Apple MacBook Pro Touch Bar
Discussion
I need a new MacBook. I have used MacBook air’s since they were released for their portability. In recent years the weight and form of the pro has come down so there isn’t much difference these days.
I am torn between buying a new Air or the 13 inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. I have the ability at the moment to buy either tax free so the price difference between the 250gb air and the 250gb Pro is about £450
I am interested in the Touch Bar Pro because I do a lot of PowerPoint presentations and the Touch Bar would allow much easier moving between slides especially when skipping or moving back. The rest of the time the device is used for general email and office stuff and web browsing, YouTube, Spotify etc so nothing too intensive.
Those of you with a pro with the Touch Bar how often do you use it and how useful do you find it? I know the pro has more ports and stuff like that but just trying to weigh up whether it’s worth the additional outlay.
I am torn between buying a new Air or the 13 inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. I have the ability at the moment to buy either tax free so the price difference between the 250gb air and the 250gb Pro is about £450
I am interested in the Touch Bar Pro because I do a lot of PowerPoint presentations and the Touch Bar would allow much easier moving between slides especially when skipping or moving back. The rest of the time the device is used for general email and office stuff and web browsing, YouTube, Spotify etc so nothing too intensive.
Those of you with a pro with the Touch Bar how often do you use it and how useful do you find it? I know the pro has more ports and stuff like that but just trying to weigh up whether it’s worth the additional outlay.
I have the older air and a new Pro 13 from work. The pro is leagues ahead, better in every way. I always thought the touchbar was a gimmick but more and more apps support it so I find I'm using it more and more. Not sure I could go without it now...
I haven't played with the new air yet but my money would go on the pro. Subjectively it's just a nicer machine all round.
I haven't played with the new air yet but my money would go on the pro. Subjectively it's just a nicer machine all round.
I have Macbook Pro touchbar 15" for both work and home (meaning I like it). Also have the previous-gen non-touchbar 15", although that doesn't get used much these days. Some of my colleagues have the 13" toucbar. Apart from oomph (like running VMs), the only real difference is that the 13" has 2 USB-C ports instead of the 15"'s 4. I never use all 4 and it would be a pain to keep plugging 4 things in. I use a simple dock with pass-through power in one, which drives monitor (which also acts as a USB hub) and ethernet, and it's good to have a spare USB-C socket in case I ever need to plug something in quickly like my phone. A USB-C to USB3 converter is also a good thing to have, in case someone (trusted) hands you a file on a regular USB thumb drive.
The touchbar is definitely useful, but to my mind somewhat limited by Apple's UI guidelines that say it can only be used as an input device, not to display information. For internal use I've written apps that monitor the status of a dozen servers and show that in the touchbar display, but would never be allowed to distribute that in the Apple store.
The touchbar is definitely useful, but to my mind somewhat limited by Apple's UI guidelines that say it can only be used as an input device, not to display information. For internal use I've written apps that monitor the status of a dozen servers and show that in the touchbar display, but would never be allowed to distribute that in the Apple store.
I hate the Touch Bar.
I was waiting for the new Airs last year, but was so underwhelmed by them and their price that I got a refurb 2018 Pro instead, 13" with Touch Bar. I would not buy another. A machine wonderful in many ways is ruined by the touch bar. My workflow uses the Esc key a lot so I keep a finger near or over it, but with this machine I find I keep brushing the Esc 'key' by mistake, so stopping all sorts of things and closing windows unintentionally. Maybe I've just got big hands. I could easily get by with two ports and regret getting the touch bar machine every day. Only redeeming feature is that I can hide the screen brightness controls so they don't get adjusted by mistake (I have a calibrated screen for photo work), but it doesn't make up for the other problems. Touch ID is nice, but as the Air shows you don't need a whole bar just for that.
I was waiting for the new Airs last year, but was so underwhelmed by them and their price that I got a refurb 2018 Pro instead, 13" with Touch Bar. I would not buy another. A machine wonderful in many ways is ruined by the touch bar. My workflow uses the Esc key a lot so I keep a finger near or over it, but with this machine I find I keep brushing the Esc 'key' by mistake, so stopping all sorts of things and closing windows unintentionally. Maybe I've just got big hands. I could easily get by with two ports and regret getting the touch bar machine every day. Only redeeming feature is that I can hide the screen brightness controls so they don't get adjusted by mistake (I have a calibrated screen for photo work), but it doesn't make up for the other problems. Touch ID is nice, but as the Air shows you don't need a whole bar just for that.
