Why new MacBook Pro took so long to make

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The new MacBook Pro has a bit of iOS inside.
The new MacBook Pro has a bit of iOS inside.
Photo: Apple

The technology behind the Touch Bar on the new MacBook Pro couldn’t have been possible if Apple didn’t already make iOS devices, according to Apple’s VP of Software engineering, Craig Federighi.

After helping reveal the new MacBook Pro during Apple’s “Hello Again” keynote, Federighi explained to YouTuber Marques Brownlee that even though Touch Bar seems like an obvious evolution, Apple didn’t want to just slap a touchscreen on the MacBook and call it good. So the company spent years making sure Touch Bar would be something you’ll want to use immediately.

The new MacBook Pro uses a T1 chip created by Apple to power the Touch Bar which runs independently of macOS Sierra. Developers will be able to create custom buttons for their apps using the Touch Bar that runs a custom variant of watchOS.

[contextly_auto_sidebar] Apple VP of Design, Jony Ive, also gave an exclusive interview echoing Federighi’s comments on how previous projects paved the way for the new MacBook Pro feature.

“You really benefit from all of the struggles, all of the challenges from one project, to help enable the next,” Ive told CNet. “There is just no way that you could bring the current MacBook Pro to market if you hadn’t gone through the prior products. Each one absolutely required the learning of the previous.”

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