The Touch Bar was an ambitious experiment. It was Apple’s attempt to reinvent the keyboard, and for a while, it seemed like it might just work.
Key Highlights:
- The Touch Bar was introduced in 2016 on the MacBook Pro.
- It was a contextual OLED display that replaced the traditional function keys.
- The Touch Bar could be used for a variety of tasks, such as controlling media playback, accessing shortcuts, and typing emoji.
- However, the Touch Bar was criticized for being too small, too fiddly, and not very useful.
- Apple discontinued the Touch Bar in 2023.
Introduced in 2016 on the MacBook Pro, the Touch Bar was a contextual OLED display that replaced the traditional function keys. It could be used for a variety of tasks, such as controlling media playback, accessing shortcuts, and typing emoji.
At first, the Touch Bar was met with mixed reviews. Some people loved it, finding it to be a more convenient and efficient way to interact with their Mac. Others hated it, finding it to be too small, too fiddly, and not very useful.
Over time, the Touch Bar’s critics began to outweigh its fans. Many developers never bothered to add support for it, and even Apple itself started to de-emphasize it. In 2023, Apple discontinued the Touch Bar altogether.
So why did the Touch Bar fail? There are a few reasons.
First, it was simply too small. The Touch Bar was just 2170 pixels wide, which made it difficult to use for tasks that required precision, such as typing text or editing photos.
Second, the Touch Bar was too fiddly. It was easy to accidentally tap the wrong button, and there was no tactile feedback to let you know when you had pressed a button correctly.
Third, the Touch Bar was not very useful. Most of the tasks that you could do with the Touch Bar could also be done just as easily or even more easily with the keyboard or trackpad.
In the end, the Touch Bar was a case of style over substance. It was a cool idea, but it was not a very practical one.
What the future holds:
So what does the future hold for the keyboard? Apple has not yet revealed its plans, but there are a few possibilities.
One possibility is that Apple will simply return to a traditional keyboard with function keys. Another possibility is that Apple will develop a new type of keyboard that is more immersive and interactive than the current keyboard.
Only time will tell what the future holds for the keyboard. But one thing is for sure: the Touch Bar is gone for good.
The Touch Bar was an ambitious experiment, but it ultimately failed to live up to its potential. It was too small, too fiddly, and not very useful. Apple has discontinued the Touch Bar, and it is unclear what the future holds for the keyboard.
