[2016 MBP touch bar] Pressing the ESC button by accident!

[KohPhiPhi]

Resting a finger on the Esc key and leaving my hand in a comfortable shape (not flat, but not curled into a ball, either, just a neutral-ish arc) puts my thumb on the "D" row of keys.

Try this:

• Rest your palms in the normal resting area (the sides of the trackpad).
• Your left index finger should rest moreless around the letter F and your right index moreless around the letter J. Right?
• Furthermore, your left pinky should rest around the CAPSLOCK, and your right pinky around the RETURN. Right?
• Now, start typing normally and, out of the blue, reach out to the upper rows: try to hit the number 4. You will notice that...
  • You stretch out all the fingers in your left hand
  • You hit the number 4 with your left index finger
  • Check where your left pinky is: the ESC area whereabouts. When you type, you type fast, and the sightless caress of the ESC button will trigger it, pushing you out of whatever input form you're working on at that moment.

By the way, the same thing happens with the right pinky and the SIRI button. I accidentally trigger Siri on a regular basis.

When the physical escape button was there, you could rest your finger on it as long as you didnt press. Made me realize that force touch on the TB would be nice. e.g. some sort of pressure threshold to activate.

I totally agree. The ESC button and the Siri button should require a little bit of resistance to get triggered. Some type of Force touch or Haptic feedback (like the Home button in the iPhone 7).

 

[BarracksSi]

Try this:

• Rest your palms in the normal resting area (the sides of the trackpad).
• Your left index finger should rest moreless around the letter F and your right index moreless around the letter J. Right?
• Furthermore, your left pinky should rest around the CAPSLOCK, and your right pinky around the RETURN. Right?
• Now, start typing normally and, out of the blue, reach out to the upper rows: try to hit the number 4. You will notice that...
  • You stretch out all the fingers in your left hand
  • You hit the number 4 with your left index finger
  • Check where your left pinky is: the ESC area whereabouts. When you type, you type fast, and the sightless caress of the ESC button will trigger it, pushing you out of whatever input form you're working on at that moment.

Ok.

I can't reach the escape key unless I pick up my hand and look for it.

I guess my hands are smaller than usual for a 6' male.

 

[KohPhiPhi]

I see that you dont have the new MBP. Trust me, it is difficult to explain (and thus to understand), but when you type on a regular basis at full speed the pinky finger swipes over the ESC button by accident. Just read this thread (and other threads in other Apple-centric forums) and you will see a bunch of people reporting the same thing.

 

[kinster]

I see that you dont have the new MBP. Trust me, it is difficult to explain (and thus to understand), but when you type on a regular basis at full speed the pinky finger swipes over the ESC button by accident. Just read this thread (and other threads in other Apple-centric forums) and you will see a bunch of people reporting the same thing.

I don't have this issue and have been touch typing for over 24 years at "high speeds". TBH I found it hilarious when you were telling people where to put their index fingers, almost patronising.

 

[New_Mac_Smell]

I don't have this issue and have been touch typing for over 24 years at "high speeds". TBH I found it hilarious when you were telling people where to put their index fingers, almost patronising.

I'm amazed this thread is still going...

After using the TB for around 6 weeks now. I have never accidentally pressed the escape key. I have once or twice hit Siri when trying to hit delete, and have adjusted the brightness/volume a couple of times.

I cannot physically hit the esc key with my pinky without having my left hand at a 45' angle to the computer, or having my other fingers curled up against the monitor. Either way is just not a natural way of typing, I (And I'm guessing most people) use my ring finger for the esc key (Or maybe middle if I'm feeling particularly pressy). My left pinky is only used for the left shift, as that is the only key it can realistically reach when typing. Occasionally it might hit tab, but again this is often the duty of the ring finger. The left pinky is a useless finger for typing (I'm right handed), and I might as well raise it whilst typing to denote formality and proper class.

OP: I would genuinely be fascinated to watch a video of you typing and doing this as this stage. Your typing posture is likely incorrect (But that's okay), however I'm more interested in the ergonomics of how you can type with your wrists at such aggressive angles to the keyboard.

 

[Theophil1971]

Is anybody else hitting the Touch Bar ESC button by mistake while typing with your left hand's pinky finger?

The problem is this: since the button has no physical weight, the sightliest caress with your pinky finger triggers the ESC button, and therefore exiting whatever input form you might be filling in at that moment. As a result, I have had to type the whole thing again quite a few times already. It is driving me nuts!

Is anyone else hitting the ESC button by mistake?

Ya, I've noticed this a few times myself. Once I inadvertently tapped ESC, taking my app out of fullscreen. A few times I bumped the "Bold" or "Italics" icon in pages inadvertently.
It didn't take too long to get used to it though, and make a small adjustment to compensate. It's worth it, in my book. I like the touch-bar convenience.

 

[Karnicopia]

It happens often when I CTRL+C and CTRL+V (copy and paste), specially when I do it quickly.

Mind how, as I place my thumb+index over the CTRL+C keys, my pinky reaches out to the ESC area. When you pull that finger motion rapidly, I've hit the ESC button by accident a bunch of times.

