Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Apple kills the non-Touch Bar MacBook Pro

engadget.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

341–350 of 397 posts

Re: Apple kills the non-Touch Bar MacBook Pro

#341

Post by d1zzy »

TYPE_FASTER wrote: post #110
Eric_WVGG wrote: post #24

This thread is going to dissolve into a pile-up on the Touch Bar, so I wanna jump in front of this. Readers of this site are mostly “hackers,” however mutated or dumbed-down that term has become over the years, correct? Everyone here has their windows and spaces just so, a full complement of shortcuts and trackpad gestures, and if they're serious about the Macintosh tools like TextExpander. As standard as GUIs are, w…

I can't type on the keyboard without accidentally triggering the Touch Bar. I really wanted to hack it, but wow is it annoying. I have to relearn typing because of it. If there was a small gap between the top of the physical keyboard and the touch bar, that might be enough to prevent false taps. Or I have to hack the Touch Bar to figure out where I'm accidentally hitting it, and don't put any buttons there. I'm also…

I'm in this exact situation. I've been using this newer Macbook Pro with a touch bar and the larger more sensitive touch pad and it's been a huge hassle. I believe it's related to how people type but I've been typing this way for 30 years and it's not going to change now because of one device deciding to do things differently. I'm not even that picky about keyboards, give me a $20 cheap logitech keyboard every day over this crap.

Re: Apple kills the non-Touch Bar MacBook Pro

#342

Post by Yoofie »

the_gastropod wrote: post #316
HyperTalk2 wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm interested to see your list of the times their controversial decisions were correct after Steve Jobs died.

It's still controversial, in part because it's still relatively recent, but removing the headphone jack. No major manufacturer's flagship phones come with headphone jacks anymore, despite all the PR ridicule they initially flung. In another 5-10 years, I doubt any new phones will be manufactured with headphone jacks.

Samsung is not a major phone manufacturer and their Galaxy S line(s) are not flagship phones?

Re: Apple kills the non-Touch Bar MacBook Pro

#343

Post by nvrspyx »

tzakrajs wrote: post #310
neetdeth wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why label literally any button? Just number them all, and if a pilot can't remember that button F81 means "gear down" well that's user error. Hitting a function button is not "typing" in any real sense anyway, use being so relatively infrequent. Can you really hit F8 consistently, without looking? Maybe the doctrinaire solution would be to delete the function keys, if "thou shalt not look at keys" is the ultimate com…

F8 is right next to F9, which is super important for loading autosaves in Bethesda Softworks' games, so thats a big affirmative over here.

The main question was can you hit F8 without looking? Assuming your point was you can because you've become familiar with hitting F9 on a keyboard from your experience with Bethesda games, a better question would be: can you hit the F8 key without looking on a MacBook Pro (without Touch Bar), the laptop in question with an OS that doesn't play Bethesda games?

Re: Apple kills the non-Touch Bar MacBook Pro

#344

Post by Roboprog »

eropple wrote: post #276
coldpie wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you work at fixed locations most of the time, is getting real (i.e. external) keyboards an option?

My preferred external keyboard only has a PC layout. Having my fingers confused by having none of my shortcuts work is a bummer. The real answer for me is going to be swapping for an X1 Yoga or an X1 Extreme, I think.

I have “recycled “ Dell keyboards for both home and work macs. The window keys map to command.

Maybe there are some shortcuts / combos I’m not aware of???

Re: Apple kills the non-Touch Bar MacBook Pro

#345

Post by reciprocity »

the_gastropod wrote: post #316
HyperTalk2 wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm interested to see your list of the times their controversial decisions were correct after Steve Jobs died.

It's still controversial, in part because it's still relatively recent, but removing the headphone jack. No major manufacturer's flagship phones come with headphone jacks anymore, despite all the PR ridicule they initially flung. In another 5-10 years, I doubt any new phones will be manufactured with headphone jacks.

You can buy a Galaxy S10e with a headphone jack today.

