Apple adds Touch Bar to the new MacBook Pro line up


Apple has added the Touch Bar to the new MacBook Pro the company announced during an event today. The new Touch Bar, which leaked out two days ago, replaces the row of keys and will allow app-specific commands to be displayed on the keyboard.

For example, when you open Mail, the Touch Bar will display buttons to create a new message, replying, or moving an email to the trash. In Safari, you can preview tabs and switch through them using the Touch Bar, open a new tab, or go to one of your favorited sites without having to use the trackpad. You can swipe through your images in Photos with previews, scrub through videos, and make edits like rotating photos, cropping, and adding filters. Apple says users will be able to customize the Touch Bar, and add the features and buttons they need the most.

A second-generation Touch ID sensor covered with a sapphire crystal has been included to the right of the Touch Bar on the new MacBook Pro. Apple has brought the Secure Enclave from the iPhone to the MacBook Pro in the form of a new chip called the T1 to keep your fingerprint safe. Users will be able to use it to authenticate purchases using Apple Pay in Safari. More importantly Touch ID will let users with multiple profiles on their MacBook Pro quickly switch between them using a fingerprint. So if you share a MacBook and hate logging out to get back into your desktop, Touch ID just cut your wait time down.



Apple has also doubled the size of the force touch trackpad, and built a second-generation version of the butterfly keyboard on the 12-inch MacBook for the Pro. The company says it has improved the speakers on the 15-inch Pro, which now feature "twice the dynamic range of audio" according to Marketing boss Phil Schiller. And if you were wondering, the headphone jack is still included on the new MacBook Pro.

The new MacBook Pro is available to purchase today on Apple.com starting at $1,799 for the 13-inch and $2,399 for the 15-inch MacBook Pro. The laptops will begin shipping in two to three weeks.

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