Top Bananas | Tag Archives: Touch Bar

The Coming Virtual Keyboard

Posted on March 15, 2018 by admin Posted in Hardware, User Interface Leave a comment

What it is: Apple recently filed a patent for a keyless keyboard.

Apple files patents all the time for products that never make it to market. However, their latest patent covers a keyless keyboard. In other words, a virtual keyboard for laptops and tablets. The idea of a virtual keyboard is nothing new. The iPhone effectively killed physical keyboards by using a virtual keyboard that could change based on the use. Dial a phone number and the virtual keyboard displays a traditional numeric keypad. Type a message and a standard typewriter keyboard appears. When you’re done using the keyboard, it disappears so you can use the screen to see something else.

Virtual keyboards offer versatility that physical keyboards can never offer. That’s why virtual keyboards are certain to appear in laptops eventually. Apple has already replaced the row of function key with the Touch Bar in certain MacBook Pro laptop models because function keys are relatively useless today, yet still exist much like the Num Lock key on PC keyboards. Why do Num Lock keys still exist on PC keyboards even though few people ever turn their numeric keypad into a cursor keypad when their keyboard already offers a separate cursor keypad?

What’s stopping virtual keyboards is the lack of haptic feedback, yet Apple has already developed haptic feedback for the Magic Trackpad that creates the illusion of moving when it doesn’t move at all. This haptic feedback convinces your fingers that you pressed or clicked when the trackpad surface never physically moved at all. Such haptic feedback is what virtual keyboards need for laptops so people can feel keys under their fingertips instead of feeling like they’re typing on a glass sheet.

When Apple perfects haptic feedback for larger virtual keyboards, then you’ll see true revolutionary change in laptops. Instead of displaying archaic physical keyboards, tomorrow’s laptops can display dual screens where you can use one screen to type on or both screens to display information. Think of an iPhone but bigger and that’s the future of the laptop.

What will people do with dual screen laptops? That’s the key to the future. For a presentation, you could display slides on one screen and controls on the other along with notes. Think of today’s dual monitor set ups with desktop computers and that’s essentially what you’ll have in dual-screen laptops.

Physical keyboards are antiques. They’ll be around but they won’t be common any more than physical keyboards are common on smartphones. The virtual keyboard is coming soon. It’s just a matter of when.

The iMac Pro Keyboard and Mouse

Posted on January 1, 2018 by admin Posted in Hardware Leave a comment

What it is: Apple released their latest professional Macintosh called the iMac Pro, but is this the future?

The iMac Pro is the fastest Macintosh currently available, but despite its speed and power, is this really the future of the Macintosh? One key feature that professionals may not like is that the iMac Pro is not easily upgradeable. That means when you buy an iMac Pro, you better get it with the amount of RAM and storage you expect you’ll ever use because you won’t be able to upgrade the machine on your own. Many people think this could be a huge drawback but it may not be as big a drawback as some people think.

The advantage of having an upgradeable machine is that you can buy additional parts and keep an older machine current at little cost. The disadvantage is that now you have to worry about these new parts working correctly with the rest of your computer. This potential incompatibility headache is what causes problems with Windows PCs that have to work with multiple parts from different manufacturers that use drivers that may conflict with other parts of the computer or operating system.

So upgradeability is nice in theory, but doesn’t always work in actual practice. Still it’s nice to upgrade a machine afterwards, but it’s also a headache if it doesn’t work. Apple promises to release a new Mac Pro in the future that will offer upgradability so the iMac Pro may be targeted for those professionals who don’t plan to upgrade their machines any time in the near future and prefer to just buy a whole new computer years later.

Perhaps he most puzzling feature of the iMac Pro is that it offers a wireless keyboard with a numeric keypad, which the regular iMac does not offer. (The iMac keyboard lacks a numeric keypad.) Even more curious is that some Mac Book Pro laptops offer a Touch Bar that replaces the function keys while a far more versatile touch screen, but the iMac Pro keyboard does not. That raises the big question on whether the Touch Bar will become an integral part of the keyboard for the Macintosh or will remain just a niche for some MacBook Pro laptop models.

Apple should offer choices for keyboards so people can decide what’s best for them. We just have to wonder if Apple will ever bring the Touch Bar to the Macintosh in an external keyboard. The Touch Bar on a laptop works as a Touch ID sensor because it’s hard to spoof a signal from the Touch Bar to the MacBook Pro. A Touch Bar might not work as a Touch ID sensor on an external keyboard because the signal from the keyboard to the Macintosh can be intercepted, although the signal from an iPhone to a Macintosh can also (theoretically) be intercepted as well.

