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Skipped this generation Macbook Pro because of this. A redesign can't come soon enough, maybe with an A14 chip?

To show how widespread this problem is, just go to ANY Apple store and try out their laptops with this butterfly keyboard.

You'll find several of them with broken keys.

I got this generation forced on me by my workplace. TRUST ME, I would never ever ever ever ever pay the price tag for this piece of junk. Sleep problems, keys dying, heat issues, zero useful ports.... just a frustrating experience for a premium price. I stuck with my 2015 for my personal laptop. I'll wait to replace that when Apple gets their head back on straight.
 
Luckily the keyboard had more advantages than disadvantages
Advantages:
- made it possible to make the macbook 0,0001mm thinner
- made it possible to make it 10 gram lighter

Disadvantages:
- shallow keys
- zero travel
- zero feedback
- keys stuck
- dust issues
- hard to replace the keyboard
- ..

Oh wait...

Another disadvantage: it can be noisy, hitting it harder has a distinct 'noise' that might be more bothersome too, even the 2018 with silicone doesn't completely address this.
 
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If you can't handle it, of course you shouldn't do it. But I was in my early 20's and I lived off of that energy. I don't regret any second of it. I have so many stories to tell now and it puts a fat smile on my face every time I think about it. Oh and that position at that startup helped me land an internship at Apple as a software engineer. Greatest decision I've ever made.

My priorities were correct. Maybe you should work on some passion projects from time to time. Work on something that makes you too excited to sleep on certain nights.

So are you still working at Apple (Y/N). Yep, the invincible younger years where nothing can do me any harm. I have lived and heard it time and again. That energy that you got is similar to the high someone gets while conducting risky sports, drugs, etc. The difference with some of those is that it is just temporary, like getting an adrenaline boost when skydiving, or speeding down the track, etc. What you are experiencing is a constant high that you have become addicted to at that time that can have damaging effects. I also have many stories, none of them involve me sitting in front of a computer writing code which would interest any sane audience.

Picture this, hey ordinary group of friends that are not co-workers (I call friends as I do not haver time to remove myself from my workplace), I just spend 100+ hours coding this new app, game, website for my start-up company, employer so I can do it all over again if not more at Apple as an intern, how cool is that? I so want to been your social-circle :rolleyes: So what you are saying is that your work defines you, without it you are whom exactly. I can see it now on your tombstone, here rests "farewelwilliams" who typed away 20+ hours a day for some startup and then as an Apple intern. I picture you as Frank Grimes (Simpson character https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/Frank_Grimes), from what you describe of yourself in your post.

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Can I handle it, lol classic. I expected no less of a response. :rolleyes:

Actually I have a lot of passion doing my job, am compensated very well and my employer is very understanding and accommodating. Have you had the opportunity to say the same :p;)
 
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Another disadvantage: it can be noisy, hitting it harder has a distinct 'noise' that might be more bothersome too, even the 2018 with silicone doesn't completely address this.
Yes! That's one of the more bothersome aspects for me. There's no way you can study in a quiet library with somebody nearby typing on that pox-ridden keyboard.
 
Time to draw a line under this, add the 3rd gen butterfly machines to the repair programme, and extend it to the full hardware support life of the machine (~7 years) don't release any new butterfly machines and work as quickly as possible to replace the existing ones with designs built around the magic KB or something.
 
I know a guy, who knows two guys who have this issue. Thus I know as a fact all people with this keyboard have this issue. We need to fire the CEO at Apple. They are clearly a failed company.

/Sarcasm
 
The ThinkPad X1 Carbon keyboard is so much better. I'd trade my Terrible Touch Bar MBP for the X1 in an instant if it ran macOS.

@ Apple, I work in IT, people ask me for computer recommendations. For the first time in a long time I cannot recommennd (sic, keyboard) your product.
 
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The ThinkPad X1 Carbon keyboard is so much better. I'd trade my Terrible Touch Bar MBP for the X1 in an instant if it ran macOS.

@ Apple, I work in IT, people ask me for computer recommendations. For the first time in a long time I cannot recommennd (sic, keyboard) your product.

