Entry level MacBook Pro to have Touch Bar and Touch ID

Interesting. Anyone here using the Touch Bar for anything useful? I’m still rocking the 2016 MBP and enjoying my HDMI port and MagSafe :joy: But sooner or later, I’ll need to switch it out I guess… Maybe there will be more uses for the Touch Bar then.

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Nope, I’ve had it since release and can confidently say I have not used it for anything useful at all. I thought I’d use it heavily, but the complete opposite has actually happened :man_shrugging:t2:

TouchID is great though (logging in, Apple Pay, Keychain etc)

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Pock is very cool. Puts your dock in the Touch Bar, thus pretty much eliminating the need for it on screen.

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This is genius, thanks!

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I thought this would be the case, but I realised that all I use the doc for is amount of notifications (number in red dot) which doesn’t show in the pock display.

I just use cmd + space for opening apps.

So I put pock to one side (as pretty as it was) and now have zero use for the touch bar again.

TouchID login is great though.

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Same here - waiting for the addition of notification numbers

Very happy with my MacBook Air which doesn’t have Touch Bar but does have Touch ID. The latter very very useful, the former… :man_shrugging:

I got the 2018 MBP without touch bar - basic specs no touch iD and I really don’t feel like I miss out on no Touch Bar or Touch iD, my password is so engrained in my muscle memory I’m in ridiculously quickly nowdays.

Not sure if this will help or hinder Apple as I really do like the old fashioned function keys.

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Bet I’m in quicker! :wink: (ehhhh that sounds rude…)

Probably! (and yes it does :rofl:) but do I need that x milli-seconds/ x seconds of my life, like really?

It just feels like another one of those “Apple-isms” that are cool for sure, but not really needed.

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Well it IS cool but I also use it when prompted for other passwords, for purchasing things, and it may only be a few taps of a keyboard, it is a good example of the 1% approach to improving things, reducing cognitive load. It’s not really about the time saved, it’s about not having to even pause to process… "ok, I’m at home, this is my macbook so the password is ‘password1234’)? Splitting hairs here perhaps!

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Yeah no I completely get that, I use FaceID on my phone for EVERYTHING, but can’t help but think that a phone is maybe slightly different, the time it would take me to type my password for iTunes for instance is longer on a phone than on my laptop, but maybe that is just due to my muscle memory.

It also looks to be in the most annoying position ever, I rarely venture that far over on my keyboard so I’d probably end up just putting in my password anyway :rofl:

I’d like to see some different sort of innovations on the MacBook line - they seem to have stagnated for a little bit (likely due to focused development of the Mac Pro) but I would’ve thought the MacBook line is their money maker.

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Ohh I hadn’t factored in the milliseconds of keyboard travel to get your finger on the TouchID button! :wink:

And I agree, the TouchBar feels like something that could eventually iterate to be very useful, but Apple haven’t quite got it figured out yet.

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I live my life in milliseconds :rofl:

Exactly, the same with the TouchBar, its cool but when you (Apple) can’t be bothered to do much with it, do you expect software developers to? I doubt it :man_shrugging:t2:

TBH the most “innovative” thing they did with the MacBook was remove the legacy ports - whilst a massive groan is made over hubs/ dongles - they’re moving in the right direction, maybe just 5-7 years too quick.

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Does having an Apple Watch improve the log in and password process or does that only cover initial log in?

I don’t have an apple watch! May have been a question aimed for somebody else?

Yes and no. Initial log-in (after mac has been turned off) will require for you to enter password at all times. Watch will only unlock the mac if it has been manually locked or went to sleep by itself. Sometimes when I leave the desk at the office and came back later…my mac is already unlocked…apparently something to do with the watch unlocking it for no reason :smiley: