If you walked into an Apple Store in mid-2017, you were looking at the future. Or at least, that’s what the marketing told us. The 2017 MacBook Pro Touch Bar was sleek, impossibly thin, and swapped out those reliable function keys for a glowing, interactive strip of glass. It felt like something out of a sci-fi movie. But honestly? Seven years later, that same machine is remembered as much for its failures as its innovations.
It was a weird time for the Mac.
Apple was deep in its "thinness at all costs" era under Jony Ive. The 2017 model was a refinement of the massive redesign from the year prior, meant to fix the "ghosting" and speed issues of the 2016 version. It featured the Kaby Lake Intel processors, a brighter screen, and that infamous butterfly keyboard. For many pro users, it was a beautiful nightmare. You had more power than ever before, but you couldn't trust the "A" key to work if a single speck of dust landed on it.
What Really Happened With the Butterfly Keyboard
We have to talk about the keyboard because it defines the legacy of the 2017 MacBook Pro Touch Bar more than the actual Touch Bar does. This was the second generation of the butterfly mechanism. Apple claimed it was more responsive and stable. Technically, it felt clickier than the 2016 version, but the fundamental flaw remained: the travel was almost non-existent. Typing on it felt like tapping your fingers on a mahogany desk. Hard. Unforgiving.
And then there were the failures.
Thousands of users reported double-letters or keys that simply refused to register. It got so bad that Apple eventually launched a worldwide Keyboard Service Program. If you own one of these today, you likely know the drill. You'd take it to the Genius Bar, they’d replace the entire top case (including the battery and trackpad, because it was all one glued-together unit), and a few months later, the problem might just come back. It was a cycle of frustration that sparked multiple class-action lawsuits.
The Touch Bar Experiment: Genius or Gimmick?
The 2017 MacBook Pro Touch Bar was supposed to revolutionize how we interact with macOS. Instead of static keys for brightness and volume, we got a Retina-quality OLED strip that changed based on the app you were using. In Safari, it showed your tabs. In Photos, it was a scrub bar for your library. In Final Cut Pro, it let you navigate your timeline with a swipe.
Some people loved it. I know editors who found the color picker in Photoshop actually useful. But for the average person? It was a solution looking for a problem.
Losing the physical Escape key was the biggest sin. For programmers and power users, the Escape key isn't a suggestion—it’s a vital tool. Having it relegated to a software-based button that occasionally disappeared or froze was a massive workflow killer. Apple eventually realized this mistake, but not until 2019 when they finally brought back a physical Escape key. On the 2017 model, you were stuck with the glass.
Performance Reality vs. Thermal Throttling
Under the hood, the 2017 MacBook Pro Touch Bar moved to 7th-generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processors. On paper, it was a beast. It could handle 4K video editing and heavy coding sessions. But physics is a stubborn thing.
Because the chassis was so thin, the fans had to work overtime. It got hot. Like, "uncomfortable to keep on your lap" hot. When the heat built up, the system would throttle the CPU speed to keep things from melting. So, while you paid for a high-end i7, you didn't always get i7 performance during sustained workloads.
Graphics and Display
The screen, however, was—and is—gorgeous. It was one of the first MacBooks to support the P2 wide color gamut. 500 nits of brightness. If you were a photographer in 2017, looking at your work on this panel was a revelation. The 13-inch model used Intel Iris Plus Graphics 650, while the 15-inch model packed discrete AMD Radeon Pro 555 or 560 GPUs. For its time, it was a visual powerhouse.
The Port Situation (The Dongle Life)
This was the peak of "DongleGate." By 2017, Apple had stripped away everything. No MagSafe. No SD card slot. No USB-A. No HDMI. Just four Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports.
In 2026, we’ve mostly moved to USB-C, so this doesn't feel as painful now. But back then? It was a mess. You needed an adapter for your mouse, an adapter for your monitor, and an adapter for your camera’s memory card. It felt like the laptop was designed for a future that hadn't quite arrived yet. The loss of MagSafe was particularly stinging. That magnetic charging cable had saved countless MacBooks from being yanked off tables by tripping toddlers or stray dogs. With the 2017 model, if someone tripped on your cord, the whole $2,000 machine went flying.
Flexgate and Other Long-Term Issues
Beyond the keyboard, the 2017 MacBook Pro Touch Bar suffered from a hardware flaw colloquially known as "Flexgate." The ribbon cables connecting the logic board to the display were just a bit too short. Over time, the repeated opening and closing of the lid would wear these cables down.
The result? A "stage light" effect at the bottom of the screen or, eventually, a completely black display. While Apple acknowledged this for the 2016 13-inch models, they were much quieter about the 2017 versions, leaving many users out in the cold with massive repair bills.
Is it Still Useable Today?
Honestly, it depends on what you're doing.
If you find a 2017 MacBook Pro Touch Bar for a few hundred dollars on the used market, it’s a tempting piece of hardware. It still looks modern. The speakers are surprisingly loud and crisp, even by today's standards. The trackpad is huge and uses Force Touch, which still feels better than almost any Windows laptop trackpad.
But there’s a catch.
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Apple has officially moved on. This model is now on the "vintage" list. It no longer receives the latest macOS updates. While you can still run most software, you're missing out on the massive efficiency gains of Apple Silicon (the M1, M2, and M3 chips). If you compare a 2017 Pro to a base model M1 MacBook Air, the Air wins in almost every category—battery life, heat management, and raw speed.
Real-World Battery Life
Don't expect the "10 hours" Apple promised. In a real-world setting, especially with a battery that’s now several years old, you're lucky to get 4 or 5 hours of browsing. The Touch Bar itself consumes a small amount of power, and those Intel chips are power-hungry compared to modern ARM-based processors.
Actionable Insights for Owners and Buyers
If you are currently using a 2017 MacBook Pro Touch Bar, or you're considering buying one, here is the reality check you need:
- Keyboard Maintenance: Keep a pressurized air can nearby. If a key feels "sticky," don't mash it. Use the air to blow out any debris from the side. Once the butterfly mechanism breaks, it's a very expensive fix.
- Thermal Management: Use an app like Macs Fan Control. You can manually ramp up the fans before you start a heavy task (like rendering video) to prevent the CPU from throttling too early.
- The Battery Issue: Check your cycle count (About This Mac > System Report > Power). If it's over 1,000 or says "Service Recommended," your performance will actually drop because the OS slows down the CPU to prevent unexpected shutdowns.
- External Displays: This model is great for a desk setup. Since it has four Thunderbolt 3 ports, you can run two 4K displays at 60Hz without breaking a sweat, provided you have the right cables.
- Software Limits: Since it's no longer getting the latest macOS, stick to Chrome or Firefox for browsing to ensure you keep getting security patches even after the OS itself is "frozen" in time.
The 2017 MacBook Pro was a transition. It was Apple trying to be "courageous" by removing ports and changing the way we type. While some of those bets failed, it paved the way for the much more refined machines we have today. It’s a piece of tech history—just make sure you know what you’re getting into before you rely on it for your daily bread.