Yeah, I'm in the same boat. Have been for years (I started to think something was rotten at Apple the moment they destroyed their once great UIs in favor of hard-to-see-hard-to-use-inconsistent-minimalist-crap while simultaneously feature-deleting and pretending those were "upgrades" or "updates"), and unfortunately nothing since has really changed my mind, although plenty of things have continued to support it). Unless someone was a gamer I pretty much always recommended an Apple product. I still do mostly Apple-centric IT work, but I no longer suggest their products over the alternatives except in cases where it's truly justified, which become fewer and fewer all the time. In essence my comments on the matter usually amount to "Well, Apple sucks now too, so really there isn't anything good currently on the market. Just get whatever you happen to like better or what fits your budget." I also now build custom gaming PCs as a side-line, mostly because it's a lot of fun.

BTW, there solutions for using a PC laptop, which will probably be the direction I go in eventually if Apple doesn't fix things. 1) Have a good Mac desktop and then setup remote access. Over modern internet connections this works very well. 2) research running Mac OS in a VM (technically a no-no, but a lot of people do it), or 3) get yourself a laptop that the Hackintosh community recommends as being able to run the Mac OS natively (often a hassle).
 
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Heat, heat, heat. The problem is called heat.

Just buy two identical MBP. Use one for just some basic operations like working with Office apps and use the other for rendering, video editing (preferably in clamshell mode) and you will see which keyboard will last longer.

Bad, baaad design.

I disagree. The keyboard on my 2016 non-TB 13" failed 3x, each after about 4 months. That model ran ice cold (it had 1/2 the cooling of the TB model, with only about 1/3 the total power budget) and was rarely pushed hard.

The keyboard is just utter s&*t. It was probably tested in a clean room, not in a place where dust gets in but can never get back out.
 
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So are you still working at Apple (Y/N). Yep, the invincible younger years where nothing can do me any harm. I have lived and heard it time and again. That energy that you got is similar to the high someone gets while conducting risky sports, drugs, etc. The difference with some of those is that it is just temporary, like getting an adrenaline boost when skydiving, or speeding down the track, etc. What you are experiencing is a constant high that you have become addicted to at that time that can have damaging effects. I also have many stories, none of them involve me sitting in front of a computer writing code which would interest any sane audience.

The high is from being a typical 20+ year old who is excited about his work. It's up to you if you want to associate that behavior with a drug user, but I've never used drugs and I run 6 miles a day with 0 health problems.

People have different energy levels. Maybe you wouldn't last 20 hours in front of a computer. For others, it's do-able.

I also have many stories, none of them involve me sitting in front of a computer writing code which would interest any sane audience.

"any sane audience". I'm not sure why you said that specifically. Are you saying that my stories are only enjoyable among the insane? Because "The Social Network" movie was sure enjoyed by many (95% on RT) and it included many engineers in front of a computer writing code.

What a very odd thing to say...

Picture this, hey ordinary group of friends that are not co-workers (I call friends as I do not haver time to remove myself from my workplace), I just spend 100+ hours coding this new app, game, website for my start-up company, employer so I can do it all over again if not more at Apple as an intern, how cool is that? I so want to been your social-circle :rolleyes:

You should rephrase this. The grammatical errors make it hard to figure out what you're trying to say.

So what you are saying is that your work defines you, without it you are whom exactly. I can see it now on your tombstone, here rests "farewelwilliams" who typed away 20+ hours a day for some startup and then as an Apple intern. I picture you as Frank Grimes (Simpson character https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/Frank_Grimes), from what you describe of yourself in your post.

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Can I handle it, lol classic. I expected no less of a response. :rolleyes:

Actually I have a lot of passion doing my job, am compensated very well and my employer is very understanding and accommodating. Have you had the opportunity to say the same :p;)

Grimes works on a 9-to-5 schedule follows the rules. I'm the opposite of that. In fact, based on your responses, it sounds like your behavior sounds a lot closer to Grimes than my behavior. You want a stable job with a normal schedule, follow the rules, take normal breaks, etc...

