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Comment by ctab | Hacker News Reader

It's not the same. If you're used to typing without looking at your keyboard, a fake key on the touchbar does not compare to an actual key where you can feel without looking that your finger is in the right place, and can know by the key travel that you've actually pressed it.

It's pretty much the same as the difference between a car where the air conditioner and radio knobs are a touch screen vs. being real knobs that you can safely adjust while driving.

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I thought that too, then I got one of the new MacBooks and used it for about a week. I stopped noticing that the escape key wasn’t a key somewhere between day 5 and 7. It’s very easy to hit, as you can trigger it by tapping anywhere on the edge of the touchbar (not just the graphical button), and thus I think it becomes very easy for your muscle memory to adjust.

I would still prefer a physical function row, but it’s not that big of a deal. And actually some of the controls on the touchbar are really nice, for example the volume and brightness controls for changing all your connected displays at once.

Exactly. You can just swipe the corner of it like you're brushing off dust or something, and it will register as a click. It's probably less effort than having to mash down a button that far to the edge of the keyboard.

While I'd normally agree, in this case, I have to disagree. Because the position of the button (proximity to the edge of the case and top-left corner of the keyboard), I have no trouble hitting it accurately without looking.

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