Anyone know what's Apple's reasoning behind making models with and without the Touchbar? Seems like a very non-Apple thing to do as it hampers app adoption (as in: if every pro had it, more app developers would jump on it).
I've used it but it felt a bit forced, it ordered me to look down at my keyboard which I usually never do. I do tend to miss a touch screen when I've been working on a laptop that has one for a day or so (my own machines don't).
I've used it but it felt a bit forced, it ordered me to look down at my keyboard which I usually never do. I do tend to miss a touch screen when I've been working on a laptop that has one for a day or so (my own machines don't).
craigjm said:
To be honest the only reason I’m considering it is how it integrates with PowerPoint which may make my life easier. So these things need 16gb ram these days? I don’t really do anything graphic intensive
Get a clicker or a mouse with more buttons, way easier (and probably a lot cheaper as well)8GB would be more than enough, but I think most higher end laptops come with 16GB. Same goes for the CPU, most people don't really need an i5/i7, but once you're past the 1k mark...
Apple fanboy here ..... I’d say go with the touch bar - as others have said - it’s App sensitive - but likely more and more apps will include the functionality.
Realised my MBP touchbar is 2 years old now (scarily I still also have my MBP from 2012 going strong). And see them regularly going for 500 plus pounds on Fleabay.
Max out MEM as now soldered - my 2012 has 32gb or ram - but I run multiple VM’s on it - whereas 2016 was specced with 16gb. So go with 16gb as it’s always better to have too much than too little.
Enjoy !!
Realised my MBP touchbar is 2 years old now (scarily I still also have my MBP from 2012 going strong). And see them regularly going for 500 plus pounds on Fleabay.
Max out MEM as now soldered - my 2012 has 32gb or ram - but I run multiple VM’s on it - whereas 2016 was specced with 16gb. So go with 16gb as it’s always better to have too much than too little.
Enjoy !!
OK so it would appear that because there are no apple shops here and it’s all through resellers then the upgrade memory option is a long wait because they literally have to import the thing. Have worked out though that if you compare apples with apples and compare the 256gb air against the pro the difference after the tax rebate is £310. It is tempting to go with the pro
300bhp/ton said:
I like the touch bar. So much better than a touch screen as it is adaptable to different applications in different situations.
...wait, what? 
300bhp/ton said:
And no finger prints all over the screen either.
Agreed, one of my main gripes with touchscreens 
. Less of an issue for some applications with some sort of stylus though.Had a string of Macbooks through the years. Have a 13" MBP with touch bar. Hate it, and hate the keyboard. Using it outside is impossible. My biggest gripe is the lack of ESC key. Every time I try to hit escape, I can't without actually looking at the f
king thing. Hateful, and I don't think it will survive far into their future models.
It's currently plugged into a monitor, lid closed, and I use a wireless keyboard with it. I hate it that much.
As someone else said, the only really useful thing was the fingerprint reader, although they are adding that to non touch bar models now I think.
king thing. Hateful, and I don't think it will survive far into their future models.It's currently plugged into a monitor, lid closed, and I use a wireless keyboard with it. I hate it that much.
As someone else said, the only really useful thing was the fingerprint reader, although they are adding that to non touch bar models now I think.
Zeek said:
Had a string of Macbooks through the years. Have a 13" MBP with touch bar. Hate it, and hate the keyboard. Using it outside is impossible. My biggest gripe is the lack of ESC key. Every time I try to hit escape, I can't without actually looking at the fking thing.
That's just weird. Esc key in exactly the same place it's always been in every app I use. It's a permanent feature.king thing. GetCarter said:
That's just weird. Esc key in exactly the same place it's always been in every app I use. It's a permanent feature.
Yes, didn't say I wasn't weird. But as someone who uses a keyboard for 12+ hours a day, it's hugely irritating not having any feedback from the touch bar when you're not looking at it. Personal preference, but I would take the function keys over the touch bar every time again.That said, the MBP keyboard is so bad that I doubt the physical escape key would work anyway. I bought three MBPs on the same day, two have had the top case replaced because the H key stopped working after 3 months and the D key has just gone on the third.
Bought a MacBook Pro with Touch Bar in September 2017. In some cases it replaces other ways of doing existing things, in other cases is introduces ways of doing completely new things. I settled into using it very quickly and it became second nature. It'd feel a bit odd going back to not having it.
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