I don't really attempt to define myself in any way. People who do have an ego issue. I just want to make something great and put it out there.
 
I have a 2017 and a 2018 Mac Book Pro and the keyboard on the 2018 are remarkably better. I have also gotten to the point where I prefer the new keyboards over the 2015 and older keyboards.
 
Sure people keep complaining and making petitions about this and the flex gate Apple doesn't bat an eye, but the moment a popular journalist covers it Apple is all up on it.
 
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Plenty of people here are trying to make light of this issue, but I'm pretty sure that if what multiple journalists, repair shops, and multiple bloggers have said about the amount of times they've had issues were false, Apple lawyers would have already descended on them with great vengeance and furious anger. This is their very valuable brand we're talking about. Yet, no.
 
A few??? My very expensive MacBook Pro has the worst keyboard I have ever had, apart from my 1980s Sinclair Spectrum. It is so bad that I now have a second Apple keyboard on my desk which I use. As for a few, our IT guy tells me that there are plenty of cases in our department, and I am certainly not alone. But what to do, when I need the machine and it would likely takes days or weeks to repair.
 
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They are also very noisy to type on. It's an atrocious design.

The keyboards are not fit for purpose, nor is the entire MacBook line of computers.

I got fed up waiting for Apple to produce a decent notebook so bought myself a Surface Laptop 2. It came with an exceptional keyboard, which is vastly superior to anything Apple have released.
 
Don't know, but I think I will stop buying Mac all together.
Don't really need a computer these days anyways, I think their mobile products has tighter quality control.
Most likely gonna just get an iPad Pro/Mini for checking scanned work documents, News reading and media consumption.
 
The high is from being a typical 20+ year old who is excited about his work. It's up to you if you want to associate that behavior with a drug user, but I've never used drugs and I run 6 miles a day with 0 health problems.

You are excited because your experience is limited, nothing more (some may call this being naive). It has nothing regarding being a "typical" 20+ year old, I know many teens and 20+ year olds who have less energy compared to people in a different age bracket. Unsure if you are unaware of comparisons. How cliche, you are a 20+ year old, working 20 hours or more in front of your computer (possibly in the tech sector) and run 6 miles a day. Glad to see all those smartwatch, Fitbit devices working to motivate you through strategic marketing :p Zero health problems, I know many "runners" who are hospitalized or die due to health related reason. Running does not make one "health" if their diet is rubbish, couple that with predisposed conditions.

People have different energy levels. Maybe you wouldn't last 20 hours in front of a computer. For others, it's do-able.

Agreed, people have different energy levels, please see previous response relating to diet and predisposed conditions plus environment. Listen to yourself "last 20 hours in front of a computer". I don't want to sit 20 hours in front of a computer it is my choice. Humans were not designed or built to sit in front of any computer for 20 hours, are you trying to evolve into a mechanical robot :p;)


"any sane audience". I'm not sure why you said that specifically. Are you saying that my stories are only enjoyable among the insane? Because "The Social Network" movie was sure enjoyed by many (95% on RT) and it included many engineers in front of a computer writing code.

I am saying your workplace stories are only enjoyable amongst your coworkers. If I happen to work as a lawyer or a doctor, I have no interest if you happen to code 10K lines in 1 hour and designed a game, unless my interests overlapped. There is a reason why people frequent watering holes after work and at times over lunch to "discuss" shop-talk. The movie you bring up was enjoyable as it concerned Facebook, just like movies about Apple/Steve Jobs, Tesla, etc. People were not interested about the coding aspect of the movie, there were interested in the "humanistic" component that we can all relate, not just a specific demographic. For example, I do not want to see or hear for 2 hours the technical jargon for a space flight, I do however want to see the humanistic emotions play out, which was the focus to draw and hold the audience in "Fist Man" the movie. I do not want to see or hear you writing code for 20 hours as a movie, there is no interest for me, it is a personal accomplishment and I can share the pride and joy you feel from completing it, nothing more.

What a very odd thing to say...

