New MacBooks replace function keys with radical new 'Touch Bar'

Ahead of Apple’s MacBook event in the US today, the rumour was the company was going to do away with the Esc key.

It turns out, it’s done away with every single key on the function key row along the top of the keyboard in favour of a thin touchscreen.

This “Touch Bar” displays different thumbnails based on context. At startup, there’s a Touch ID thumbnail that doubles as a power button. When you’re writing an email, it can display a selection of Emojis. When you’re in Photoshop, it can display thumbnails of pictures. Excel was also demo’d as a compatible third-party app.

It seems pretty nifty, though West Auckland tech commentator Ben Gracewood did note during the demo, “Look at how hard Federighi is having to work to avoid touching his keyboard while using the Touch Bar.” (Federigh being Apple VP Craig Fedeighi.)

The Touch Bar is on new 15-inch and 13-inch versions of the MacBook Pro, which have some pretty robust pricing (scroll to the end of the story).

Apple also unveiled a new lower-cost 13-inch MacBook Pro, which doesn't have the Touch Bar.

The new models are also 14-17% thinner and about a quarter of a kilo lighter than their predecessors.

One downside: As BGR and others were quick to note: Yes, the new MacBooks do have a headphone jack – but there’s another connectivity controversy. The MacBook Pros comes with between two and four USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports, which means they’re not compatible with the USB cable that ships with the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus – necessitating the purchase of a $39 adapter.

The new Touch Bar (above and below) adjusts according to which software you're using. See Videos below.

New 'TV' guide
Ahead of the Mac presentation, Apple unveiled a new video app, simply called “TV” that allows users to track and watch shows and movies from multiple apps on Apple TV, iPhone and iPad.

The Siri-compatible app provides a content guide across multiple streaming services from Hulu to HBO Now, but with the glaring omissions of market leader Netflix and Amazon's Prime.

For now, at least, it’s US only. 

Pricing & Availability

• The 13-inch MacBook Pro starts at Recommended Retail Price (RRP) NZD $2,499 inc. GST, features a 2.0 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.1 GHz, 8GB of memory and 256GB of flash storage, and ships today.

• The 13-inch MacBook Pro with the Touch Bar and Touch ID starts at RRP NZD $2,999 inc. GST, and features a 2.9 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.3 GHz, 8GB of memory and 256GB of flash storage, and is estimated to ship in two to three weeks.

• The 15-inch MacBook Pro starts at RRP NZD $3,999 inc. GST, features the Touch Bar and Touch ID, a 2.6 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.5 GHz, 16GB of memory and 256GB of flash storage, and is estimated to ship in two to three weeks.