The software escape button at the left end of the Touch Bar usually does the trick. That’s true with the Ulysses writing app, for example.Ī small experimental development community has formed around it - see games like Pac-Bar and TouchBarPong - suggesting that developers are intrigued by the component’s possibilities.Īnd I don’t miss the F row of keys that the Touch Bar replaces as much as I thought I would. That said, the Touch Bar can provide an easier way to access features that are ordinarily hard to find.

In fact, Apple advises developers against exposing features exclusively in the Touch Bar. After using the base-model 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar as my main computer for a month and a half, I’ve concluded that you can live without it. The biggest question I’ve asked myself about the Touch Bar since Apple first revealed it is whether it’s something you must have. Right up with Touch ID, the Touch Bar is the main attraction of the 2016 MacBook Pro. But when it is available as an option, it speeds up the process of signing in and buying things on desktop. And you can’t always use Touch ID to authenticate - like when you restart, for example. It’s not as fast as fingerprint scanners on other devices, like Huawei’s Mate 9 phone. But instead of doubling as a home button, it serves as a power button on the MacBook Pro models that come with the Touch Bar.

Apple didn’t have to invent anything new it simply added the Touch ID fingerprint scanner that’s been available on iOS devices for three years. Touch IDĪpple has come up with an excellent answer to Microsoft’s Windows Hello feature in Windows 10, which lets people sign in by doing nothing more than looking at a PC’s display - specifically infrared cameras. The thing is, it’s the finest laptop I’ve ever used. Do I wish I could upgrade it myself? Of course. (HDMI port? SD card slot? USB-A? MagSafe? Yeah.) But the new version is well polished.

I will admit that, feature by feature, a 2015 MacBook Pro may be a better choice for some. Image Credit: Michael O'Donnell/VentureBeat

2016 macbook pro 13 inch touchbar