Asked by: Raeann Gunzl
technology and computing laptops

What is MacBook Pro Touch Bar?

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The Touch Bar adds a row of multitouch controlstothe top of the MacBook Pro's keyboard. But that doesn'tmeanmultitouch can't have a place on the Mac: The TouchBar(currently available on the 13- and 15-inch MacBookPro) isa touch-based OLED bar that replaces therow offunction keys on your keyboard.


Considering this, is MacBook Touch Bar useful?

Apple includes it on all its high-endlaptops,without even offering function keys as a built-to-orderoption. Sowe might as well learn how to get the most out of it. Thegood newsis that once you get in touch with your TouchBar, itturns out to have some genuinely usefultime-savingfeatures.

Additionally, does the 13 inch MacBook Pro have a touch bar? The 13-inch MacBook Pro withTouchBar is still one of the most expensive13-inchlaptops out there. It starts at a steep $1,799with an 8th-Gen,2.4-GHz Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and246GB ofstorage.

Also to know is, is the touch bar a gimmick?

As you can from some of the comments, theTouchBar tends to be a love it or hate it feature in the newMacBookPro. Some folks genuinely like it and find it very useful,whileothers dislike it and regard it as a dumb gimmick onApple'spart.

How do I use the touch bar on my MacBook Pro 2019?

Use the Keyboard pane of SystemPreferences(choose Apple menu > System Preferences, thenclickKeyboard) to customize the Control Strip. Display thefunctionkeys. Press and hold the Function (Fn) key to display thefunctionkeys F1 through F12 in the Touch Bar, then tap afunctionbutton to use it.

Related Question Answers

Ethan Zaskokin

Professional

What is the touch bar for?

The Touch Bar adds a row of multitouch controlstothe top of the MacBook Pro's keyboard. But that doesn'tmeanmultitouch can't have a place on the Mac: The TouchBar(currently available on the 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pro) isatouch-based OLED bar that replaces the rowoffunction keys on your keyboard.

Aleixandre Lepthien

Professional

Is the MacBook Pro Touch Screen?

It's highly unlikely we'll be getting atouchscreenMacBook anytime in the near future. The closestApplehas come to a touchscreen laptop is theTouch Bar itadded on the MacBook Pro, which replacesthe traditional rowof function keys on the keyboard with digitalkeys.

Yilena Nabarzato

Professional

What's the difference between MacBook Air and Macbook Pro?

That said, the 2019 MacBook Air weighs lessthanthe older MacBook Air model did; 1.25kg compared to1.35kg.In comparison the 13in MacBook Pro weighs1.37kg. Asboth laptops come with Touch ID and things like the ForceTouchtrackpad, but the Touch Bar on the Pro is really themajordesign difference between the two.

Saeeda Valentino

Explainer

How do you make TouchBar useful?

Launch the app, then open Preferences.SelectTouchBar from the menu strip near the top of the app.At thebottom of this window, you'll see buttons labeled +TouchBarButton, + Widget/Gesture, and + ButtonGroup.

Lisset Abduloff

Explainer

What Is Better Touch Tool?

BetterTouchTool. BetterTouchTool isagreat, feature packed app that allows you to customizevariousinput devices on your Mac.

Evangelino Gyer

Explainer

What MacBook should I get?

MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro: Specs Compared
Best for Most For Multitasking
Price $1,099 $1,799
CPU 1.6-GHz 8th gen Core i5 2.4-GHz 8th gen Core i5 quad-core
RAM 8GB 8GB
Display 13.3 inches (2560 x 1600) 13 inches (2560 x 1600)

Alaide Usta

Pundit

How do you use the touch bar on a MacBook?

Set options for the Touch Bar
  1. On your Mac, choose Apple menu > System Preferences,clickKeyboard, then click Keyboard. Open Keyboard preferencesforme.
  2. Set options. Touch Bar shows: Click the pop-up menu, thenchoosean option—App Controls, Expanded Control Strip, F1,F2, etc.Keys, or Quick Actions.

