For more than four years, Apple’s MacBook Pro has displayed the Touch Bar as a display / control bar input device above the keyboard on these laptops. Although there are reports that Apple may have phased out the Touch Bar in future models, an open-source Linux driver for the component is still working up to the mainline core.
Independent developer Ronald Tschalär, sent out on Saturday, was the latest, reverse, open source driver code that makes the Touch Bar and ALS support work for MacBook Pro 13, * / 14, * / 15, * models. The Apple Touch Bar driver code was previously sent to the core list, while the Apple MBP 15, * models are now supported and various code improvements have been made due to previous comments.
The Apple iBridge (T1 security chip) driver is also required for pairing with the iSight webcam, light sensor, and fingerprint sensor. Currently, the Linux driver’s coverage is focused on the Touch Bar and Light Sensor / ALS support.
This attempt to support the Apple Touch Bar on Linux goes back years, albeit slowly, given the limited developers and without any support from Apple. Those interested in trying out this Apple Touch Bar + Light Sensor support for newer MacBook Pro hardware can find the new spots on the core mailing list.