5 ms·

The new MBPs are such a mixed bag for me.. I got one at work, while I still use a 2012 MBP, and I go back and forth on some things.... 1) New keyboard took a w

by suresk 9y ago

The new MBPs are such a mixed bag for me.. I got one at work, while I still use a 2012 MBP, and I go back and forth on some things.... 1) New keyboard took a while to get used to, and it does seem like they are a little finicky. After a while, I've gotten used to the feel of it and actually prefer it for the most part. The arrow keys are really hard to use, though.. I do hate that it is such an expensive/involved thing to replace the keyboard. 2) The enlarged trackpad is kinda nice sometimes, but really hard to use other times.. The way I rest my hands on my laptop when I'm using it while sitting back or lying down always results in mis-clicks and other problems with the new trackpad. I'd rather have the smaller-sized one, but I realize others may not have the same problems I do. 3) TouchID is really handy, but the TouchBar is an unfortunate gimmick. I keep trying to find good uses for it, but it mostly ends up being kinda useless - anything I can do with it, I could do before with less work. I hope it goes away, or at least becomes an optional thing in the future. Overall, while it is nice to have a laptop that is smaller/lighter, the way Apple is sacrificing all sorts of other stuff (performance, repairability) to minimize size/weight sometimes feels wrong for what it supposed to be a professional series laptop.

threeseed 9y ago
Use BetterTouchTool for the Touch Bar. It allows you to customise it for each application and assign your own buttons based on menu items, scripts etc. For development it is amazing. I have dedicated buttons for Build, Run, Debug, Stop, Step Into and Step Over. For terminal I can adjust terminal profiles with one button. Also blame Intel more than Apple for performance issues.
- crispinb 9y ago
  > For development it is amazing. I have dedicated buttons for Build, Run, Debug, Stop, Step Into and Step Over I have these in IntelliJ as standard key combos (some being Fn keys). All of these I can touch type. I can't see how this would be improved by having to look down at the mini-screen at the top of the keyboard.
  - threeseed 9y ago
    You can use it for things wouldn't normally remember or that require arcane key commands. Two buttons I use are to Expand/Collapse All Code Folds.
    - crispinb 9y ago
      Yes I can see that being useful. The cost (losing touch typing on the Fn keys) would be far too high for me.
    - IanCal 9y ago
      I think the main point is that you could just map those to function keys. I think I've only seen one main use that works well with the bar, and that's scrubbing through video or audio.
      - akvadrako 9y ago
        But you have to remember what the function keys do, so you are ignoring the primary point of the touch bar.
        addicted 9y ago
        If it’s something you use so infrequently why not have it on the screen in a toolbar instead, so you still don’t have to remember which key it is, and you don’t need to move your gaze away from what you were already looking at. The touchbar has used, but from what I can tell, all those uses are better solved by existing non touchbar techniques already. Toolbars for infrequently user functions you won’t remember the shortcut for (better because they hold more and don’t require you to change the screen you’re looking at, and you can keep your hands on the touchpad/mouse as before). Fn keys (or combo keys) for frequently used shortcuts that you would remember as they ass tactile feedback and are much more conducive to touch typing. The trackpad for actual scrubbing like functions. Where I can see the touchbar being useful are infrequently used global functions, but I believe these are the ones Apple explicitly prevents developers from building (and unsurprisingly the inbuilt global ones from Apple are the most popular feature of the touchbar, such as volume controls and music playback controls).
- aaronbrethorst 9y ago
  Command B, Command R, Command R, Command Period, F7, ^F6. I can hit most of these (except the function key shortcuts) by feel 100% of the time. I cannot hit any touch bar targets by feel, with the exception of the Escape key.
- suresk 9y ago
  Fair point, re: Intel. I will have to check out that tool, sounds like it could be useful. I guess, though, this highlights part of why it feels so gimmicky. I, like a lot of people using MacBook Pros, spend about 60% of my time on my work laptop docked with external monitors, keyboard, and mouse. Since there are no external keyboards with a TouchBar available, I now have two very different experiences when I'm docked vs undocked. I'm sure I could use something to create virtual function keys and get back the original functionality and have a roughly similar experience to when I'm using an external keyboard, but then I'm paying extra money for that hardware and losing tactile feedback.
  - Corrado 9y ago
    I've always assumed that if Apple was really serious about the TouchBar they would have created an external keyboard with it.
- Eric_WVGG 9y ago
  +1 BetterTouchTool. I have buttons for a "visor" style terminal prompt, OnePassword everywhere, web and mobile inspector tools, love it all. Would hate to give up the Touch Bar now that I've finally made it useful. Which is kind of the key — Apple didn't build in enough functionality out-of-the-box for users to make it useful. They left it to developers, and developers dropped the ball. All of this is a separate issue from the keyboard issues. My "F" key has all but popped off. That has nothing to do with the Touch Bar.

