Macworld - USA (2022-01)

JANUARY 2022 MACWORLD 15

for it, and Apple’s flagship laptop is better
without it.
The most disappointing part of the
Touch Bar was that Apple never really
improved it. We got the Escape key back
and developers worked it into their
interfaces, but otherwise Apple’s Touch
Bar never evolved past what Apple
introduced in 2017. But the Touch Bar isn’t
without its merits, and we’re hoping Apple
still has plans for it. Here are three ways
Apple could keep it alive.

MACBOOK AIR
The most obvious way for Apple to keep
the Touch Bar in its repertoire is by moving
it over to the MacBook Air. We assume
that the 13-inch
MacBook
Pro (fave.co/
2PXzhbw), the
only remaining
laptop with a
Touch Bar, will be
unceremoniously
retired at some
point in 2022. So
if Apple has any
plans to keep the
Touch Bar
around, it’s going
to have to end
up in the
MacBook Air.

The good news is the MacBook Air is

already in store for a redesign. We’ve

heard that the three-year-old MacBook Air

will get a dramatic overhaul with new

colors, a notched display, and an M

processor. And a Touch Bar would be a

perfect addition to an entirely new

MacBook Air. I’ve long asserted that the

Touch Bar is a consumer feature

masquerading as a professional one, and

it would be right at home on the MacBook

Air. Here’s how Apple initially described

the Touch Bar in the 2016 MacBook Pro

press release:

“The Touch Bar places controls right at

the user’s fingertips and adapts when

using the system or apps like Mail, Finder,

The Touch Bar would look good on the MacBook Air.