Lijin Cabado

Pundit

How do I change my touch bar to function keys?

It's up to developers.
  1. Click on the Apple menu logo in the upper left corner ofthescreen.
  2. Click on System Preferences.
  3. Click on Keyboard.
  4. Click the Shortcuts tab.
  5. Select Function Keys from the sidebar.
  6. Click the Add (+) button.
  7. Select an app that you want to display the function keys ontheTouch Bar as a default.

Eriko Cuezva

Pundit

What is touch bar and touch ID?

The Touch ID (power button) is located ontheright side of the Touch Bar. After you set upTouchID, you can use your fingerprint to unlock yourMacBookPro and make purchases on the App Store, Apple Books, iTunesStore,and websites using Apple Pay. Use Touch ID(powerbutton).

Maye Anuchin

Pundit

Is the touch bar OLED?

The latest MacBook Pro models feature a TouchBar,which is a small OLED Retina multi-touchdisplay builtinto the keyboard where the function keystraditionally go. TheTouch Bar is contextual and canperform a huge range offunctions on the Mac depending on which appis in use.

Egidia Pecht

Pundit

What is Touchbar and Touch ID on MacBook Pro?

With Touch ID on MacBook Pro andMacBookAir, you can quickly unlock your Mac and makepurchasesusing your Apple ID and Apple Pay —all withyour fingerprint. On MacBook Pro models withTouchBar, the Touch ID button is on the right side oftheTouch Bar at the top of the keyboard.

Olimpio Bueschler

Teacher

How do I fix my Mac glitchy screen?

Screen flickering issue, fixes
  1. Shut down your Mac.
  2. Start your Mac, and immediately press the Option, Command,P,and R keys together for several seconds (around 20 seconds).Thenrelease the keys. You Mac will look like it is restarting.

Zachary Mallor

Teacher

Does MacBook Air have touch bar?

MacBook Air and MacBook Pro updatedforback-to-school season. MacBook Air today starts at alowerprice of $1,099 and features a stunning Retina display,nowwith True Tone. Updated 13-inch MacBook Pronowfeatures the latest processors for twice the performance,TouchBar and Touch ID, and a True ToneRetinadisplay.

Noriko Hafernik

Teacher

How do I make my touch bar brighter?

Just tap, hold, and drag on the brightness icontoincrease or decrease your display brightness. This isaneasy one. Simply hold down the fn key, located at thebottomleft side of the keyboard, and the Touch Bar willbereplaced with the traditional function keys.

Dirceu Imwalle

Teacher

How much is MacBook Pro?

While the base models of Apple's laptops still costthesame (starting at $1,799 for the 13-inch model or $2,399 forthe15-inch model), the updated MacBook Pro now tops out atawhopping $6,699 for the top configuration. That's $2,400 morethanthe best 2017 MacBook Pro you could buy.

Ligaya Fontane

Reviewer

How long do MacBook Pros last?

A well cared MacBook Pro should last youalong time. While the build quality of new Macs is muchworsethan before, if you properly look after your MacBookPro itshould last you 7–8 years.

Collins [email protected]

Reviewer

Is a 13 inch MacBook too small?

Smaller than a 13-inchMacBookAir
Apple actually made the 13-inchRetinaMacBook Pro smaller than the current13-inchMacBook Air. The Air, at 0.68 inchthick, is stillthinner than the Retina, which measures 0.75inchthick. For comparison, the 13-inchnon-RetinaMacBook measures12.78-by-8.94-by-0.95inches.

Lhoussaine Holschigin

Reviewer

Hademou Corves

Reviewer

Is the new Apple MacBook Pro worth it?

It's a bit of a surprise, but the new Proisactually a pretty good value when compared to the moreexpensivemodels. It's not a cheap laptop, but theperformanceincrease over the Air is massive for an extra $200.Unfortunately,the lower clock-speed processor didn't translate intoany bigbattery-life gains.