Go ahead, run that test on your keyboard yourself.

This is why I could never do that command C and V this just feels cramped to me. I switched this to control C and V and I use my pinky on control and index on C or V (ring on Z) and it just works great and is way more comfortable to me (I'm used to windows though). If I had to mess with command C V I'd probably do the pinky on command and then ring or middle to do the C V. Probably doesn't help if it's a habit for you to go this route but figured I'd mention both suggestions because I really struggled with the ergonomics of this coming from being used to windows laptops.

Just wanted to mention that I kind of like ring finger on command middle on C and index on V pinky can hit Z. That seems really comfortable to me. Almost makes me think of switching my command and control back but I don't know if I want to mess with different ways of doing something as common as copy paste and undo between my work and home laptops.

 

[BarracksSi]

I see that you dont have the new MBP.

What difference does that make? The touchbar is in the same location.

 

[KohPhiPhi]

What difference does that make? The touchbar is in the same location.

You dont realize how ofter you swipe/rest your fingers over the ESC button until you experience first-hand a zero-weight ESC button that triggers with the sightliest caress (like an iPad keyboard).

Like I said, just read real user experiences in this very thread (and others in other Mac-centric forums) and you will realize that it is indeed an issue for some users. You know, different people have different ergonomics or typing preferences.

 

[BarracksSi]

As if my usage isn't a "real user experience"...

 

[New_Mac_Smell]

You dont realize how ofter you swipe/rest your fingers over the ESC button until you experience first-hand a zero-weight ESC button that triggers with the sightliest caress (like an iPad keyboard).

Like I said, just read real user experiences in this very thread (and others in other Mac-centric forums) and you will realize that it is indeed an issue for some users. You know, different people have different ergonomics or typing preferences.

But the different ergonomics or typing preferences seem to be deliberately unergonomic. You're not meant to use your pinky for the esc key, just like you're not meant to use your thumb for f or something. There's people saying it's cramped to press cmd+c for instance, as they're trying to hit it with their pinky. Use your thumb for cmd, just as you do for space.

I appreciate people are different, but you cannot design something for people who are not using something as intended. The keyboards are however mappable, so you could just put esc on the caps-lock, and cmd where ctrl is if that's something that you need. Either way this is anecdotal, as the majority of users do not 'touch-type', and even smaller percentage of those will have been formally taught the correct way to touch-type. So if you've learnt to touch-type just through years of repetition on how you use a keyboard, you cannot complain on the design of a keyboard as your method of typing is likely linked to the specific style that you developed muscle memory on. If you learnt to touch-type correctly, you'd find this is an easily transferable skill with no issue.

Now again, I'm not saying you're wrong. But what I am saying is that there's a correct way to type, which is universally agreed upon and this is how keyboards are designed. If they were designed around whatever style the designer used than each keyboard would be different and a nightmare. Regardless of how you or others type, there is a formal technique and has to be in order for it to even work.

 

[moodler]

Now again, I'm not saying you're wrong. But what I am saying is that there's a correct way to type, which is universally agreed upon and this is how keyboards are designed. If they were designed around whatever style the designer used than each keyboard would be different and a nightmare. Regardless of how you or others type, there is a formal technique and has to be in order for it to even work.

Please realise that ESC is a STANDARD shortcut used everywhere in MacOS (and Windows for that matter) to escape from menus, popups, dialogues etc. Please note that Apple have shown they recognise the importance of this button by making it the one button on the touchbar that can not be moved, removed or modified.

I have used this button constantly for decades to quickly and efficiently navigate the computer interface, AS DESIGNED.

SUDDENLY it's become a problem for me on this keyboard (and this one ONLY), and continues to be a problem after a couple of weeks of use. It's a very hard habit to break, and even if I do manage to, it will SLOW ME DOWN compared to before.

So I'm not happy, no.

For me it's nothing to do with my pinky. It's about resting my palm in a good place on the only space available beside the giant touchpad on the 15 inch Pro. When I'm NOT typing my fingers hover naturally over the ESC key, and this is how accidental brushing happens.

Some way to at least tweak the ESC key on the touch bar so it's less sensitive would help.

 

[Wes S]

I also have this problem and it's not insignificant. Certain programs require heavy use of ctrl key combinations - ctrl y and t bring my pinky up to the esc. touchbar key. The solution to enable a longer press or double tap or something would be great, and if optional would be a great thing for those of us who type perfectly without issue on every other computer we use.

This thread gives me deja vu; there was a similar thread a few years bask in regard to the power key on the Macbook Air. People were occasionally brushing the power key while aiming for delete and triggering immediate "standby" mode after an OS update that changed the functionality of that key (Yosemite I think). This, combined with an unrecoverable crash when quickly going in and out of standby, made the MBA unusable for numerous people. For a while, Apple and others argued that we just had to learn to "type differently". Eventually, they figured out how to change the behavior to require a longer press to trigger standby. Problem solved.

Here's hoping this gets solved in the next few months as well...

