The touch bar is the only thing preventing me from purchasing my next Macbook. The keyboard, with all its issues currently, makes it a tough buy as well.

It’s really not too bad (although kind of stupid expensive gimmicky waste if you ask me).

I too touch type, and simply remapped escape to caps lock, the same as the last 15 years, and moved on. I have had a touch bar since late 2016, and have not missed function keys a single time, while I have several uses for the touch bar.

I would be annoyed if the touch bar were removed, or the trackpad made smaller, or the keyboard made spongier, or any of the other things that people on here like to claim "professionals" want.

I've set the System Preferences so pressing the fn key causes the Touch Bar to show soft FN keys. I use the soft ESC key frequently and without problem; aiming for the left corner of the Touch Bar almost always works and very rarely transforms into something other than ESC (In fact, I can't remember under what conditions it turns into something other than ESC, though I'm sure it does.)

So, one would think that as a touch typist who uses hard FN keys to trigger operational macros, the Touch Bar would be somewhat of an annoyance but for me it's really not.

The Touch Bar changes and reveals and/or offers functionality that isn't offered by any other means.

For example, I frequently Screen Share (VNC) to my home machine that has multiple displays. When doing so, the Touch Bar has buttons to allow me switch between display 1, display 2, or both displays. I've tried and could not figure a reliable way to trigger this functionality with macros or the keyboard, despite having extensive AppleScript knowledge and being very familiar with Keyboard Maestro. The Touch Bar made Screen Sharing much easier to use in a remote context.

Another example, I use Apple's Mail app and for years have used Adam Tow's super useful MsgFiler. When Apple Mail is frontmost, the Touch Bar features a "Move to $Mailbox" button that seems to learn where I file similar messages, and in my observation it is almost always correct.

I also prefer the Touch Bar sliders that reveal when adjusting my screen brightness and the volume controls.

So the Touch Bar does offer a few features which I find useful despite my being a touch typist. I somewhat miss the hard FN keys, but for me losing them is not a deal breaker because I can coerce the Touch Bar to display function keys by pressing the fn key.

So, I'm pretty neutral with regard to the Touch Bar but the keyboard is a different story.

I LOVE the shallow-press keyboard. I generally type with the pads of my fingers rather than the tips, and the shallow key press feels more solid and graceful to me. I've not yet experienced the non-functioning key problem that many others have reported and am somewhat concerned about losing my laptop for a week due to keyboard failure.

EDIT: Fixed three minor grammar problems.

And you can really use them without looking at them?

Aside from dev work, as a scrubbing tool for video and audio, it is invaluable.

Anyway I am glad you personally don't mind changing long standardized keyboarding habits by using software modifications to make up for befuddling product decisions. I think that's wonderful, and I am thrilled that works for you and a handful of other people that have a background with ADM-3A terminals, though you should really remap the 'tab' key to 'escape' if you want to be truly proper.

If you can't adapt to a new keyboard in a couple of weeks, you have other problems.

So what about the function keys?