When HN users recommended it
1 HN user recommended this in 2016, in one comment.
20072026
Each tall tick is one HN user's first recommendation. A short tick is the same user again. Click a tick to jump to the comment.
Redmi 3S Snapdragon Smartphone Fingerprint
Amazon's catalog no longer lists this product (checked 2026-11-02). The name comes from the link HN users posted.
Here's my question.
Are Apple going to sell the Touch bar and Touch ID as a separate peripheral? The price differential between the 13" non-Touch and 13" Touch is $300 USD. The other differences are 2.0GHz versus 2.9GHz Core i5 and Iris Graphics 540 versus 550. Let's call those other differences $50 for argument's sake. Is Apple going to sell this hypothetical Touch peripheral for $249 for instance? Or would they incorporate it into an external keyboard. What connector would it use? Regular old USB or Bluetooth?
Would you pay $249 to upgrade existing non-Touch kit? Would you pay $249 so that you could log on to your Mac (or PC) at a finger press? Would you pay $249 so that your apps have a contextual button bar? Would you pay $249 for a programmable touch strip plus fingerprint scanner?
For comparison: Original Xiaomi Redmi 3S, Snapdragon 430 Octa Core, Android Smartphone, 4100mAh Battery, Fingerprint Sensor, 2GB RAM, 16GB ROM, 5.0" Touchscreen.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Redmi-3S-Snapdragon-Smartphone-Fing...
£149 (translates to ~$189)
Imagine if you could run a cable from the phone so that you could use its fingerprint sensor to log on to your Mac. Plus you could have an app called Context that acted like the Touch Bar. And on top of that you'd have a smartphone.
My point is. Touch Bar plus Touch ID might be the greatest thing since we started slicing bread into, uh, slices. But it's too frigging expensive by half. That's some premium you're paying for the privilege of a publicly untested hardware feature.
Why don't Apple also sell it as a peripheral that both Macs and PCs could use if they are so confident in it? Sell it with software drivers and a configuration tool and smart defaults. And price it at … $99? I bet they could hit that price point. And it might sell like hotcakes. And make the price differential between the 13" non-Touch and 13" Touch $100 while they're at it -- $1,499 versus $1,599.
I think anyone who forks over wedge for the Touch Bar and Touch ID Macbook Pros as it stands is being royally screwed. To be blunt about.