The MacBook OLED touch bar rumor has been turned into a cool 3D concept

Martin Hajek makes a habit of creating super realistic 3D renders of rumored gadgets or cool concepts, and his latest is quite a beauty. Recreating the OLED touch bar that has been reported as part of an upcoming MacBook Pro overhaul, Hajek imagines a laptop that inches an extra bit closer to Apple's mobile iOS devices.

The touch bar in Hajek’s mockup can take over the computer's status bar duties, or serve as a download progress indicator, a media control, or even a cool Siri visualizer. And if the old top row of shortcuts and F keys is more to your liking, it can obviously still do that too. None of this is yet real, but looking at the versatility and simplicity of the idea, there’s little reason for why Apple (or any of its PC-making rivals) shouldn’t be doing it.

Modern laptop keyboards are already practically flat with negligible key travel. A touch bar that might have been awkward in the past would now sit pretty much in line with the regular keyboard’s keys. Since it would only handle ancillary duties, the OLED touch bar can probably be considered an unobtrusive (but very cool) extra.

• SourceMartin Hajek