Audiobus: Use your music apps together.
What is Audiobus? — Audiobus is an award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you use your other music apps together. Chain effects on your favourite synth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app like GarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface output for each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive a synth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDI keyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear. And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.
Download on the App StoreAudiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.
TouchBar?
What do you guys think about the new touch bar in the new MacBooks? I think it's quite nice but maybe a little too narrow and maybe less useful than an actual touch screen. I wonder if this is the transition to touchscreen macs.
Comments
I also wonder if there will be any 3rd party apps offering the functionality of the touch bar on iOS devices. Would be useful.
Yawn, we've been doing touch-based live music here since 2011.
I haven't had to look at my keyboard when I type for nearly 25 years.
This is a gimmick and a step backwards in my eyes.
Although next time I'm organising a slumber party this will be super handy for adding emoji and Bieber gifs.
Also it'll probably be able to control the volume on my pink Beats headphones...
I was prepared to be tempted back to the Mac today. I cringed when one of the first things they showed on the touchbar was emojis. But, honestly, I can see it being used for some cool stuff. The insurmountable barrier for me is software. I have so much great music software on my iPad that either doesn't exist on the desktop or costs 10x more.
Yep.
Now, an iPad app that is like Logic Remote, but works with all the TouchBar apps ... that could be something useful
It's probably good news for iOS musicians however.
They've clearly let the work experience kid handle the Macbook update while everybody else is busy working on the iPad Pro....
They were out of ideas for this generation. This ranks in the same gimmick category as "3D touch" in my opinion.
Time to buy a last-gen MacBook Pro with decent USB ports and a proper keyboard before they're all gone.
Peter Kirn of CDM sums it up nicely
The starting prices for Apple products are creeping up too much now.
Jajaja. You mean multitouch?.
Seriously, on an iPad the whole screen is a touchbar. There's no need for one. Or at least I can't see it. Why would an iOS device need a touchbar?. Even in software an app developer could make a whole new interface way better than a strip of commands at the bottom of their apps.
At least the 3.5mm headphone jack is present on all new MacBook Pro models...
I'm still happy with my 13" Mid 2013 MacBook Air
Been thinking about this. Rationalize it by thinking on a Mac I would get Logic (or whatever) and nothing much else. The focused machine. But expensive for that maybe.
Dare I say, I'm beginning to like what Microsoft is doing more
Me too.
@Fruitbat1919 @Matthew yep. I am happy with my Mid 2014 Macbok Pro but that touch bar does look gimmicky. Seems like they are trying to appeal to a certain audience with that. I didn't watch but a few minutes of tthe keynote so not sure. Not sure if I was in the market to upgrade that I would be going with another Mac.
Do they show it controlling Logic at all? Could be cool if you could use it to control some MIDI stuff if you are on the go and all have is your laptop.
If I did any major Photoshop work, seems like it might go well with it.
Yeah, the surface studio looks very good except that it runs windows...
Hmmm... I was looking forward to the new MBP to upgrade from my old MBP mid-2012 13in. Not enticed. Too pricey, and less connectivity.
No new iPad Pros announced either. Guess they're saving them for after first of the year? Not even a new iMac or new thunderbolt display?
Weird... good thing everything kinda still works the way it > @brambos said:
That's basically what I did before they dumped the CD/DVD drive, etc. Still rockin' a mid-2012 maxed to 16GB RAM and big solid state, and running Sierra no problem... but I'll have to upgrade eventually. Not really liking the direction they seem to be going. Might have to just buy legacy refurb machines to hold off the inevitable as long as possible.
I was thinking an iPhone app that would show all the things on the touch bar for people that don't have these new fancy MacBooks might be popular. Not sure if I would use it myself.
Runs great on my mid-2012 MacBook Pro (non retina) with loads of USB ports and separate mic and headphone ports. Plus I have a relatively cheap upgrade path option (replacing standard HD with SSD) if things get too sluggish. You should be able to pick one up for a reasonable price.
