Apple's MacBook Pro Touch Bar currently lets users scrub through YouTube ads
Roger Fingas
In Safari, the Touch Bar on Apple's new MacBook Pro can currently be used to scrub through YouTube videos — including normally unskippable 30-second pre-roll ads, owners have discovered.
The unintentional feature was highlighted by a number of posters on Reddit. It may be tapping into Safari's built-in HTML5 video player, which doesn't normally appear onscreen when watching YouTube.
Scrub bars are one of the new possibilities presented by the Touch Bar, which replaces the Pro's previous function key setup with a multitouch display that adapts to each running app.
Google and/or Apple will presumably begin working on a way of suppressing the ad-skipping feature, since the former and many video creators are dependent on YouTube ad revenues. Those parties are already coping with browser-based ad blockers.
The first MacBook Pros with Touch Bars began arriving on doorsteps earlier this week, and are only just beginning to hit Apple's own stores. Fresh online orders are being shipped in 4 to 5 weeks.
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