[square_usual]

But there were old gen Intel 13" MBPs without the touch bar. They added those into the M1 macs that replaced those old models. Clearly, they could simply have... not, if they were indeed thinking of removing the touchbar entirely.

[zuhsetaqi]

Last Intel MacBook Pro generation before M1 had all TouchBar

[gurkendoktor]

But why didn't they revive the 2018 version of the Intel MBP that didn't have the TouchBar? It would have fit perfectly as it was also a two-port model. Maybe it has to do with the keyboard being broken in the 2018 model, but (to this layman) it sounds easier to fix that than to add support for the TouchBar on Apple Silicon for a single (!) temporary hardware model.

Now they have to keep that TouchBar code around in AppKit even after they inevitably drop Intel support. Extremely curious decision.

[luche]

i'd wager it's either a hardware requirement (reusing existing components) to not have to build a different design prior to a full refresh with the new arch, or kind of a trial run for Apple to see how many would prefer a slightly cheaper design without the touchbar. The differences of the Pro vs Air are quite minimal. Where I do like the fanless design, I was concerned of thermal concerns on the Air, but there was no way that I'll ever buy a touchbar product from Apple ever again, so I took a shot with the Air. Pleasantly surprised with heat/energy/battery, and couldn't be happier to have the physical F key row back. M1 Air is hands down the best MacBook I've used since the 2015 MacBook Pro.