TouchBar - Yay or Nay?

[James Falconer]

For anyone out there with the new MBP, or heck, even for those without... what's your take on the TouchBar so far? For those that own it, have you grown to love it? Is it a go-to tool that lets you work faster than ever? Or do you feel it's a gimmick that Apple missed the mark on?

 

[Closingracer]

I played with it a bit at bestbuy a few times and while I like it I wouldn't go out of my way to buy one when I already have a 2015 Macbook Pro that works fine.

 

[James Falconer]

Same boat here. But wondering what new owners think. If the TouchBar has turned into a useful tool for them...

 

[Closingracer]

Same boat here. But wondering what new owners think. If the TouchBar has turned into a useful tool for them...

Honestly touch ID alone makes it a worthy purchase IMHO if you're looking to buy a Macbook Pro.

 

[Quis89]

Honestly touch ID alone makes it a worthy purchase IMHO if you're looking to buy a Macbook Pro.

We're talking $300 for the Touch ID ability? That's pretty steep, imo. Not sure I could justify it just for that. Would it be nice? Sure...but the price on the new Macs just don't seem all that worth it to me.

As far as the touch bar, I played with it a bit at the Apple Store. Although it was nice, I'm not sure my use calls for it. I'm sure over time it will offer greater features but as of now, I don't see the need for it.

 

[Closingracer]

We're talking $300 for the Touch ID ability? That's pretty steep, imo. Not sure I could justify it just for that. Would it be nice? Sure...but the price on the new Macs just don't seem all that worth it to me.

As far as the touch bar, I played with it a bit at the Apple Store. Although it was nice, I'm not sure my use calls for it. I'm sure over time it will offer greater features but as of now, I don't see the need for it.

Well considering that the price is already over $1,000 it's worth it IMHO.

 

[James Falconer]

Wish I could speak more to the TouchBar, have used it very little. But what I will admit is it WAS very intuitive. Controls were in the place where I expected them to be, changed depending on the app I was in, etc. All very cool. Whether or not I'd find value and utility in it, not sure.

Early days. New tech (and change) is hard

 

[Matty]

For anyone out there with the new MBP, or heck, even for those without... what's your take on the TouchBar so far? For those that own it, have you grown to love it? Is it a go-to tool that lets you work faster than ever? Or do you feel it's a gimmick that Apple missed the mark on?

I don't own one of the new MacBooks but every time I've been near a iStore I've played with them. I would say its definitely a YEY for me. They are very cool to use. Love the ability to slide my finger across the bar to increase and decrease volume or screen brightness. I also love that you can see a whole videos timeline and jump to certain sections.Really cool.

Is it quicker than my mouse? hmm, Maybe not. Is it quicker than simply holding down the screen brightness button? hmm, probably not. But its still awesome to use. I think the main attraction is the finger print sensor. Thats the main selling feature for me. Now that is much quicker for log in than typing my very long password

 

[James Falconer]

But - one more screen to clean?

 

[upandover]

My thoughts when it came out were geared largely towards the future. Right now it might not be worth the $300 extra but once app developers have some time there's potential for it to really improve workflow. As Mac's generally have a longer lifespan than iPhones it may just be worth the investment. Personally I wouldn't want the regret of not buying it so probably would in the hope the functionality improved.

 

[James Falconer]

Very much agree with you. Thinking TouchBar 2.0 will be much improved, especially with all the dev work to support it will no doubt be done for MANY apps.

 

[Cladster]

The difference here is $500, i played with one in store i prefer the top row of keys, i got a nTB with a 10% discount, was a one day sale so would of have had to pay $720 more if ordered a TB one in anyway. I have a 5k 27" iMac so mine was just for around the house and when i travel. Love it.
Am dongle free so far.

 

[pkcable]

We're talking $300 for the Touch ID ability? That's pretty steep, imo. Not sure I could justify it just for that. Would it be nice? Sure...but the price on the new Macs just don't seem all that worth it to me.

This is kind of where I'm at. LOVE the feature, just not sure it's worth the price premium. I'm not sure I would use it enough, plus I already own a 2016 MB and 2015 iMac.

 

[Durx]

Its more about budget.

If the budget is there buy it, why wouldn't you.

 

[1dtbrown]

I am in the market for a MBP. I have looked a couple times at both the 2015 and new 2016.

I was leaning toward the 2015 model because of the different available ports. But if you look at the convenient adaptor solutions then the 2016 becomes slightly better option for me because I can use all four ports for different uses, not bad thinking by Apple IMO.

Now the screens are suppose to be different, I think but I did not see a difference just looking at the screen savers on both.

I did like the touch bar and I think fingerprint ID will be nice. I do tend to use the touch pad and the bigger one on the 2016 probably will come in handy unless it is too Big and the hands inadvertantly moves the cursor while typing. I will have to investigate that next time I visit the store.

I think I am going for the i7 and 512GB just to be safe that I have enough but maybe someone can talk me into a cheaper version snd what video card should I get?

Thanks

 

[James Falconer]

@Durx - I think a lot still have concerns a) about the TouchBar itself (if it's really needed) and b) the ports. Oh, the ports!

 

[pkcable]

@Durx - I think a lot still have concerns a) about the TouchBar itself (if it's really needed) and b) the ports. Oh, the ports!

@James Falconer yea ports can be an issue, BUT as @1dtbrown pointed out it can be an advantage too with the use of the right dongle. I'm a 2016 MacBook owner, so I'm already acclimated to #donglelife


Ok is iMore turning in to twitter or Facebook with the use of tagging and hashtags? lol

 

[James Falconer]

@pkcable - it's like moving to a new part of the world. Once you get accustomed to the climate and culture, all good. Just takes some time.

 

[Abu Khadija]

Seen it yesterday at bestbuy, touched the touch bar once, wasn't impressed enough to even consider it. $2400 for the base version of the 15". I personally don't like that they got rid of the glowing apple. I paid $2500 plus for my late 2013 15" rMBP that will be 3 years old on feb. 17th. Still works good enough for me.

 

[Gadget Man1]

I just bought a basic 2016 MBP, since my last laptop was a Asus Flip 2n1 touchscreen and I barely used the touchscreen so had no interest in the Touch ID model at all. For what I do really don't need the top of line MBP, plus currently no incentive to purchase one IMO.