The Touch Bar is also home to the new Touch ID sensor.
Microsoft Office is due for a Touch Bar update as well, although no release date has been announced yet.
Adobe has already demonstrated the use of the Touch Bar in Photoshop, and the ability to quickly step backwards and forwards through a series of complex edits with just a flick of a finger is the sort of thing that will have many designers queuing up to upgrade.
That's unlikely to impress professional users who need to get work done, but Apple does provide an API for the Touch Bar that allows third-party developers to use it within their own apps. In Mail, for example, you'll see predictive text and formatting options, while Messages displays a multitude of emojis.
The 'Esc' key is there too - it's not quite dead yet, as Apple VP Phil Schiller announced during his demo.īut when you switch into an app that supports the Touch Bar you'll see a new set of controls designed for that specific app. By default, the Touch Bar displays controls for standard settings such as brightness, volume, and the new Mac version of Siri. Replacing the traditional row of Function keys on the keyboard, the Touch Bar is a touch-sensitive glass panel - with a resolution of 2,170 by 60 pixels - that provides context-sensitive controls for individual apps, and even for individual tools within apps such as Adobe's Photoshop.
The main innovation in the 2016 MacBook Pro is the context-sensitive Touch Bar, which replaces the Function keys in previous models. Touch, Apple-styleĪpple has often been criticised for failing to adopt touchscreen displays in any of its desktop or laptop computers, but the new Touch Bar included in the 2016 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro ranges (barring only the entry-level 13-inch model) shows that Apple can still "think different" ( sic) and come up with its own innovative use of touch technology. The pent-up demand for new MacBook Pro models seems to have ensured strong pre-orders for Apple, even though the shipping date for this 15-inch model has now stretched to late December, so owners of older MacBook Pro models will obviously want to know whether this new model has been worth the long wait. It's genuinely innovative, and elegantly designed as always, but also frustratingly convinced of its own infallibility, and - especially for those of us in post-Brexit Britain - jaw-droppingly expensive.Ībove all else, though, this update to the MacBook Pro range is long overdue, with only modest speedbumps in recent years to placate Apple's demanding professional users - who, let's not forget, kept the company afloat in the lean years before the advent of the all-conquering iPhone. The new 15-inch MacBook Pro is a quintessential Apple product. CloseĪpple 15-inch MacBook Pro (2016) review: Fast, light, innovative, and expensive
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