The Rise and Fall of the Better Touch Bar

Apple's decision to axe the Touch Bar from the 16-inch MacBook Pro has sent shockwaves through the tech world, leading many to wonder if the innovative feature was a flawed concept all along. The Touch Bar, which replaced the row of function keys at the top of the keyboard with a digital touch panel, was intended to offer users a more personalized and customizable experience. However, despite its initial promise, the Touch Bar never quite lived up to expectations.

One reason for this is that humans are habitual creatures, and it can be difficult to adapt to unfamiliar technology. For many users, the physical function keys were an integral part of their keyboard experience, and switching to a digital touch panel required a significant adjustment period. Additionally, very few manufacturers bothered to support the Touch Bar, which limited its usefulness and made it feel like a proprietary feature that only MacBook Pro owners could make use of.

Another issue with the Touch Bar was its lack of obvious benefits. While it did offer some advantages, such as enabling customization and allowing app makers to add their own shortcuts, these features were not enough to convince users to abandon their physical function keys. In fact, many users found themselves missing the tactile feedback and familiarity of traditional keyboard layouts.

It's also worth noting that Apple's decision to only make the Touch Bar available on the 13-inch MacBook Pro model suggests that even the company itself may have had doubts about its viability. Despite this, the Touch Bar did offer some benefits, such as enabling customization and allowing app makers to add their own shortcuts.

Ultimately, the Touch Bar may be a good example of a feature that was ahead of its time but ultimately failed to gain traction with users. While it's possible that Apple may revisit the concept in the future, for now, it seems likely that the Touch Bar will disappear from the smaller Pro model and be replaced by more traditional keyboard layouts.

Better touch bar