Apple! Replace the ‘Touch Bar’ with ‘Touch Keys’ and thank me later
I will also accept board positions
What the hell are Touch Keys?
Bear with me, we’ll get to that shortly.
On an intellectual level, the Touch Bar is a great idea. Having a row of function keys you can customize to your specific preferences is undoubtedly a Good Thing™. The issue has been the implementation.
What Apple needs to do is replace the Touch Bar with a row of buttons that each have a little display. Touch Key, if you will.
This shift would solve so many of Touch Bar’s reliability and tactility issues — and may actually be useful. I’d go even further. Get rid of the OLED displays and give the Touch Keys an e-ink display.
No, it won’t look quite as pretty, but it’ll use less power, feel better to the touch, and fit into the aesthetics of the keyboard far better.
A move to the Touch Keys would also do wonders for Apple’s image.
On current evidence, we’ll end up thinking and talking about the Touch Bar in the same way asthe butterfly keyboard: an abject failure. Something Apple claimed was incredible up to the moment it removed it.
This doesn’t need to be the case with the Touch Bar. If Apple took the spirit of the technology and tweaked it into something like the Touch Keys, then it becomes an evolutionary step, rather than a stumbling failure.
I know this is never going to happen, but we’ve all got to have a dream, right? And one of mine is a sparkling new MacBook Pro complete with a set of glittering, e-ink Touch Keys. You can thank me later, Mr. Tim Apple.
Story byCallum Booth
Callum Booth is a freelance journalist with over a decade of experience. Previously, he was the Managing Editor of TNW, where his reporting(show all)Callum Booth is a freelance journalist with over a decade of experience. Previously, he was the Managing Editor of TNW, where his reporting was cited widely, including in VICE, the FT, and the BBC.
Callum’s writing has appeared in The Verge, The Daily Telegraph, Time Out, and many more. He covers the full spectrum of technology, with a particular focus on how it shapes our daily lives. And a lot of regulation stuff too.
Outside of work, Callum’s an avid bookworm, a Fisherman’s Friends addict, and resolutely unshaven. Follow him on Twitter @CallumBooth or visit www.callumbooth.net.
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