Unless they go full-touchscreen (which they know most people will hate), they cannot realize their dream of a truly software-configurable keyboard layout. So, this is a compromise on that. They at least could have several "keytop overlays" that would be MUCH cheaper/easier than all-new keyboard layouts and custom keycaps. If they played their cards right, they could even offer application-specific overlays, while still maintaining a modicum of tactile feedback and of course, a pretty much total infiltration-proof design.
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Apple Exploring New Glass Panel MacBook Keyboards That Could End Sticky Key Problems
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Or Apple could just simply make the laptop thicker and put in a normal keyboard like everyone else uses....
Unfortunately they will keep their warranty in the US as short as possible regardless of how many moving parts are eliminated.
That's good to know. As I mentioned, I never had anything go wrong internally with the MBP(1,1) - only batteries and power cable ever needed replacement - so I never did actually need to open it up. I'm sure it's way too old to find replacement parts if/when it finally fails, so I'll just retire it once that happens. It's semi-retired now, as I only run it briefly about once a month to update Linux security patches (it's now dual booted between the last OSX version that was on it, and Linux Mint 17) and verify that it still runs okay. I can only run OSX when I take it off the network since Apple no longer supports it with patches. The hard drive is beginning to make some noises, so it will probably be the first point of failure. But 13 years isn't bad for a laptop!
Hm... so I like the Butterfly keyboard quite a lot. I guess I'm an outlier. 
Let me be pedantic here. I want an improvement to the old keyboard. This is a redesign, not an iteration on the old design. This is why I stated the improvement is subjective. Which it is. This isn't a difficult thing to understand if we put it into different terms: users loved the iPhone 5. The iPhone 6 was not an improvement of the iPhone 5, it was a redesign of the iPhone.
I do agree that these are the three main points that make a keyboard great, but where I disagree is in whether or not this redesign actually delivered on those three things. The travel is worse, not better. Because travel is reduced, does not inherently make it better. And accuracy and reliability work hand in hand. On both my 2016 and 2017 models, I had issues with repeating keys, spaces, and eventually entire keys stopped working.
But sometimes it does. Let's take the guitar string; the general design of the string hasn't changed in centuries. Why? Because the string (like the keyboard) doesn't have to change in order to improve the experience of playing the instrument; the shape of the guitar, electronics, all of the other parts can improve, while this one aspect remains unchanged. It's called the law of diminishing returns; at a certain point, improvement simply doesn't curve upward any longer. The steering wheel, the pot and pan, the cup; many designs which are traditional aren't failing because of lack of iteration, they are succeeding because of it. We don't need to move everything forward. It is completely okay to find something that works and stick with it.
I wouldn't go too deeply down this rabbit hole, since we are only seeing the patent, and patents have been filed in the past without any of those ideas coming to market, but my guess is this is heading further in the direction of the current keyboard. And if that's the case, my opinion will be relatively unchanged.
No one can say, which is neither here nor there. What I do know is that the current models represent an extreme absence of function over form for me, and is further proof Apple is losing sight of their consumers' needs, especially in the professional market. The number of professional users complaining about the experience of using this keyboard is astronomical. If they don't change the design, that doesn't make them innovators in my book; it means their deaf to their audience and drinking their own Koolaid -- the latter, I'm assuming, is how an entire team of Apple engineers tested this product in house and still okayed it for release. They're blind to their own whims, and releasing products within their own bubble.
Listen, I love Apple and have been a user of their products for decades. Professionally for the past 20 or so years. But there is a drastic decline in their ability to reach and appease the professional market, something that helped bring them back into the limelight as a hardware and software developer.
Yeah at first reading I thought the headline was going to be about removing that!
I have to step in here with some facts and reality.
The keyboards up to 2015 were never really an issue. They were not major news. Because they worked and you took them for granted. If you cared or thought about it you might have noticed how good they were.
The facts, actual evidence, tells us the following about all the generations of the butterfly keyboard:
Facts.
Also - for readers, beware, companies like Apple employ agencies to write comments on forums and social media to counter any negative coverage or discussion. I've seen it first hand and left that company within 2 weeks of finding out they did it.
The keyboards up to 2015 were never really an issue. They were not major news. Because they worked and you took them for granted. If you cared or thought about it you might have noticed how good they were.
The facts, actual evidence, tells us the following about all the generations of the butterfly keyboard:
- Ergonomically they are terrible. Before you say that's subjective and some people like them, sure, some people like pushing nails through parts of their anatomy. But the easy majority don't like these keyboards. It's not as if apple is offering options for keyboard.
- Reliability is far worse. In fact it is a disaster. Before you say that people only complain and don't write comments when everything is fine .. well.. a selection of companies that have actual fleets of MacBooks have reported a mean time to failure of 3 months. That's a disaster. And before you say apple will fix it - it will only fix it in the warranty period. After that it is a warranty-timebomb with repair costs approx £750 for a full top case replacement which is what is often required. And the 10 days turnaround time. Plus long travel distances if you do't have an official apple store / service centre in your county. Also Apple staff have themselves been reported as saying "the repair rooms are full of them".
- The recent gen 3 was touted as having fixed the issues. It doesn't. And Apple itself will deny this. They added a film layer to mitigate the issues - but what happens is the dust collects until boom - it gets into the keys in a major way.