Most likely the iMac Pro is a stop gap measure designed to cater to the niche professional market that doesn’t mind the lack of upgradability while the coming Mac Pro will offer full upgradability (for a hefty price). What Apple likely won’t do is offer a Mac mini with more upgradability parts because this will open the incompatibility headaches that plague Windows PCs. By limiting upgradability options to the higher price Mac Pro, Apple will have to deal with fewer problems of incompatibility.

The iMac Pro points to the future but is not the future. The real future of the Macintosh can be found in the laptop models that include thiner screens, higher weight, and a Touch Bar interface. Just as Macintosh laptops are not easily upgradability, so is the iMac also not easily upgradable. The future of the Macintosh is a closed appliance like a toaster or a microwave oven. Nobody complains that you can’t upgrade a toaster or microwave oven because few people ever want to do that. That’s the future of the Macintosh as an appliance.

The iMac Pro and the ARM Processor

Posted on November 19, 2017 by admin Posted in Hardware Leave a comment

What it is: Apple plans to release the iMac Pro soon and it’s rumored to include an ARM processor.

The Mac Pro cylinder turned out to be a dead end because it wasn’t easy to upgrade. Of course if Apple had simply listened to what professional users wanted, they would have realized that upgrading parts is common and necessary to keep existing equipment updated without buying a whole new computer. Apple has learned from this lesson by announcing the iMac Pro, which is rumored to include an ARM processor.

There are currently two reasons for adding an ARM processor to a Macintosh. First, an ARM processor runs the Touch Bar on certain MacBook Pro models that replace physical function row keys with a virtual strip of keys instead. Second, an ARM processor can possibly work with Siri and macOS allowing the ARM processor to run while the Intel processor sleeps and consumes less power until needed. This would allow the iMac Pro to recognize “Hey, Siri” voice commands.

The combination of Intel/ARM processors is going to come to all Macintosh models because of both the Touch Bar and the ability to consume less power with an ARM processor instead of relying on an Intel processor. The Intel processor will likely remain the heart of the Macintosh while the ARM processor will work as a supplement to the Intel processor. This will allow compatibility with existing x86 programs while still gaining the advantages of the lower power consumption of an ARM processor.

Now look at the headaches if you switch from Intel to ARM processors completely. You’ll need an emulation layer for ARM processors to run x86 programs and you’ll need to have developers recompile their programs from Intel to ARM processors. Microsoft is currently rumored to be readying ARM-powered Windows PC laptops soon, but those early ARM-based Windows PCs won’t be able to run all Windows programs unless the x86 emulation layer works flawlessly like Rosetta did with running PowerPC programs on Intel processors.

Apple may be avoiding the transition to Intel processors completely because it’s far simpler to just add an ARM processor to an Intel processor and get the best of both worlds. Switching to ARM processors and abandoning Intel processors means bigger headaches with slight advantages over an Intel/ARM combination.

Apple will likely test the Intel/ARM combination on the iMac Pro and then filter this feature down to the rest of the Macintosh models. Eventually, every Macintosh will run an Intel/ARM combination just to run the Touch Bar, but possibly to lower power consumption as well. The combination Intel/ARM processors will likely help the Macintosh remain compatible with Windows programs while still gaining the benefit of ARM processor’s lower power consumption features.

Intel may not be going away completely in the Macintosh, but ARM processors are definitely coming for sure.

The TouchBar Coming to the iMac Pro?

Posted on June 23, 2017 by admin Posted in Hardware, User Interface Leave a comment

What it is: Apple introduced the Touch Bar on their MacBook Pro laptops, but may be readying it for desktop models as well.

Last year, Apple introduced a new type of user interface called the Touch Bar. The Touch Bar is a touch screen that replaces the row of largely useless function row keys and displays a strip of virtual keys instead. By modifying these virtual keys for whatever you’re currently using, the Touch Bar can be more versatile than generic function row keys. Unfortunately, Apple has yet to introduce the Touch Bar to the desktop Macintosh.

That may change with the iMac Pro. Although Apple’s prototypes of the iMac Pro showed a traditional keyboard with function row keys at the top, the latest technical specifications suggest Apple will include Secure Enclave technology, which uses an ARM processor to authenticate Touch ID operations. Look for an ARM processor in a Macintosh and chances are good it will support Touch ID.

If Apple wants the world to adapt the Touch Bar, they have to make it available on desktop models. Right now, Apple still sells laptops without the Touch Bar because the Touch Bar adds to the cost of the computer. Eventually, the Touch Bar will become standard for all but the lowest cost Macintosh models.

The Touch Bar represents a step forward in user interface design. Just as early PCs resisted the idea of using a mouse, so will today’s Macintosh users resist the idea of using the Touch Bar. Over time, the Touch Bar will become a standard feature on the Macintosh. Like the original computer mouse, the Touch Bar isn’t obviously useful until you actually use it.

