On: My Next Mac Mini

[OverThere]

I'm still disappointed by no Cinema Display and Apple leaving the display business.

I'm baffled by this. Touchbar is innovative to some degree, but I usually connect my Macbook Pro to a bigger display and close it—making touchbar useless. So disappointed by Apple lately...

[verisimilidude → OverThere]

I hear you, but it's been so long since Apple made a decent Cinema Display, and we're so rich with better alternatives, that I don't really miss it. On the cheaper end, the Dell Ultrasharp is a fine replacement at a great price. For more premium needs, you can get something like an Eizo ColorEdge, which leaves the Cinema Display in the dust. And there are all sorts of other options in between.

The Cinema Display is not so much different from the Mac Mini in that sense. You feel bad that you don't have a new one, until you realize just how much better the alternatives have become.

[nicc → OverThere]

It's useless even with the display open.

I bet most people don't ever use it after the first week.

[OverThere → nicc]

hahah this might be true.

For me, constantly looking down at the keyboard somehow doesn't feel natural. I prefer to keep my eyes on the screen.

[tinus_hn → OverThere]

The touchbar also increases security so it's not useless even if you close the laptop.

[cbsmith → tinus_hn]

You mean the way my VPN software needs to have a backdoor in it just so that the touchbar keeps working while I'm connected? ;-)

[slrz → cbsmith]

Can you explain?

[cbsmith → slrz]

The tool bar is modeled as a separate computer, that talks to the laptop not over USB, but a network interface.

That actually opens up a huge can of worms, as networking as a host of security issues. One example is with a VPN connection. For obvious security reasons, when a lot of VPNs are active, they force all networking to flow through them. That is problematic, because the remote side has no way to route the toolbar traffic back to it.

So, VPN software is now busily building out exceptions to their routing rules. Don't worry, I'm sure this won't lead to bugs or future security holes...

[donatj → tinus_hn]

How's that?

[tinus_hn → donatj]

The touchbar is similar to an iOS device so it is a separate computing device that has a small attack surface so it is difficult to hack.

It for instance controls the camera, so without hacking the touchbar it is impossible to use the camera without the light turning on.

It also controls the fingerprint reader in a way that makes it hard to get the secrets that are protected by the fingerprint without actually providing the fingerprint.

[yjftsjthsd-h → donatj]

I assume the fingerprint reader?