How to identify actual touchBar hardware is available in an Mac book using obj c?

Question

How to identify actual touchBar hardware is available in an Mac book using obj c code so that i can provide touchbar menu options.

Answer 1

From the Apple documentation :

There is no need, and no API, for your app to know whether or not there is a Touch Bar available. Whether your app is running on a machine that supports the Touch Bar or not, your app’s onscreen user interface (UI) appears and behaves the same way.

To check if touch bar is available (to improve UI/UX for example) you should implement the delegate and set a Bool like :

// Declare a class variable
@property (nonatomic, assign) BOOL isTouchBarAvailable;

@available(OSX 10.12.1, *)
// A bellow version can not be installed on a new MacBook. 
// Like an iPhone 7 can't have iOS9 installed.
- (NSTouchBar *)makeTouchBar
{
    // ... here the code to make the bar
    self.isTouchBarAvailable = YES
    return touchBar
}

Source : https://developer.apple.com/reference/appkit/nstouchbar?language=objc

Answer 2

NSTouchBar can work in software as well as hardware, as show by the simulator in Xcode. It doesn't require the hardware to work. However, the Xcode 8 release notes tells you how to test if the OS can support any kind of Touch Bar functions.

https://developer.apple.com/library/content/releasenotes/DeveloperTools/RN-Xcode/Introduction.html

Xcode 8.1 supports Touch Bar for Macs that include it, and supports adding Touch Bar functionality to your app. (28859277) Before using Touch Bar functionality in your app, confirm that the app is running on a macOS version that includes support for Touch Bar using a runtime check.

For example, the following Objective-C code performs a runtime check to make sure NSTouchBar is available:

NSClassFromString(@"NSTouchBar") != nil

In Swift code, do an availability check for macOS 10.12.1, and a runtime check for Touch Bar class availability. For example:

NSClassFromString("NSTouchBar") != nil

Answer 3

If you want some control you can use isAutomaticCustomizeTouchBarMenuItemEnabled:

import Cocoa

@NSApplicationMain
class AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate {

    func applicationDidFinishLaunching(_ aNotification: Notification) {

         // Here we just opt-in for allowing our instance of the
         // NSTouchBar class to be customized throughout the app.
        if #available(OSX 10.12.2, *) {
            NSApplication.shared().isAutomaticCustomizeTouchBarMenuItemEnabled = true
        }
    }
    /*
    Whether or not a menu item to customize the touch bar can be automatically 
    added to the main menu. It will only actually be added when hardware 
    or simulator is present. Defaults to NO. Setting this property to YES 
    is the recommended way to add the customization menu item.
    */