In a bid to revive its slowing sales, Apple Inc. is rolling out a new line of Mac notebook computers that replaces the venerable top row of function keys with a colorful touchscreen strip.
At an event in San Francisco Thursday, Apple showed off three new MacBook Pro notebooks. Two of them will include the new feature, called Touch Bar.
It’s essentially a thin video screen instead of physical keys, so Touch Bar can be customized for whatever program the user is running. For example, if the user is typing a text document, Touch Bar can display suggestions for the next word to type, but if he is editing video, it can display controls for cutting and pasting images or audio.
The Touch Bar will available in the 13-inch MacBook Pro priced at $1,799, and in a 15-inch version at $2,399. Those models are scheduled to go on sale in two or three weeks. The least expensive Pro, a 13-inch model priced at $1,499,will not include Touch Bar.
Many of Apple’s own programs for the Mac, like the movie editing program Final Cut Pro, have been customized to work with Touch Bar. Other makers of Apple software will also support the new feature. For example, Adobe Systems Inc. will use Touch Bar in its Mac version of this popular image editing program Photoshop.
The new MacBook Pro machines will also feature Touch ID, the fingerprint reader used on Apple’s iPhones. Users will be able to log into their computers by touching the power button, and they’ll also be able to use Touch ID to make secure online purchases with the Apple Pay payment system.
The Mac computer is the product that earned Apple a global reputation as a technology innovator, but it since become a minor player in the company’s roster of products, responsible for just 12 percent of Apple’s total sales in the quarter that ended Sept. 30.
On Tuesday, Apple announced its overall revenues had declined 9 percent compared to the same quarter last year, while net income was down 15 percent.
Also on Thursday, Apple unveiled improvements to its television set-top box, Apple TV. A free software upgrade available in December will let users view video content from their favorite streaming services inside a single app called TV. The app will also sync with a user’s Mac, iPhone or iPad so he or she can watch favorite programs on any device.
Hiawatha Bray can be reached at hiawatha.bray@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeTechLab.