by suresk 9y ago

threeseed 9y ago

Use BetterTouchTool for the Touch Bar. It allows you to customise it for each application and assign your own buttons based on menu items, scripts etc. For development it is amazing. I have dedicated buttons for Build, Run, Debug, Stop, Step Into and Step Over. For terminal I can adjust terminal profiles with one button. Also blame Intel more than Apple for performance issues.

crispinb 9y ago
> For development it is amazing. I have dedicated buttons for Build, Run, Debug, Stop, Step Into and Step Over I have these in IntelliJ as standard key combos (some being Fn keys). All of these I can touch type. I can't see how this would be improved by having to look down at the mini-screen at the top of the keyboard.
- threeseed 9y ago
  You can use it for things wouldn't normally remember or that require arcane key commands. Two buttons I use are to Expand/Collapse All Code Folds.
  - crispinb 9y ago
    Yes I can see that being useful. The cost (losing touch typing on the Fn keys) would be far too high for me.
  - IanCal 9y ago
    I think the main point is that you could just map those to function keys. I think I've only seen one main use that works well with the bar, and that's scrubbing through video or audio.
    - akvadrako 9y ago
      But you have to remember what the function keys do, so you are ignoring the primary point of the touch bar.
      - addicted 9y ago
        If it’s something you use so infrequently why not have it on the screen in a toolbar instead, so you still don’t have to remember which key it is, and you don’t need to move your gaze away from what you were already looking at. The touchbar has used, but from what I can tell, all those uses are better solved by existing non touchbar techniques already. Toolbars for infrequently user functions you won’t remember the shortcut for (better because they hold more and don’t require you to change the screen you’re looking at, and you can keep your hands on the touchpad/mouse as before). Fn keys (or combo keys) for frequently used shortcuts that you would remember as they ass tactile feedback and are much more conducive to touch typing. The trackpad for actual scrubbing like functions. Where I can see the touchbar being useful are infrequently used global functions, but I believe these are the ones Apple explicitly prevents developers from building (and unsurprisingly the inbuilt global ones from Apple are the most popular feature of the touchbar, such as volume controls and music playback controls).
aaronbrethorst 9y ago
Command B, Command R, Command R, Command Period, F7, ^F6. I can hit most of these (except the function key shortcuts) by feel 100% of the time. I cannot hit any touch bar targets by feel, with the exception of the Escape key.
suresk 9y ago
Fair point, re: Intel. I will have to check out that tool, sounds like it could be useful. I guess, though, this highlights part of why it feels so gimmicky. I, like a lot of people using MacBook Pros, spend about 60% of my time on my work laptop docked with external monitors, keyboard, and mouse. Since there are no external keyboards with a TouchBar available, I now have two very different experiences when I'm docked vs undocked. I'm sure I could use something to create virtual function keys and get back the original functionality and have a roughly similar experience to when I'm using an external keyboard, but then I'm paying extra money for that hardware and losing tactile feedback.
- Corrado 9y ago
  I've always assumed that if Apple was really serious about the TouchBar they would have created an external keyboard with it.
Eric_WVGG 9y ago
+1 BetterTouchTool. I have buttons for a "visor" style terminal prompt, OnePassword everywhere, web and mobile inspector tools, love it all. Would hate to give up the Touch Bar now that I've finally made it useful. Which is kind of the key — Apple didn't build in enough functionality out-of-the-box for users to make it useful. They left it to developers, and developers dropped the ball. All of this is a separate issue from the keyboard issues. My "F" key has all but popped off. That has nothing to do with the Touch Bar.