Ohhhh!. I get you now. I think only apple could make a "touchbar" app that works with everything OS and third party apps. Developers might be able to create specific apps for their own desktop apps but they theoretically have been able to do this for years, and some have done it, like controllers for PC daws, I use a third party app to control Sibelius keypad features from my iPad, works like the touchbar would.
They kind of did announce a new display. It's LG branded, but they collaborated on it.
Seeing this DJ at the event with the touchbar looks pathetic. Much easier with iPad
I actually like the idea of the touch bar. Thinking from a laptop perspective and not comparing it to an ipad, it enables apps to give a tactile and adaptable toolbar, what goes in that toolbar is down to the apps, and it is this that will change all of your minds
A future iteration of this may even be an adaptable keyboard or twin display on the laptop itself, with the lower one being the control surface, instead of apps having to map controls to keys, and users having to learn and remember those mappings, the control surface can adapt to the task at hand.
An example of this would be a song view on the screen and a mixer on the control surface. Select a midi part and the control surface becomes the piano roll.
It gives back the real estate which is currently largely redundant in a keyboard, you only really use it in anger when typing, most other operations are performed with a mouse.
It's interesting to see all this hate being heaped on what I think is an awesome update. I suppose that has to do with the fact that most people on this forum perhaps more committed to the touch screen as their only option than I am.
I think touch screen and desktop each have their strengths. I like the touch screen because it offers an alternative way to input and control musical events, it can provide a more free or playful environment for sparking creativity, and apps are dirt cheap. But once I get past the initial spark point, I soon get a vision of where I want to end up, and this is where iOS can feel frustrating and limited compared to desktop. I like iOS for sparking ideas and desktop for finishing them. I wouldn't want to work without both.
The Touch Bar seems like a yet another way to expand the desktop interface. It's not going to be a substitute for a full tablet experience, but it does expand the desktop environment in new ways. It lets you use both hands at once and FULL SCREEN when working in Photoshop and FCP -- which is HUGE, and the DJ demonstration (which I thought was totally rad) is just the first glimpse of what might be possible once audio apps start to support it.
If I'm looking for negatives ... Yes, I did immediately find myself wishing it were bigger. It could also create problems for cross platform software developers, since their PC version won't have any of the Touch Bar features. And this first generation implementation does bump up the price, but I assume that will come back down in future versions.
This pretty much makes the Macbook Air history. The way I see it, you get something more compact than the Macbook Air, with the power of the Macbook Pro, integrated with a taste of an iOS-ish touch experience. I can't wait to see more!
I'm just happy about the Final Cut Pro X update that also came out today
To get a 13in with touchbar and the max speed i7 3.3Ghz processor w/turbo boost, maxed to 16GB ram, and a 512 solid state.. It's gonna set me back $2500!
How much PC can you get for that?
Or how many great apps plus a maxed out iPad Pro...
I fact the most negative thing I read all over is it's pricetag especially in non US countries the whole new taskbar Macbook Pro line became out of reach for a lot of people. Cheapest Mac Pro is now 250 more expensive. And than we are not even talking about the taskbar version the cehapest 13 version is 550 euro's more expensive than the cheapest version was.
In the U.K. With the starting touchbar spec, it's £1750. It seems really limiting to certain markets at that price. I would suggest they may be missing some of the markets that would embrace this feature at that starting price level.
Personally a smaller version of the Microsoft Studio would excite me more. Yes they are different products, I just don't see where Apple is going with shrinking all the laptops. I would have thought more power, more battery and shrink the bezel of the screen. All this making every laptop smaller just confuses the ranges
I agree the price is prohibitive, at least for my current budget. I think they need to recoup some R&D when they first roll out a new hardware feature like this. These will sell like mad, and prices will come down in future generations. For now, my 2012 Mac Mini (which is also a quad i7) serves my needs -- and the Mini still remains the best bargain in the Apple line. I only wish I could go beyond 16GB memory, and I guess the new MBPs have this same limitation. It has to do with having only 2 DIMM slots.