Apple announced a bunch of new products today at its Scary Fast virtual event. It was a rather small 30-minute keynote where the Cupertino giant unveiled its new silicon lineup for 2023: M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max.
These freshly-baked Apple Silicon chips power its refreshed 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros as well as the new 24-inch iMac. The new Macs are available for pre-order on Apple"s website and will start shipping on November 7.
However, one thing you won"t find on the Apple website anymore is the 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro that continued the legacy of the Touch Bar. Yes, Apple has finally pulled the plug on the Touch Bar and quietly discontinued the 13-inch MacBook Pro.
Apple released the first MacBook Pro with a Touch Bar back in 2016 when it adopted an all-USB-C design and introduced the ill-fated butterfly keyboard. The company referred to the Touch Bar with words like "groundbreaking" and "revolutionary."
Apple has long sidestepped the idea of having a touch screen on the Mac, but the Touch Bar was something that stood out among its heap of prototypes. Touch Bar replaced traditional function keys on MacBook Pro with a multitouch display that could have dynamic controls based on the app running on the screen.
For instance, you could see play/pause and seek controls when watching movies, emoji in Messages, or Tabs and Favorites in Safari when browsing the web. Several Microsoft apps for macOS, such as Office, Outlook, and Skype, were quick to add support for the new hardware. However, it offered limited support for Windows via Boot Camp by displaying a static row of functional keys.
The company said goodbye to the Touch Bar in 2021 with the release of 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros powered by its home-baked silicon. Apple acknowledged the demise of Touch Bar but didn"t tell the exact reason why it was going away, although, its fate after almost half a decade of unpopularity was expected. Apple said at the time:
Physical function keys — including a wider escape key — replace the Touch Bar, bringing back the familiar, tactile feel of mechanical keys that pro users love. The new keyboard is complemented by the industry-best Force Touch trackpad that is perfect for pro applications.
The 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro was the last device to feature the secondary display. While the Touch Bar was an enticing piece of hardware, its failure is attributed to the lack of support from Apple"s end. The company didn"t do enough work to make it a daily driver for many, including limiting its access to the Pro models.