Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

(aluminum) Macbook Pro keyboard wears too fast...

The shiny appearance is from grease. Your keys aren't "worn out", nor are the letters rubbing off. The grease just shows easier on shiny plastic surfaces when compared to slightly rougher surfaces. This is why the old MBP's keys didn't really get shiny, or not easily.


Just use a paper towel or any kind of cloth, wet it, rub a tiny bit of cleaning solution on it (anything that cuts through grease and oil) such as dishwasher liquid, and rub each key. You don't even need a lot of soap. Just put a drop on it, rub it into the paper towel, and clean the keys. It works on my keys.


Nerds are such a whiny bunch....
 
Hack On Wheels said:
That doesn't sound like a joke. It sounds like a valid issue to me, expensive hardware should be high quality and should last under reasonable (normal) usage. Do you remember how you used to be able to pay a premium to buy quality products that would not only work well, but that would also last? The fan-boy/girl attitude of disbelief, and the unwavering belief in the infallibility of Apple is painful. All companies and products will have some amount of issues of shortcomings, no need to gloss over them or keep quiet about them.

I appreciate posts like that. I'm considering getting a loaded (for me at least) Mac as I will need the power and hi resolution of the 17" for my school and for my work. I'm not made of money though and I will need it to last me for a number of years. I appreciate knowing if all that money spent could result in me having a computer that doesn't wear well. I've gone through enough iPods already.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but that just came across as one of the most ridiculous rants I have ever read on the Internet, and that's saying something. I can understand being unhappy about the issue, but to devote so much time to registering an account specifically to rant about something repeatedly that is a relatively minor issue (all things considered) is a little much.

By the way, I don't even see a hint of any wear with my unibody MBP keyboard. I've had it for a month, and the keyboard pretty much looks brand new. The only thing I really worry about with it is dust getting under the keys because it doesnt look like those things come out easily.
 
Abstract said:
The shiny appearance is from grease. Your keys aren't "worn out", nor are the letters rubbing off. The grease just shows easier on shiny plastic surfaces when compared to slightly rougher surfaces. This is why the old MBP's keys didn't really get shiny, or not easily.


Just use a paper towel or any kind of cloth, wet it, rub a tiny bit of cleaning solution on it (anything that cuts through grease and oil) such as dishwasher liquid, and rub each key. You don't even need a lot of soap. Just put a drop on it, rub it into the paper towel, and clean the keys. It works on my keys.


Nerds are such a whiny bunch....
Click to expand...

I think its a function of the color of the keyboard more than anything else. You are going to notice it more on a black keyboard than a silver one. Lighter colors reflect more light so the added reflection of grease isn't as noticeable.
 
Well you also had the same issue on the plastic MacBooks, both black and white. Daily grease fills all the porous pits and such, and it looks shiny. Same with trackpads going as far back as I can remember --- from iBooks, PowerBooks, and now MBs and MBPs. They take a bit longer to "wear out", but really, it just takes a bit of cleaning.

To me, this is no more surprising as a white MacBook getting dirty. Dozens of threads about this "issue", and it wasn't a real issue at all. Just clean the bloody thing. It's white for goodness sakes, and not even an Apple logo on the cover can prevent it from getting dirty when so many people use their laptops for 5 to 10 hours per day.
 
Doesn't surprise me. I love my 07 MBP to death, but it's visited the techs for about 7 issues (all resolved, to date) in the last 1.5 years. I know MBP owners that have never had to get their comps fixed. Luck of the draw. Probably the same with the kbd deal.

I have wear on my keyboard, but i'm a typing fiend. I put a keyboard cover on because i'm a clutz and nearly (slash kinda) dumped a nalgene on the keyboard. I don't see the gloss and my typing is quieter and hardly impacted.
 
response

This is not a joke... when your an individual who works for your money you realize its value, despite how much you have in your bank account.

There does exist some mac users who are so "pro mac" they tend to over see many issues just because they would rather swallow their pride then admit a mac has a flaw... and for that your naive

i spent 2500 on a laptop and it fails to satisfy my expectations regarding quality... and my expectations are reasonable and satiable.
 
Hello.

Silicone cover has kept my MBP Pristine for the 9 or so months i've had it. I also have a cover on the trackpad. It doesn't slow down my typing, quiets the keys and enhances the function of the backlight by spreading the light around.

It wasn't a difficult choice for me to get because my previous MBP had serious 'keyshine/keywear'.

However I bought a powerbook that was maybe four or three years old and it looked brand new. I don't know if the previous owner had it desktop bound for the majority of its life or something but there was NO wear, and I was able to fetch a premium for it.
 
It's threads like this that make me glad to have clung eagerly to my pre-unibody MacBook Pro that I purchased in August of 2008. The aluminum keys are fantastic and never let greasy finger residue stick.
 
Use windex or some grease fighting substance (eye glass cleaner too)....

you're keyboard is not worn, it's dirty.

No.. a damp cloth (water) does not remove grease.
 
The keys may get shiny but that's not worn, its just doesn't look new. :p

Real wear would mean the keys are no longer working right for typing or the letters are rubbed off such that you can't tell which key is for what letter (not likely given the design of the keyboards as there's not silkscreening of the letters like on many PC keyboards.

Having really worn a bunch of PC keyboards, the one on my MBP is holding up rather well though it does exhibit shiny key syndrome. Keyboard protectors are yuck - its a laptop, just use it people! ;)
 
I'm noticing the same problems arising with mine... I've had my new MBP for just 7 days and I have a nick out of the "T" key already. When I turn on the keyboard illumination I can actually see that it is a chunk out of the black paint covering the key, not just a superficial white mark. I have no idea how it got there - the computer has spent the majority of it's lifetime so far sitting on my desk!

It was actually just after I'd cleaned they keyboard that I noticed it - like PakMookBro said, I have used eyeglass cleaner to clean the aluminum and the display of my MBP's, it seems to work the best for degreasing fingerprints left on the screen or the body. This is the first unibody MBP that I've had, my last MBP was an early 2008 - should I be using something else to clean the keys of this particular model?
 
This is common wear and tear. The same thing happens with Apple Wireless keyboards and any/all other keyboards. The rate of course varies, but if you rubbed a stone with your fingers every day for three months, as much as you use your computer keyboard, the same effect would likely take place.

I wouldn't recommend losing any sleep over it. Nothing lasts forever.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back