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2018 MacBook Pro's 'Quieter' Keyboard Compared to Previous MacBook Pro Keyboard
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There was no "FUD" as you put it. It is a VERY real issue that affected a sizeable number of people and one which Apple was content on sweeping under the rug and blaming their customers for. It's also one of the reasons they were extorting money for repairs until they got caught and started offering "Free" repairs.
Yup, the TechCrunch keyboard recording is totally invalid. It was entirely mic'd improperly by a non-keyboard enthusiast.
Man those old timey ALPS boards raise a racket! That's exactly how a lot of ALPS boards sound. Some of them are even louder than an IBM Model M, which is saying something. I pulled out a new vintage keyboard that has original ALPS switches from storage to test last night and my first thought was "OMG! I love this."
My second thought was, "OMG, this is gonna get me killed either by my wife or my neighbors. I better stop typing."
We know from many recent examples that Apple's priorities are often not where many of us would have expected. Maybe the sound was a bigger deal for them.
Good to know it's now only 10x louder than the 2015 MacBook Pro keyboard, instead of the 11x louder that it was before. Such an improvement!
</sarcasm>
</sarcasm>
I'm waiting for benchmark tests for all new models so I can figure out, for my uses, what the sweet spot is for cost related to performance. I don't want a slouch and I don't need the highest power model either.
Excited. These looks like great machines for productivity.
Excited. These looks like great machines for productivity.
You haven't experienced just how loud we're talking about here. I cannot use them in any form of meeting or public place - only locked in my office. Imagine every key press sounding like a gun shot and bringing the cops to your door. But yes - that AND breaking are both important issues.
Maybe the complaints about the keyboard were because the same keyboard that was in my 2004 PowerBook was used in these MBPs that are the subject of the complaints. That PB had to be taken to CompUSA for service and keyboard replacement. (Then, just after the 12-month ownership, half of the electronics failed, causing the PB to be replaced with a new PB - at a cost of $1,700 in 2005. Of course, Apple claimed NO responsibility.)
the old one def sounds like it's made of chinesium and the new one has the right kind of metal now
It's crazy that this is the third version of the keyboard in 4 years, fourth if you count the 2017 MBP as having a second-gen rev 2, which many here claim it to be. Why did they get it so wrong as to need constant revision? This is unlike Apple. Or is it like the new Apple?
It's amazing to me that a company like Apple let the first-gen butterfly keyboard out of the gate. I've no idea how it could've passed their no doubt extensive design, prototyping and testing phases or approval processes. At the very least they must've known that such a significant change to its feel, sound and travel would be controversial and disliked by many who were used to a keyboard that had barely changed in the previous decade. All seemingly in this ongoing and little-demanded pursuit of thinness. I'm astonished if they didn't get a significant amount of negative feedback if they ever did any user-experience testing.
These keyboards have demonstrated Apple is slipping in its commitment to quality. Even if you don't agree with me you can't deny that having to instigate a costly repair program is by no means a measure of success. This is not something Apple would do lightly (even economics aside) because it's basically an admission of guilt. Previous repair programs have often involved parts supplied by third-parties, but this is 100% Apple's design and manufacture. They don't usually get it this wrong.
My first experience with the 2016 MacBook Pro was in an Apple shop and the first thing I noticed (after the comically large trackpad) was that the keys were clearly sticky and had little tactile feeling to them. The spacebar was hard to press, didn't move at all and only worked intermittently. And these were the display units in their own shop, presumably there to make you want to buy them! Needless to say I never did, nor have I since.
I will try out the new model in the shop sometime, but I know I'm never going to be a fan of ultra low-travel keys. I may begrudgingly get used to it if I have to, but I certainly won't like it. If only the keyboards were my only complaint with these laptops.
It's amazing to me that a company like Apple let the first-gen butterfly keyboard out of the gate. I've no idea how it could've passed their no doubt extensive design, prototyping and testing phases or approval processes. At the very least they must've known that such a significant change to its feel, sound and travel would be controversial and disliked by many who were used to a keyboard that had barely changed in the previous decade. All seemingly in this ongoing and little-demanded pursuit of thinness. I'm astonished if they didn't get a significant amount of negative feedback if they ever did any user-experience testing.
These keyboards have demonstrated Apple is slipping in its commitment to quality. Even if you don't agree with me you can't deny that having to instigate a costly repair program is by no means a measure of success. This is not something Apple would do lightly (even economics aside) because it's basically an admission of guilt. Previous repair programs have often involved parts supplied by third-parties, but this is 100% Apple's design and manufacture. They don't usually get it this wrong.
My first experience with the 2016 MacBook Pro was in an Apple shop and the first thing I noticed (after the comically large trackpad) was that the keys were clearly sticky and had little tactile feeling to them. The spacebar was hard to press, didn't move at all and only worked intermittently. And these were the display units in their own shop, presumably there to make you want to buy them! Needless to say I never did, nor have I since.
I will try out the new model in the shop sometime, but I know I'm never going to be a fan of ultra low-travel keys. I may begrudgingly get used to it if I have to, but I certainly won't like it. If only the keyboards were my only complaint with these laptops.
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What is more important though quietness or reliability. Surely it has to be reliability.
They keyboard I use at work, which has deep key travel, is incredibly noisy.
Go to the Apple Genius Bar and they will automatically diagnose a replacement Logic Board. I know I have seen it tens of times then the consumer comes to me and there is no fault with the Logic Board.
So if any of the lawsuits progress significantly, we are going to learn all about the 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation keyboards through discovery.
My bet is they've fixed the problem with the third revision, the class action lawsuits will quickly settle (and the lawyers will make out, I promise) and this will fade away...until the next issue, which might or might not be overblown by a minority of users.
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I'd kill for 18 hours on my MBP.
As far as I'm concerned, nobody has made a proper sounding/feeling keyboard since the IBM Model M:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_M_keyboard
Keyboarding bliss! So sorry, next door cube dwellers!!!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_M_keyboard
Keyboarding bliss! So sorry, next door cube dwellers!!!
A couple of years ago we got both.