better than mashing a button. | | |
| ▲ | wwweston 3 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | No. So much no. It utterly destroys the “quick incremental adjustment” that taps are better for. It makes it more involved to even complete maximal adjustments, which are just press and hold. It makes all adjustments more involved, it’s not merely a matter of locating a physical key, it’s orchestrating movements your eyes and hands have to track together toward a location that can’t be known , through touch detection that can get fussy for any number of reasons. This is not theoretical. This was my experience with a touchbar MBP. The idea was just wrong for this kind of routine function. Meanwhile, I can adjust volume blind by feel on a MPB with function keys. I never for a moment when doing this for audio or brightness think “I wish I had a slider” and even if I did I know how to find one for use with the touch interface every MBP ever has had. | |
| ▲ | vel0city 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Sure, a slider can make sense there, I agree. But now I've got a part of the screen dedicated to be the spot to tap to start changing the volume and a part dedicated to it being the brightness taking away from the other useful parts of the screen, or its hidden under a sub menu making it more annoying to rapidly change. Imagine if on your phone to change the volume you had to swipe into a settings menu first and then change it on a slider versus just using the volume buttons on the side. Seems like a worse way for something you're potentially wanting to rapidly adjust, like when you accidentally start playing something way too loud. | | |
| ▲ | anonymars 3 hours ago | parent [-] | | Why not have the "buttons" change the touch bar itself into a slider when pressed? If you locate them in the middle it could be a seamless "press, drag, release" action | | |
| ▲ | pie_flavor 3 hours ago | parent [-] | | That is what the touchbar did. It doesn't take two steps. You motion like you're dragging the volume button and the slider appears under you, already being dragged. |
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