Maybe to some ;)


You should rephrase this. The grammatical errors make it hard to figure out what you're trying to say.

Please see response relating to First Man movie. :)


Grimes works on a 9-to-5 schedule follows the rules. I'm the opposite of that. In fact, based on your responses, it sounds like your behavior sounds a lot closer to Grimes than my behavior. You want a stable job with a normal schedule, follow the rules, take normal breaks, etc...

Well you work 20+ hours in front of a computer, I believe by your own admission you fit the mould. Compared that to the assertion you are making of me and omitted it from my previous response. I work 8 hour or less a day and I make my own hours. I do not work 9-5 or on anyones schedule and I have the flexibility and freedom to work wherever I want and to my pleasing. I have a stable job as you put it with a schedule of my own and I get compensated very well, by comparison I work less than your 20+ hours a day in front of a computer and make a comparable salary. Plus I do not require a smartwatch to remind me when to take break, I have been doing this common sense practice since I began receiving any form of monetary compensation. ;):p

I don't really attempt to define myself in any way. People who do have an ego issue. I just want to make something great and put it out there.

It is your choice if you prefer to be define or not, this is a self-esteem issue, none of anyones business. Having an ego is part of the human condition, there is no escaping it, the issue is if it overruns ones life and is unchecked. One can have a healthy ego. ;) We all want to make something great, and I applaud you for your past, present and future contributions regardless if it is recognized in mass or not.

You are under the assumption that I am attacking you, people do not confuse what I am saying. Live a healthy life do not waste it in front of a computer 20+ hours a day for monetary compensation or to please others believing you have a slight edge, or to have your ego stroked into being a narcissist. Live life in the moment and for yourself and love the ones who support you, at the end of the day on your tombstone no one is going to care if it read, "Here rests farewelwilliams who wrote XYZ app or worked at XYZ company". :)
 
I considered, but decided against, a MacBook Pro over the last few months. I was skeptical that even the 3rd generation keyboard would be reliable after trying it out in the Apple store. The key travel is so shallow that logic dictates problems are likely. In addition, I am strongly of the opinion that all of the MacBooks are so thin that management of heat is difficult in many usage scenarios. Apple is hurting its reputation greatly with the MacBooks since 2015. It will be hard to regain customer confidence. I will always use a Mac, but it is highly unlikely I will ever use a MacBook.
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still incapable of making a nice keyboard after all these years- Amazing
This article is referring to MacBook keyboards. I have the latest Magic Keyboard, and it is in my experience flawless and a joy to type on, as was the earlier Magic Keyboard.
 
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You are excited because your experience is limited, nothing more (some may call this being naive).

No. I was excited because I actually enjoy the work.

It has nothing regarding being a "typical" 20+ year old, I know many teens and 20+ year olds who have less energy compared to people in a different age bracket. Unsure if you are unaware of comparisons.

You're comparing your experiences to your limited subset of acquaintances which amounts to <.0000001% of the world's population and taking it as a fact. Your experience with typical 20 year olds probably have nothing to be passionate about and therefore you incorrectly assume they have less energy.

How cliche, you are a 20+ year old, working 20 hours or more in front of your computer (possibly in the tech sector) and run 6 miles a day.
You just said there's nothing "typical" about a 20+ year old with that energy but now you say it's "cliche". Sounds like a contradiction.

Glad to see all those smartwatch, Fitbit devices working to motivate you through strategic marketing :p Zero health problems, I know many "runners" who are hospitalized or die due to health related reason. Running does not make one "health" if their diet is rubbish, couple that with predisposed conditions.

You don't really know anything about my diet. Occasionally working 20+ hours on something you enjoy won't cause long term health issues.

I don't want to sit 20 hours in front of a computer it is my choice.


Cool, it's my choice to work 20 hours in one day on something I'm passionate about. You're a hypocrite for telling me that I need to reprioritize when it is my choice to do what I want and to know what I'm capable of.



