Phil Schiller, Apple's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, talked about the recent Apple event and the criticisms regarding the changes on the new MacBook Pro.
During an interview, Schiller acknowledged that there are a lot of "passionate dialogue and debate" about the new device. He admitted that the backlash caught him by surprise but he believes the negativity surrounding the changes is not shared by all.
Touch Bar
The new MacBook Pro laptops no longer have the traditional function keys. In its place is the Touch Bar, a strip of touch-sensitive screen.
When asked why a Touch Bar, Schiller explained that the company does not want veer from changing the look of the laptop.
"Others are trying to turn the notebook into the tablet," Schiller stressed. "The team came up with this idea that you can create a multi-touch surface that's coplanar with the keyboard and the trackpad."
3.5mm Headphone Jack
Schiller explained that retaining the 3.5mm headphone jack in the MacBook Pro is necessary even if it is no longer on the iPhone.
"Many users have setups with studio monitors, amps, and other pro audio gear that do not have wireless solutions."
SD Card Slot
Another change that had many up in arms is the disappearance of the SD card slot. Schiller insisted that "there are very fine and fast USB card readers, and then you can use CompactFlash as well as SD". He added that "it's a cumbersome slot".
The company is also anticipating the emergence of wireless transfer among cameras.
According to the company, its decision to do away with some features has not affected the demand for the new laptops.
"We are proud to tell you that so far our online store has had more orders for the new MacBook Pro than any other Pro notebook before," Schiller explained.
Tech Crunch also quoted Schiller saying that "there certainly are a lot of people as excited as we are about it."
