Slashdot Mirror
As More Users Complain About Poor Keyboard in Current MacBook Pro Lineup, Critics Say Apple Should Consider Recalling the Device (theoutline.com)
Last year, a report outlining what it described as a major flaw in Apple's current MacBook Pro lineup became a talking point in the industry. The issue was that a piece of dust could render keys on the MacBook Pro lineup useless, and that Apple had no idea how to fix it. Casey Johnston, writing for The Outline: MacBook Pro's keyboard keys stopped working if a single piece of dust slipped under there, and more importantly, that neither Apple nor its Geniuses would acknowledge that this was actually a problem. Today, Best Buy announced it is having a significant sale on these computers, marking them hundreds of dollars off. Interesting. Still, I'd suggest you do not buy them. Since I wrote about my experience, many have asked me what happened with the new top half of the computer that the Apple Geniuses installed, with its pristine keyboard and maybe-different key switches. The answer is that after a couple of months, I started to get temporarily dead keys for seemingly no reason. Again. Longtime widely respected commentator Jason Snell says, "I know that we Apple-watchers sit around wondering if Apple will release new laptops with new keyboards that don't have these issues, but Apple's relative silence on this issue for existing customers is deafening. If these problems are remotely as common as they seem to be, this is an altogether defective product that should be recalled."
So Apple users are going to be buying the next version anyways.
.... And because of that there is zero chance that there will be a recall. Because that would be an admission that they've done something wrong. And they rarely admit that they've done something wrong or apologize (the Apple Maps fiasco or the "I Am Root" fiasco being the only two times that I can think of that they've said sorry for something). That's something that Jobs preached pretty aggressively.
What's more likely to happen is that they will come out with a new keyboard design at WWDC in June and call it an "innovation" and shove it into every notebook they make to make this go away over the long term. And they'll likely come out with a repair extension program for this crappy keyboard if they have to so that the bad press goes away over the short term. .
This is my opinion. To make sure you don't steal it, it's covered by the DMCA.
I'd noticed this happening from time to time on my MBP but hadn't searched to see if the problem was widespread. Typically a key becomes dead for few strikes before coming back to life. Happens once every few weeks.
soylentnews.org
While visiting the Apple store for an iPhone battery replacement, I tried the MacBook Pros that were on display. The "new" keyboard is positively terrible - not much key travel and poor feedback.
Ridiculous. People are just typing wrong.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
because users complaint.. haha, never in 10 years!
They just have to buy the next version, anyway, they will doing it.
Ceci n'est pas une Signature !
But really I jut can't ee it.
I've had mine for over a year (13" touchbar MBP).. and I don't baby this keyboard. It's fucking filthy.
I love the low key travel. I don't feel any strain in my fingers or wrists. It's *by* far the best laptop keyboard I've ever used. The previous winner was the previous style of MBP keyboards.
No stuck keys, no increase in typing errors. Just love it all around.
Now this isn't to say that people aren't having problems. I'm just adding my anecdote (and a few others who I know who have this same machine and love the keyboard) to the other anecdotes.
They still call the *Backspace* key *Delete* so they obviously don't care about keyboards. :)
A weak spot is usually something the laptop maker skimped on to reduce cost, like a small battery, or a cheap screen, or HDD storage in the SSD era..
The new Macbook keyboard is a deliberately created new feature. Apple came up with a new keyboard mechanism which reduces key travel in order to try to make the laptop a little thinner (like laptops need to be any thinner). It bombed, plain and simple. What's the point of making the laptop 3mm thinner if it forces you to add a can of compressed air to your laptop bag?
Only the MBP with the touchbar has no "real" escape key, but a touchscreen one. If you don't like it go the the keyboard preferences and set your capslock key to be the escape key. Or buy the other which has a real escape key.
The problem with this keyboard is the fact that it is utterly unreliable. Otherwise it's totally fine and people would long have stopped talking about it at all just as they stopped talking about the chiclet keyboard in the older Macbooks. But you can't start to love a keyboard that stops working every three months and has to repaired by exchanging the upper half of the case for $400 (once it is out of warranty). In the contrary you will start to fear and hate every little bit of it.
Apple just screwed up here and then didn't notice or didn't want to double down and fix it. And this is not just a "you're holding it wrong" thing, it's a real, hard, ugly screw-up and it will come to haunt them. Nobody in his right mind should buy a $2000 laptop that is a write-off after the warranty runs out.