People were not interested about the coding aspect of the movie, there were interested in the "humanistic" component that we can all relate, not just a specific demographic. For example, I do not want to see or hear for 2 hours the technical jargon for a space flight, I do however want to see the humanistic emotions play out, which was the focus to draw and hold the audience in "Fist Man" the movie.

Sure. The thing is, you know exactly nothing about what I was working on or what happened on one of those 20 hour days, but you immediately dismissed as something that no one would care about except people who were not "sane". You immediately jumped to conclusions without knowing exactly what I was working on. I have a story that involved Obama and an investor that was minutes away from pulling her $75k seed funding only to quadruple after she saw our demo which we worked on all night to prepare for.


Well you work 20+ hours in front of a computer, I believe by your own admission you fit the mould. Compared that to the assertion you are making of me and omitted it from my previous response. I work 8 hour or less a day and I make my own hours. I do not work 9-5 or on anyones schedule and I have the flexibility and freedom to work wherever I want and to my pleasing. I have a stable job as you put it with a schedule of my own and I get compensated very well, by comparison I work less than your 20+ hours a day in front of a computer and make a comparable salary. Plus I do not require a smartwatch to remind me when to take break, I have been doing this common sense practice since I began receiving any form of monetary compensation. ;):p

Great. But you're under the assumption that I work 20+ hours a day on a daily basis. I never said I did that. I did it occasionally when I was 20-ish years old. Now I'm 30 years old and I work remotely on my own hours with a side project I'm extremely pasisonate about.

But as I get older with more and more social commitments perhaps a family in the near future with a mortgage to pay off, it'll be harder to do these things, so I'm doing as much as I can now before the inevitable happens.


You are under the assumption that I am attacking you, people do not confuse what I am saying.

You were attacking me. You were implying only the insane people cared about what I did, and you compared me to Grimes. You said I didn't have any real friends because I was "unable to remove myself from the workplace". Also, your literal words were " Shame what some people do to themselves.". Shame? I feel proud and don't regret a single thing about it.
 
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No. I was excited because I actually enjoy the work.

Are you claiming that others do not enjoy their work. :eek:



You're comparing your experiences to your limited subset of acquaintances which amounts to <.0000001% of the world's population and taking it as a fact. Your experience with typical 20 year olds probably have nothing to be passionate about and therefore you incorrectly assume they have less energy.

Incorrect, you made the claim that maybe I do not have the energy to work in front of a computer 20+ hours. Why would I want to waste my time doing that, I have better things to do with my hours that I prefer allowing to my work. Thats right I prioritize ;)

You just said there's nothing "typical" about a 20+ year old with that energy but now you say it's "cliche". Sounds like a contradiction.

Claiming that just because one is in their 20's does not necessary mean their have energy, which in itself is subjective. What are you comparing your energy level, that you can work 20+ hours in front of a computer. Give me a break, I have the energy to work over 24 hours, does that mean I want to do it, nope. Priorities, plus are you claiming working 20+ hours without rest is health, are you a medical doctor. Even the science states that lack of sleep if detrimental to ones health. Cliche referred to your claim of running X amount of miles, where did you get that from a marketing poster. :rolleyes:

You don't really know anything about my diet. Occasionally working 20+ hours on something you enjoy won't cause long term health issues.

What is occasional? All I need to know about your diet is that if you claim to be working 20+ hours, that leave 4 hours in that day for sleep, eating, drinking, washroom breaks and however long your run take. Colour me skeptical to your claim. :p

Cool, it's my choice to work 20 hours in one day on something I'm passionate about. You're a hypocrite for telling me that I need to reprioritize when it is my choice to do what I want and to know what I'm capable of.

Sounds like that invincible complex being revealed. :p

Sure. The thing is, you know exactly nothing about what I was working on or what happened on one of those 20 hour days, but you immediately dismissed as something that no one would care about except people who were not "sane". You immediately jumped to conclusions without knowing exactly what I was working on. I have a story that involved Obama and an investor that was minutes away from pulling her $75k seed funding only to quadruple after she saw our demo which we worked on all night to prepare for.

