

You can choose which four buttons you want in System Preferences > Keyboard by clicking Control Strip. The Control Strip is a set of four of your favorite keys, and it stays on the right side of the Touch Bar all the time. But if you never use those keys, you could also have the Fn key expand the Control Strip to full size. The default shows the function keys: F1, F2, and so on. Visit System Preferences > Keyboard, and you can choose what happens when you press the Fn key. The Touch Bar is incredibly handy not only because its controls change to match the app you’re using, but also because it’s so customizable. The Touch Bar is designed to blend in and look like keys, not a bright, glowing display. Nonetheless, the Touch Bar stays visible and legible even if you are sitting at an off-angle to your Mac. It’s also optimized for viewing at a 45-degree angle, looking down from above, which is odd for any screen. You can’t adjust its brightness yourself, for example, because if it was too bright it would start looking more like a display than a set of keys. The Touch Bar is an OLED strip that’s tempting to call a display, but Apple wants developers and users to think of it as an input device, not a display.