In case you want to try out the Touch Bar without buying a Touch Bar laptop, you can load Apple’s free Xcode compiler on your Macintosh. Then choose the Window > Show Touch Bar option. This will display a Touch Bar on the screen so you can see how the Touch Bar would work in your favorite program.

The Touch Bar isn’t an obvious change, much like the initial iPhone didn’t change the smartphone market overnight. But given time, expect the Touch Bar to become a common feature on all Macintosh computers. When you start seeing the Touch Bar gravitate to the PC world of Windows and Linux, then you’ll know the Touch Bar has finally been accepted.

Until then, try the virtual Touch Bar. You may like it enough to start depending on it.

What Happened to the Touch Bar?

Posted on June 6, 2017 by admin Posted in Hardware, User Interface Leave a comment

What it is: Apple announced a new iMac Pro and released a wireless iMac keyboard, but the Touch Bar is missing.

In the wake of Apples’ latest flurry of announcements on Monday, they released a wireless keyboard that includes a numeric keypad (the previous keyboard with a numeric keypad plugged into the computer’s USB port). Apple also announced the iMac Pro. However, if you look carefully, these new keyboards still retain the relatively useless top row of function keys. Since the Touch Bar replaces and duplicates the function keys, nobody seems to have noticed the missing Touch Bar on these new keyboards.

Implementing the Touch Bar on a wireless keyboard should be technically simple to do. The hard part is that the Touch Bar is used for fingerprint recognition. On a laptop, the Touch Bar is integrated as part of the computer itself so the fingerprint recognition sensor cannot be spoofed. On a wireless keyboard, a Touch Bar is not physically connected to the computer, which means that a Touch Bar on a wireless keyboard must send finger print recognition data wirelessly to the computer.

That means a hacker could spoof a fingerprint by sending a bogus wireless signal to the computer.

There’s the dilemma facing the Touch Bar. When placed close to the screen like a laptop, the Touch Bar is easily visible and convenient to use. When placed far away from the display on a wireless keyboard, the Touch Bar will not be as easily seen and used. Then there’s the security element of keeping the wireless connection secure between the Touch Bar fingerprint sensor and the iMac nearby.

Can these problems be overcome? Maybe, but it highlights the limitations of the Touch Bar for desktop computers. The Touch bar is essentially a separate computer so it adds to the cost of the keyboard.

For now, it looks like the Touch Bar is limited to laptops. Time will tell whether the Touch Bar eventually migrates to the desktop as costs drop and security increases. Until then, the Touch Bar may be an alternative user interface that might never catch on. That means we’ll all be stuck with relatively useless rows of function keys forever. Let’s hope the Touch Bar migrates to the desktop soon.

New Products Coming at WWDC?

Posted on May 31, 2017 by admin Posted in Hardware Leave a comment

What it is: As part of their regulatory filings, Apple listed several new products in Russia.

Before Apple releases new products, they often release official information about new products overseas with various regulatory agencies. The latest news points to Apple releasing several new products soon, most likely at their June 5th Worldwide Developer’s Conference (WWDC). Besides new Macintosh models, Apple may also be releasing new iPad models. Buried in these Russian regulatory filings is also information about a wireless keyboard.

A new wireless keyboard would be necessary for Apple to spread the Touch Bar to desktop Macintosh models. That would mean new iMac models and possibly new Mac mini models as well. The Touch Bar is currently only available on a few MacBook Pro models so if Apple is serious about making the Touch Bar a common feature of the Macintosh, they absolutely must find a way to bring the Touch Bar to wireless keyboards for desktop models.

When the Touch Bar comes to desktop models, then the Touch Bar will become a normal part of Macintosh computers much like the mouse did back in 1984. Then the PC world will likely adopt the Touch Bar interface as well. The Touch Bar essentially replaces the top row of useless function keys with virtual keys. Given a choice between function keys or a Touch Bar, the Touch Bar completely replaces the function keys while also duplicating them if necessary. Therefore the Touch Bar has a future and function keys do not.

The big question surrounding new Macintosh models is how much will they cost and how expandable will they be? In the past, a Mac mini could easily be expanded by adding new memory chips. The latest Mac mini models soldered the memory chips in so you couldn’t upgrade the RAM yourself, which proved a huge disappointment to many people. This lack of expandability hurts the Macintosh because something as simple as adding more RAM becomes difficult or impossible.

June 5th will let us know exactly what Apple plans to release soon. Until then, we can all hope that Apple actually meets the demands of its customers with these new products. Perhaps Apple may pleasantly surprise us all this year.