Is Apple Getting Rid Of The Touch Bar? And Will A Mac Touchscreen Happen?
Recent Apple rumors and reports suggest the company’s much-hyped, much-maligned Touch Bar may be history, and possibly as soon as the next generation of MacBook Pro models. The feature had always been controversial and the rumors recently reignited the Touch Bar debate on social media. It’s the latest chapter in an ongoing saga as to how—if at all—Apple should incorporate touch in its MacBook line. A small group of purists like the device as is, but others want to see something akin to a full, touchscreen laptop, as found on both Chrome OS and Windows devices.
The Touch Bar is a thin OLED, touch-sensitive display at the top of the keyboard on Apple’s MacBook Pro. The feature debuted on the line of computers in 2016 and has been controversial among Mac enthusiasts ever since. The strip controls a number of universal functions like volume and screen brightness. It’s also customizable by developers via a Software Development Kit (SDK) to incorporate icons and functions specific to the applications. For instance an Adobe Photoshop user will see a color wheel icon on the Touch Bar in addition to the main display.
The Touch Bar removal rumors began in mid-January when Apple analysts Ming-Chi Kuo detailed in a note to investors, (obtained by MacRumors) and Mark Gurman (via Bloomberg) that Apple has two new MacBook Pro models in the works, 14- and 16-inch models. The machines are to debut in the third quarter of 2021. Noteworthy is the fact that Apple would be reversing course on the Touch Bar just five years after its debut. Instead of appearing along the top border of the MacBook’s keyboard, it will be replaced with a row of function keys similar to what appeared there prior to 2016 and that still appear on the company’s MacBook Air. Kuo and Gurman give no indication of whether or not a touchscreen may also be in the offing.
The Touch Bar grew out of Apple’s longstanding philosophy that full-size, touchscreen displays don’t belong on laptops. Former CEO Steve Jobs famously said in 2010 that users don’t want to navigate a vertical touchscreen and current CEO Tim Cook has said that merging a touchscreen with a PC is akin to marrying a refrigerator and a toaster. However, they are sentiments most of the PC industry disagrees with. As part of a new series of commercials for Intel, former “I’m a Mac” actor Justin Long mocked macOS for not having similar touchscreens to its Windows counterparts.
It’s a strange position for Apple to now be in, considering no company has done more to usher in touch for the mainstream. With both its iPhone in 2007 and its iPad in 2010, Apple was ahead of the curve, and today the technologies are ubiquitous. Whether or not Apple makes the move to touchscreens is unclear, but the pressure is building. The argument once made by Jobs no longer holds water when companies like Tesla have supplanted nearly all of the driver’s functions with large vertical, touch displays. After all, if someone can navigate a Tesla touchscreen while driving a car, they can certainly navigate an Apple MacBook while sitting behind a desk using a touchscreen.
Source: MacRumors, Bloomberg
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