- A materials scientist has confirmed that given Apple's design aims for thinner and smaller, the materials they've actually used are not suitable. They will fail after a number of circles because there just isn't enough strength in the materials. And that failure will happen not in 5 or 10 or 15 years, but months.
- Overheating (a separate design issue) has also been observed as affecting the keyboard negatively.
Facts.
Also - for readers, beware, companies like Apple employ agencies to write comments on forums and social media to counter any negative coverage or discussion. I've seen it first hand and left that company within 2 weeks of finding out they did it.
I remember them from advertisements back in the early 80s although I never remember used one. I remember the Atari 400 much better. The 8-bit Guy just did a review of the Sinclairs.
As for me, I have been using my brand new 2017 butterfly keyboard for over a year now thinking surely I would get used to it. I did, the lack key travel does not bother me any more during typing. The problem is that I make so many mistakes from touching or not touching the keys dead on that I'd go back in an instant to a pre 2015 keyboard. In fact, I refused to buy a new laptop for this very reason.
People keep complaining about MacBook keyboards and yet people keep buying them in the last 3 years. Why? I certainly wouldn’t buy a laptop if it feels uncomfortable to type on.
Prove it.
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And dumb.
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C'mon!
Laptops from 15-20 years ago were BRICKS! I see one on old TV shows/movies and it just looks COMICAL.
NO ONE wants THAT, seriously.
Yes, I admitted to the travel being worse. It's less, therefore worse. So the 2009 keyboard was probably better than the 2012 one as well. Accuracy and reliability of course work hand in hand, but I'm splitting them for the sake of keeping the discussion organized. So with accuracy I mean stability which is great on the new keyboards. They got 1 out of 3 right IMO.
This is assuming that the 2012-2015 was perfect which it wasn't. This is also assuming a redesign would be inherently worse, which it doesn't have to be.
2012-2015 had good travel (not as great as before though), good reliability (can still break if dirt or liquid penetrates), and weak stability/accuracy (IMO). 2016-2019 has worse travel, worse reliability, better stability. The patented keyboard could have travel that feels like 2012-2015 or better, reliability that's as good as a sealed keyboard gets and great stability.
Yes, they didn't get the current keyboards right (not for everyone at least, haven't had complaints nor has my dad), no that doesn't mean this only goes downhill.
I like to be optimistic and since we're only talking patents, why dream of the worst outcome?
This is the kind of innovation that would make some difference for me. This is much bigger than the touch bar for me.
If you think macOS is ANY version of LINUX you simply aren't paying attention.
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Keyboards by their very nature are DIGITAL. I don't think "Analog" means what you think it does.I so miss the days when keyboards were analog with function keys on the left....
Well, OS X isn't Linux, it's just a variant of Unix. Linux, while very similar to Unix, isn't actually a variant of Unix, but just "Unix-like".
What? You're STILL butthurt about the loss of matte screens?Here's an idea for Timmy to make more money for Apple suckers like me. Just like when they decided to move to glossy display some people want matte display for a price. There you go Tim make the old reliable keyboard as an added option for a $100 more.
Not practical above a certain screen resolution, which we have long-since passed.
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Keyboard "feel" is as personal as Hi-Fi speaker selection.
I didn't imply that it was; in fact, I implied the opposite. I said I wanted an improvement on that design, which means that I was admitting the design wasn't without its own flaws. What I was stating is that if Apple had spent the time to make that experience better (as I said before, improving wobble, actuation, etc.; i.e., creating the perfect guitar string), it could've simply stopped "innovating" on the one aspect of their machines that was damn near perfect.
I don't want the promise of a "might be" better keyboard. I got behind the USB-C/connectivity debacle; I got over the lack of MagSafe; and although I hated the oversized trackpad (which caused me headaches many times), I found ways to get through most of my gripes. I don't need thinner, nor do I need lighter. I don't need a glowing Apple logo. I don't miss the disk drive. I don't even care that we lost the SD Card slot. I want Apple to stop treating the MacBook Pro like a normal consumer product. I want them to recognize that very few of the professionals who use these machines require the device to operate much differently than it did a decade ago. All I want to see is internals that keep up with the changing and expanding demands of the software I use, and an interface device that allows me to use it without obstacles. That's literally it.
Reduce the bezels, make the screen better, add Thunderbolt 4 when that eventually comes to market, make the trackpad seamless with the aluminum body; craft the entire device out of the recycled scales of North Pacific salmon that died of natural causes. Whatever they do, the interface I use to interact with that Mac -- the keyboard -- should not be the sole reason why it's challenging to use that Mac. When you've created a barrier that exists at the very first point of contact with your device, you've created a problem that you can only address by going BACK to the iteration that worked.
This has been my fear all along. It's full-on Munchausen Syndrome: make a perfectly healthy keyboard sick just so you can "cure" it with your stupid thin and light agenda. There was nothing wrong with the last generation of keyboards or antiglare screens or I/O or MagSafe...
Please fire Tim, Jony, Eddie, and... MAKE APPLE 2012 AGAIN
Please fire Tim, Jony, Eddie, and... MAKE APPLE 2012 AGAIN