 

[tCC_]

Same problem here as well, like to rest my pink or other fingers on top and I'm not going to change that because Apple overlooked this.

There should be an option to disable the esc button or the touch bar completely.

But this annoyance and the fact the battery life sucks I returned the touch bar model and orderd a non touch version.
Touchbar is mostly useless for me anyway.

 

[BarracksSi]

Same problem here as well, like to rest my pink or other fingers on top and I'm not going to change that because Apple overlooked this.

....?

Overlooked you who rests your fingers on the function key row?

:triple facepalm:

Who the hell teaches anyone to type these days?

 

[tCC_]

I type however I want to type, sigh

 

[BarracksSi]

I type however I want to type, sigh

The point is, keyboards are designed to be used a certain way. You choose to do it in a non-standard way, you're going to have to deal with a less-than-optimal experience of your own making.

In other words:

Do it wrong and it's your own fault. Stop complaining.

 

[tCC_]

I don't complain, I switched the macbook to a non touch version, learn to read

 

[New_Mac_Smell]

I don't complain, I switched the macbook to a non touch version, learn to read

Same problem here as well, like to rest my pink or other fingers on top and I'm not going to change that because Apple overlooked this.

There should be an option to disable the esc button or the touch bar completely.

But this annoyance and the fact the battery life sucks I returned the touch bar model and orderd a non touch version.
Touchbar is mostly useless for me anyway.

Good me read tCC not, complain it like sound quote? Me education bad, money please?

 

[moodler]

Do it wrong and it's your own fault. Stop complaining.

I'm happy you're not having a problem with your 15-inch touchbar MacBook (I will assume you own one and are not arguing from a position of ignorance).

But why diss those who are having a problem? Are you trying to save Apple engineers spending any time from coming up with a solution for the number of users having a problem with the very first version of their brand-new technology?

In any case, after watching myself more closely I think I can clarify some of the differences, as there are two modes of using a computer:

A) When typing text. I doubt many people are actually having much trouble with the escape key in this mode, because your fingers are more often centered on the letters.

B) When browsing and using apps and the mouse. in this mode it really makes sense to keep your right thumb over the command key, with the palm resting on the right of the trackpad, which pushes your other fingers up over towards the esc key. This lets your hand relax while still easily being able to type command-Q, command-W, command-A, command-Z, tab, esc and other shortcuts which are really useful for managing apps and windows.

 

[New_Mac_Smell]

Are you splaying your fingers out whilst browsing the web? This is what my fingers look like hitting those buttons. This is because I keep my left pinky on the shift key as a position reference for that side of the keyboard, without doing that I have no memory of where the keys are. For just hitting quit, my hand looks like the second photo.

Anyway, neither are near the escape key. And crucially, hitting the escape key while doing something like writing this post doesn't seem to do anything...

 

[PhoneI]

View attachment 682800

Please realise that ESC is a STANDARD shortcut used everywhere in MacOS (and Windows for that matter) to escape from menus, popups, dialogues etc.

Im not doubting people are having a problem with accidental presses. But, I have to say, in response to your comment.....I cant remember the last time I have ever used the ESC key for anything. I guess I always assumed the best way to close a menu is to mouse pointer away from it.

I use the "Esc' key as little as I use the 'Tilde' key

 

[BarracksSi]

But why diss those who are having a problem?

Diss: "You're stupid."

Direction: "You're doing it wrong."

Are you trying to save Apple engineers spending any time from coming up with a solution for the number of users having a problem with the very first version of their brand-new technology?

"Very first" publicly released version, maybe, but if the rare comments from Apple engineers are anything to go by, they've been noodling with the idea for several years already -- possibly 7-8 years.

 

[Liat]

Thanks for the comment. You are the second person (without counting me, of course) I hear having this problem.

I also read it in another thread from other(s).

The funny "change your habints" response reminds me to "you’re holding it wrong".

 

[New_Mac_Smell]

I also read it in another thread from other(s).

The funny "change your habints" response reminds me to "you’re holding it wrong".

Except keyboards have been around a lot longer than iPhone 4's...

The point is, there is a correct way to type, and the way that most people learn (Repetition). Either way is absolutely fine and won't cause any concern on 99% of keyboards. The problem is that now the top row is touch sensitive, people who are used to typing in abnormal ways are now accidentally triggering that key.

Regardless of whether people are wrong or not, these bad habits are now all of a sudden glaringly obvious. But you cannot expect any company to cater to the 1% of users who are having this problem, as it would effect the other 99%. So you either accept that you're not using something as intended, and slightly change your style. Which will only help you in the long run and give you greater flexibility if designs like this continue. Or you proclaim it a terrible design and live in a bitter world with an external keyboard. It really isn't that much of a change to make, just get used to keeping your fingers along the middle row as a point of reference. There's no need to avoid the trackpad by using bizarre unergonomic hand positions either. But anyway, if you can touch type, just make a small conscious effort to avoid it and within a week of use you'll be fine. Just don't expect any miracle cure beyond disabling the esc key and mapping it to another, as this would be a temporary solution and you'll still have this problem for years to come.