I have my MBP (with real function keys) set up to not require than I press the Fn key to operate them. Pressing Fn to access the function key is an undesirable workaround.

Can you not do that with the new macbook? I figured you'd be able to do this context-dependent, so that they'd be function keys for relevant programs.

You definitely can, geophile is just being obtuse.

>For some apps, you can make the function keys display permanently in Touch Bar: In System Preferences, choose Keyboard. Click Shortcuts. From the left sidebar, select Function Keys. Click the “+” symbol, then navigate to the app and select it.

From: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207240

If you want always function keys, you can do that too:

>If you prefer the top row of keys to always behave as standard function keys without holding the Fn key: Choose System Preferences from the Apple menu. Click Keyboard. Click the Keyboard tab if it's not already highlighted. Select "Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys"

From: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204436

I actually looked through System Preferences. I did not see a new Touch Bar option, and it didn't occur to me that a non-keyboard device would be configured under Keyboard. My bad. While this does improve things, I would still rather have real keys. Tactile feedback is a thing.

Note: the second link only applies to non-Touch Bar devices.

Which is exactly how it works by default on old MacBook pros, since almost all the function keys were overwritten to control functions by default.

It appears you can't opt into it permanently? I'd be interested in finding out if you can just set it to always show function keys.

Even better: you can configure it per application in the foreground.

That's great.