But beyond that, we have to define what being _correct_ entails. It is _because_ of Apple that other manufacturers followed suit and their justification was ostensibly for making a slimmer phone (fitting more components into the shell) which was quickly proven to be irrelevant. I don't romanticize about the headphone jack but the premise behind the claim that Apple could be "correct" to remove it doesn't seem foundationally solid as an argument (let alone from a historical standpoint).

Re: Apple kills the non-Touch Bar MacBook Pro

#346

Post by dkarl »

I've asked a lot of non-programmers about the Touch Bar. Musicians, graphic designers, teachers, writers, managers, architects. If I describe the Touch Bar, they are able to confirm that their laptop has one but are not conscious of it as a significant change in design. It's just a different way to change the volume. They are neither aware that it's supposed to be more useful than that, nor aware of why anybody would be bothered by it. To them, having the Touch Bar or not is about as meaningful as whether their gas cap is on the left side of the car or the right.

Re: Apple kills the non-Touch Bar MacBook Pro

#347

Post by lukaszkups »

retrac98 wrote: post #10

99%+ of my usage of the touchbar is pressing escape, adjusting screen brightness, speaker volume, or accessing music controls. All of these worked flawlessly when I had physical keys, but now it's hard to know what I'm pressing without looking, and sometimes the controls become unresponsive to touches or drags. I'm a programmer/business owner, so perhaps it's useful for other sorts of creative professionals, but it f…

Yeah, in my opinion actually Asus has gone in better direction with placing touch screens inside the touch bar. That makes more sense imho and doesn't reduce keyboard capabilities/make it weird to use.

Re: Apple kills the non-Touch Bar MacBook Pro

#348

Post by vanilla_nut »

d1zzy wrote: post #340
Eric_WVGG wrote: post #24

This thread is going to dissolve into a pile-up on the Touch Bar, so I wanna jump in front of this. Readers of this site are mostly “hackers,” however mutated or dumbed-down that term has become over the years, correct? Everyone here has their windows and spaces just so, a full complement of shortcuts and trackpad gestures, and if they're serious about the Macintosh tools like TextExpander. As standard as GUIs are, w…

Maybe it depends on how you type and rest your hand over the keyboard. For me I've had a macbook pro with touch bar for the last 6+ months and it hasn't gotten better at all. But in all honesty it's not just the touch bar, it's also the extra sensitive touchpad. For example you may notice extra spaces int his message or spaces in the middle of the words, that because of the touch pad, I think (I can't even be sure of…

I also had a lot of trouble with my work-supplied 2017 MBP. I found the touchbar completely useless and never got used to it. It would randomly experience crashes or lags, a problem I never had with the old function keys when I changed the brightness, altered the keyboard backlight, or modified the volume. Even worse, the keys seemed to be laid out in a way that my touch typing couldn't adapt to -- every time I worked off of that keyboard, I would make constant typos and type significantly slower than on any other keyboard I've ever used. Switched back to a 2015 and I couldn't be happier. Battery life is better, too.

Re: Apple kills the non-Touch Bar MacBook Pro

#349

Post by lisnake »

rnikander wrote: post #280
mcintyre1994 wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You won't be able to put that SSD you buy in the laptop.

I have a 2012 MacBook Pro, and I upgraded the SSD by myself. Has something changed? I see articles online that suggest it's still pretty easy to unscrew the cover and plug in a new SSD.

I believe they are soldered on nowadays

Re: Apple kills the non-Touch Bar MacBook Pro

#350

Post by m463 »

scarface74 wrote: post #213
equalarrow wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with all this. However, even though I still use Macs for everything, it's been clear to me for a while that Apple 'Pro' users are not tech people. There is a big difference in keyboard necessity between a developer and any 'Pro' user. Key travel, actually having real keys, are all a big deal to devs. I think Apple lost their function and form way a while ago. It's never coming back. The new Mac Pro is the lat…

The Mac Pro is the perfect example of function over form. It’s big, not that beautiful and expandable like crazy. Did you mean the MacBook Pro?

I thought the mac pro wasn't super expandable. No spinning drives possible, miniscule flash drive space, no pcie power plugs.
Post reply on HN