Why would anyone want to watch a movie of you typing code 20 hours a day for several day to even make the first space flight to the moon possible? Even Oscar winning movies only briefly mention this, you know why, its booorrring. Who cares how much money you made or saved, you are making it sound like its impossible. If you saved a life that was in danger, I want to hear about that, loosing/gaining $75 seed funding that multiplied X folds tells me that only one thing is important to you. Thanks for bragging about how much money you were able to multiple once, clearly signs of a complex. :p:rolleyes:

Great. But you're under the assumption that I work 20+ hours a day on a daily basis. I never said I did that. I did it occasionally when I was 20-ish years old. Now I'm 30 years old and I work remotely on my own hours with a side project I'm extremely pasisonate about.

So now you did it occasionally and only in your 20-ish years, before it was I had the energy and I am in my 20's. Great to see that we are both working remotely with our own hours and both passionate about it. :D

But as I get older with more and more social commitments perhaps a family in the near future with a mortgage to pay off, it'll be harder to do these things, so I'm doing as much as I can now before the inevitable happens.

Coming to terms and weighing priorities, exactly what I have been mentioning since the beginning. :D

You were attacking me. You were implying only the insane people cared about what I did, and you compared me to Grimes. You said I didn't have any real friends because I was "unable to remove myself from the workplace". Also, your literal words were " Shame what some people do to themselves.". Shame? I feel proud and don't regret a single thing about it.

Voicing an observation is not attacking you, you seem be be inflicting that on to yourself. So much anger, I wonder why. Not happy with your life choices, direction, lack of sleep, possible health problem, etc. You claimed insanity, I only mentioned that no reasonable person wants to hear your boring 20+ hours in front of a computer story, if that genre was so popular, I should see more TV shows and movies, even the TV show "The Office" reflects on co-worker interactions in an office setting, not a show about some individual typing 20+ hours. ;):eek:

Yes, it is a shame that many people are unable to differentiate what is important in life, as per your claim it is working 20+ hours in front of a computer, fresh :rolleyes: I don't know it does sound like you have some regrets, similar to the character Grimes (which I did not compare you to, however made reference to the workaholic mentality). :p

Your attacks/responses are externally directed at me, as you do not want to face your internal conflict. I was providing insight to the unhealthy habits your proclaimed. You seem stressed, that is bad for your health :p:D
 
Apple really ought to just acknowledge that these butterfly keyboards are awful, and revert back to the 2015 MacBook keyboards. It’s crazy. They went from having literally the greatest laptop keyboards on the market in 2015, to having the absolute worst keyboards on the market in 2016, all just to save half a millimeter in thickness.

They SO need to go back to the old keyboard but is Tim Cook too proud to take a step back and fix a big mistake or are they going to push ahead with the butterfly keyboard and drive customers away?
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Are you ****ing kidding me? After three years, a $2400 laptop continues to have issues because Apple wants to be different ― nobody else needed the keyboard to be different!

Apple is SO stuck on form they sacrifice function. I think Jony Ive is really good at designing for form but not so good at designing for function.
 
Totally agree. I was comparing all three earlier and the first Magic Keyboard has the best keystroke feeling of all three.

My experience is that the magic keyboard 2 has much more key travel that the current MB pro keyboards. It has slightly less key travel than the excellent Logitech K380 that I am using to type this on my iPad Pro. I switch between the Logitech and MK2 all the time, and the feel is very similar. Apple should probably tear down some Logitech keyboards, and learn, as they do seem to be more robust than Apple keyboards. I do agree that the first Magic Keyboard was very nice to type on -- I wore it out! Update: I got it out, put in freshly charged batteries, now it works again and is still a joy to use! (Maybe it was just a bluetooth issue --I'm typing this edit of my post with it) My Logitech K380 keyboard feels like it will never wear out and it types almost identically like the MK1 except less clicky. I guess this is a real-time demo of how some Apple keyboards are excellent, even when old. This is the Apple that so many of us have enjoyed for years. Apple can learn from some of its previous products and incorporate this into newly designed replacements for products that don't meet its old standards, which certainly seems to be the case with the current MBP keyboards.
 
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