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Comment by Zigurd | Hacker News Reader

Apple sometimes manages to wait out bad ideas: they never gave into the bad idea of touchscreen "convertible" laptops, just conceding the touch bar which is now extinct.

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That's a most generous reading of the touchbar fiasco I've ever seen (and I've heard a lot of Apple fans speak).

Wait until Apple comes out with a folding phone, they'll say it was the plan all along lol

I wasn't trying to be generous. I was making a nod toward something like malicious compliance. I used to have a big old Mercedes sedan that had the worst cupholder in automotive history that would break as soon as possible. It was designed to pop out of a slot in the center console. But real German car drivers finish their coffee before stepping into the car. That's how I see the touch bar. It was meant to be awful.

IMO the touchbar was the least-bad thing about my touchbar 2017 MBP. The butterfly keyboard, flexgate, the USB-C ports that lost their ability to retain cables after like 20 insertions, and the overheating and quickly-degrading battery were much bigger issues.

I didn't really get much value out of the touchbar (never really used any per-app touchbar functionality), but it was mostly fine -- I adjusted to the touchbar escape key pretty quickly.

The touchbar would've ben great if they also didn't remove the function rows & escape key.

> the bad idea of touchscreen "convertible" laptops

Is it such a bad idea? I use a convertible Thinkpad to take handwritten notes as well as usual laptop duties. Perhaps it just doesn't fit your usecase, it seems that plenty of these laptops are still being made today.

Granted, my previous Gen 1 Thinkpad had constant motherboard and memory issues - not sure if design flaw, lemon, or otherwise. To their credit, Lenovo warranty repaired it and eventually gave an upgrade (my current device) for no charge.

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