The most prominent feature of the new MacBook Pro models Apple unveiled on Thursday might be the Touch Bar, a horizontal OLED panel nested atop the MacBook Pro's keyboard, changing faces depending on what app is currently open. However, there is one feature most are overlooking.
The Touch Bar has gotten its due share of outspoken praise or disappointment alike, but little has been said about the Touch ID, which is actually the first time a fingerprint scanner has landed on Apple's MacBook line.
The tiny module also acts as a power button for the MacBook and is placed on the far right of the Touch Bar. It has nifty features such as accessing Apple's voice-enabled virtual assistant Siri and, more importantly, unlocking the MacBook Pro, which spells an overall improved security ecosystem for the new MacBook Pro lineup.
There's ample reason to get excited about the MacBook Pro's Touch ID, and one of the first apps to demonstrate how it can be used is 1Password, a password managing software by AgileBits.
"Now that the new MacBook Pro's have Touch ID we can bring that same great feeling you are used to on iPhone to your Mac, and it looks pretty darn cool too," says Jeff Shiner, AgileBits' chief executive.
In the blog post, AgileBits posted a sneak peek video of its software running on one of the new MacBook Pro models with Touch ID. The 1Password app scans the fingerprint and opens up the software. It's a handy feature that adds bolstered security for Apple's new MacBook Pro line.
The developers behind AgileBits have started tinkering with the Touch Bar as well, and while its notions of what the OLED strip can do are a far cry from the slew of remarkable possibilities Apple boasted on-stage during its event, it's still packs enough reason to be excited.
In the blog, Shiner posted mock-ups of how 1Password could work with the new Touch Bar. It shows the software's key features, including the ability to create different types of entries, change a password's length and more, right on the Touch Bar. It's still relatively early, but it's good to know AgileBits is starting to experiment with what's possible on the new MacBook Pro.
No word yet from AgileBits as to the when will the new Touch ID feature will be released, but the new MacBook Pro models aren't even out yet, so we'll have to wait for now. Until then, it's inevitable that other developers would hop in on the bandwagon and create innovative, functional and probably absurd antics using the new Touch Bar.
