It offers a lot to pro users who want to have more shortcuts than are practical to memorize.

I would rather have those shortcuts visible on the screen, where I am already looking, rather than having to peer down at the keyboard to find them. And I'd also rather use the methods I already have for issuing commands to my computer, the keyboard and pointing device, rather than using a third method for some random subset of commands.

than are practical to memorize? How many could you fit on the touchbar? 20?

Around 60 I think. About six that were perpetually visible, then a dozen that were revealed via a "folder" that appeared when one of those was tapped. The remainder swapped out per-app (like, one set for Safari, another for XCode, etc.).

So you never changed volume or luminosity ?

They could have easily changed volume on their display - I had the touchbar but never liked the fact that you had to look away from your screen just to change the volume.

Changing volume is definitely one of those use cases where the physical function keys were much better IMO - It's one physical button press rather than touch the button, look down at the slider, and try to drag it into the right position.

I also use my laptop in a dock about 50% of the time, so end up just using the on-screen volume adjustment and keyboard shortcuts anyway... If Apple really believed in the concept they would have put the touchbar into their keyboards too.

They definitely could’ve made this more discoverable, but you can touch and immediately drag to change any of the sliders. No need to lift your finger or have a 2 step process