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Re:Apple unveils M1, its first system-on-a-chip for portable... by Groxx on Tuesday November 10, 2020 @03:17PM (#25051280)
There are loads of rants out there that are easy to find, but personally it's mostly: you can't use it without looking at it to make sure the buttons are what you think they are (nearly always context-sensitive, often surprising when it decides it's a new context), and where you think they are (can't go by feel, so you need to visually re-calibrate constantly). Button size and positioning varies widely, and nearly all of them have a keyboard shortcut already that doesn't require hand movement or eyes (or at worst previously had an F-key that never moved).

The main exception being things like controlling a progress bar (mouse works fine for me, though it's a neat demo), or changing system brightness/volume with a flick or drag (which is the one thing I find truly better... but I'd happily trade it back for a fn toggle and F keys). But that's so rarely useful.

Re:Apple unveils M1, its first system-on-a-chip for portable... by sroussey on Tuesday November 10, 2020 @03:27PM (#25051441)
When I watch non-HN type people use it, they like it. They never used Fn keys in the first place.

I just hated the lack of ESC key (which they brought back, though my Mac is older). I have no muscle memory for any other key in that row.

Re:Apple unveils M1, its first system-on-a-chip for portable... by drusepth on Tuesday November 10, 2020 @05:34PM (#25052983)
I think the touchbar was my favorite part of my old MBP, specifically because of the contextual buttons that are always changing.

I'd probably pay a little extra to get one on future non-Mac laptops, but not too much extra.

Re:Apple unveils M1, its first system-on-a-chip for portable... by Groxx on Tuesday November 10, 2020 @05:18PM (#25052812)
Yeah, most people I know almost never use F keys (except perhaps F1 for help). They leave it on the media-keys mode... which is the same as the touchbar's default values, but without needing to know what mode it's in.

With the physical media keys, if they want to mute, it's always the same button. Pause music, always the same button. They're great in a way that the touchbar completely destroys.

(and yes, I know you can change this setting, but if we're assuming non-techy-users we also generally have to assume default settings.)

Re:Apple unveils M1, its first system-on-a-chip for portable... by mrtranscendence on Tuesday November 10, 2020 @04:17PM (#25052047)
Honestly, I hardly ever used the function keys either. As a result the Touch Bar doesn't really bother me -- but neither does it seem the slightest bit useful for the most part.
Re:Apple unveils M1, its first system-on-a-chip for portable... by damnencryption on Wednesday November 11, 2020 @06:06AM (#25057370)
Lot of non-hn people also type while looking at the keyboard and some with single finger from both hands.