Overall, I was thrilled with the announcements at yesterday’s keynote that kicked off the 2017 Worldwide Developer Conference. New iMacs? Yay. (And did you notice how CEO Tim Cook said that the Mac was “in many ways the heart and soul of Apple.”
However, I was surprised that there wasn’t a standalone Magic Keyboard with Touch Bar announced for the Mac. Apple touted the feature so much when the Touch Bar debuted with the 2016 MacBook Pros that I was certain the tech would quickly move to Mac desktops.
Some folks may see this as a sign that some backlash convinced Apple the Touch Bar was a bad move. I don’t think that’s the case; I think we’ll see a Magic Keyboard with Touch Bar by this fall, perhaps sooner.
Speaking of keyboards, yesterday Apple did quietly release a new wireless Magic Keyboard with numeric keypad for $129. It will probably make lots of users (particularly pro users) happy. The new keyboard features a built-in rechargeable battery via Lightning port and the same styling and low travel key feel as the Magic Keyboard without numeric keypad.
