External Display Setup on MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

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Level 1

8 points

External Display Setup on MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Any ideas con how to configure an external display on a MacBook Pro with Touch Bar? On my old MacBook Pro I had an external display as my extended main one with an external keyboard and the computer to its side. The only way I can think of setting up an extended external display without sacrificing the Touch Bar would be in a "vertical" positioning using the computer's keyboard as a main one with the external display on top of it. This is not a setup allowed through System Preferences

MacBook Pro with Retina display, macOS Sierra (10.12.2), 2016 with Touch Bar

Posted on Dec 13, 2016 2:05 PM

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Answer 1

Jun 13, 2017 9:51 AM in response to Rudegar

Rudegar wrote:

I have an iMac 21" and an asus 27" to the right of it

just tested it in display->arrangement I can without problems make them act as they are top and bottom rather then left and right

I was surprised by the original poster's claim, as I've used this for many years. I can't imagine how this would be different on the touchbar macbook pro.

Of course, you can still set which is the "primary display" by dragging the little representation of the menu bar from one to the other:

Granted, it can look a little strange to have a menu bar in the middle of the virtual screen.

You could of course revert to the old way, with only one menu bar, by going to System Preferences->Mission Control, and unchecking "Displays have separate Spaces", logging out and back in.

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Answer 2

Ronniebel

Level 1

121 points

Jun 13, 2017 7:25 AM in response to skypecrash

I am wondering the same thing and it's making me think twice about buying the new MacBook Pro with the touch bar. At my office I connect my exiting MacBook Pro to a display and then set it off to the side with the lid closed. With the new MacBook Pro this would mean that I wouldn't be able to use the touch bar features. If I were to leave the MacBook Pro display open, then I would have to take my hands of the regular keyboard and reach over to the MacBook Pro keyboard for the touch bar. This seems very awkward. What are people doing in such a case? I'm sure there are many MacBook Pro users who have a similar situation.

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Answer 3

Kappy

Level 10

362,007 points

Dec 13, 2016 2:09 PM in response to skypecrash

The Touch Bar is hardware on the machine. It cannot be moved to the screen of another display because it does not appear on Mac's display. On your old Mac you were displaying the Dock, not a Touch Bar.

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Answer 4

skypecrash Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 14, 2016 3:26 AM in response to Kappy

Thanks for your reply Kappy. I think I was not clear enough with my question. I understand the Touch Bar is part of the MacBook Pro. Since I want to use it I'm willing to actually use the computer keyboard instead of an external one. For this configuration to actually work having the larger external display serve as a main the only one I can think of is an extended "vertical" (having the Macbook Pro in front and the external display behind and raised above the laptop) configuration. System Preferences will not allow this set up. Only extended side by side (or mirroring, etc) setups. These side by side setups would be awkward if trying to type on the laptop to the side of an extended larger display.

Now again, if Apple comes up with an external keyboard with Touch Bar (almost an extra computer), problem solved.

Any ideas?

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