I still miss the MacBook Pro Touch Bar. Not because it was some “pro workflow revolution” the way Apple originally pitched it, but because in day-to-day use it genuinely made my Mac feel faster and more convenient in small ways that added up.
Most people judged the Touch Bar by how well big creative apps integrated with it. And honestly, that part never reached its full potential. Some apps had decent support, but it wasn’t consistent, and over time it felt like developers stopped caring. Even Apple didn’t push it hard enough after the initial hype. So yeah, if you were expecting the Touch Bar to become this must-have control surface for pros, it didn’t.
But where the Touch Bar did shine was regular usability.
It made little things quicker
The best moments were when my hands were already on the keyboard and I didn’t want to reach for the trackpad or mouse.
- Scrubbing through YouTube videos was genuinely great.
- Adjusting volume and brightness with a smooth slider felt more precise than tapping keys repeatedly.
- Emoji suggestions and quick access to emojis were surprisingly useful if you chat a lot.
- Spellcheck suggestions appearing right there while typing saved time in a way you don’t notice until it’s gone.
- Those “Are you sure?” prompts (like confirm/cancel) being tappable right above the keyboard was a small but real quality-of-life win.
Nothing there is “life-changing,” but that’s the point: it was a convenience feature, not a replacement for learning shortcuts.
Customization is where it became awesome
Out of the box, the Touch Bar was fine. But once I started customizing it with third-party tools, it became way better than people give it credit for.
I could set up:
- two- or three-finger gestures for brightness/volume
- quick toggles for AirPlay, screenshots, Mission Control, etc.
- always-visible info like battery percent, time, or temperature (especially handy in full screen)
- different “layers” depending on modifier keys (Option, Control, Command), so the Touch Bar became a compact control panel instead of a random strip of buttons
That’s the thing: the Touch Bar wasn’t useless—it was under-explained and under-supported. If you only used it in its default state, I get why it felt pointless. But if you actually set it up around how you work, it could be incredibly convenient.
Why it got so much hate
I also understand the complaints.
- If you rely on function keys a lot (Excel users, developers, specific tools), losing physical keys was annoying.
- Early models without a physical Escape key were frustrating.
- It had no tactile feedback, so you sometimes had to glance down.
- And because support wasn’t consistent across apps, it never became “second nature” for everyone.
Honestly, I think the biggest mistake wasn’t the Touch Bar itself—it was replacing the function row instead of coexisting with it. If Apple had kept physical function keys and added a Touch Bar above them, people would’ve loved it.
Do I miss it today?
Yes. Even though I can do everything without it, and even though I adapted quickly after upgrading, I still miss the feel of it: the quick controls, the little shortcuts, the “one-tap” convenience that made the Mac feel more fluid.
To me, the Touch Bar wasn’t a gimmick. It was a good idea that never got the long-term commitment it needed—and that’s why it disappeared before it could really become something bigger.
