[jbigelow76]

I've been concerned about buying into the Touch Bar hardware when it seems like it is not coming to any other Macs.

If Apple was going to try and open a new front on the "hearts and minds of Touch Bar skeptics" war then the Mac Pro reveal at WWDC a few weeks ago would have been the time to do it, that they didn't makes me think it's not long for this world. Not because the Mac Pro sales would have been hampered by it, if a workstation class modular PC running macOS was what you have been waiting for then wrapping the cost of a Touch Bar keyboard wouldn't be a make or break price modifier (and you could always swap out keyboards later if you hate it).

If the MBP is a quasi-halo product (expensive but incredibly ubiquitous) and the Touch bar isn't coming to the Mac Pro which is a true halo product I don't think you'll see it ever get pushed to any other product category either.

[eddieroger]

If memory serves, the logic to drive the Touch Bar is something that came from the Watch, which also included the Secure Enclave and other features that were more mobile than desktop. If that was true, then you can't trust the USB cable alone (or Bluetooth) to maintain the trust that circuit needs, and a keyboard with a Touch Bar would require a new circuit or at least design change to only do the display part, not the rest. It makes sense they won't put it in standalone keyboards just yet.

[nickflood]

I tended to agree with this, but really with the desktop setup you have to move your eyes and head much farther to see the keyboard because the monitor is not fixed to it. This may be why they don't produce keyboards with the touchbar - the experience would be even less appealing.

[bredren]

I had forgotten the Touchbar was possibly to get life on the magic keyboard. I agree if this was to happen, it should have been bundled with the Mac Pro.

I also think the Touchbar apps being migrated to Sidecar may be a clue that a deprecation path exists should the dedicated hardware go away. “They live in sidecar now.”