I tried a 2017 model and could only adapt with the daggy workaround of remapping Caps Lock to Escape. Unfortunately that is therefore in the "wrong" location for muscle memory for every other keyboard I use.
Sadly I have such a strong preference for OSX that it seems I'll be using the limping 2012 Retina MBP on which I'm typing until it dies completely, and then probably switch to a (nonpro) MacBook.
I don't have a good use for the old control key. Maybe another fn? Maybe a super (or hyper) key?
Video proof: https://streamable.com/ao18b
Here's[0] is my previous MBP. Pressing anywhere on the escape key will trigger a keypress. You don't have to be perfectly centred on it, and even having a finger half-off the left side will work.
Does that work for the non-visible bit of the touchbar?
And how do you know when you've actually pressed it, if the app doesn't immediately indicate it, and you're not looking down at the "button"?
[0] https://cnet4.cbsistatic.com/img/27By8ZzhyWJoIxipAsZsz3W0bj8...
Usually when I press a key I expect the application behavior to noticeably indicate that I've pressed something, regardless of what key I'm pressing. When do you press escape and not get actual behavior change, whether that change is to back out of a vim mode or to dismiss a dialog box?
In emacs esc-esc-esc is something I use relatively often.
It gets even worse over slow ssh to somewhere remote, when visual state updates could take up to several seconds.
On other keyboards I'd assume the tactile click of the key was a press, and could chain up extra inputs. Now I much more often have to pause to check I did in fact trigger the esc at the right point.
The other annoyance is the lack of touch force means even a slight overshoot on the number keys or ¬ will probably also trigger an escape, so I have to keep that it mind. It's much harder to do with a physical key because it takes more than brushing it with a fingertip when using the finger pad to press the targeted key.
Better haptics might make the touchbar a bit less obnoxious (and Better-Touch-Tool can already trigger the trackpad 'click' when a button is touched, but isn't ideal)
If Apple can implement 'force touch' on the trackpad, I suspect it could be possible on the bar as well, so it needs to be "pressed" rather than just "touched".
Personally, I'm waiting for the next generation of Surface devices to come out, and I'm going to see if I can make WSL work for me.